Lee B

I know how to amend W 2s and 941s, but I don't know how to void them?

"Ernst & Young employees in the U.S. were upset Tuesday to discover their paycheck deposits from last Friday had been reversed after a glitch at its payroll processing company ADP. In some cases, the problems may have led to overdrafts on some EY U.S. employees’ bank accounts. “Our payroll vendor erroneously reversed EY’s July 15 payroll impacting our US employees and we are urgently working with them to correct the error,” said a spokesperson for the firm in an email to Accounting Today. “Late fees, penalties or other charges they may have incurred as a result of this error will be covered.” ADP confirmed the problem originated in its system. “We can confirm that we experienced an error that caused a payment reversal for a group of U.S. employees of one of our clients,” said a statement from ADP. “We understand the urgency of this issue and our team is working swiftly to resolve this to ensure employees receive their pay as quickly as possible. Later in the day, on Tuesday afternoon, an ADP spokesperson said the problem has been resolved: “As an update, we have resolved the error and have completed processing with our banking partners. All transactions are expected to process by end of business day today. Availability of funds is dependent on each employee's personal banking provider.” The problems affected approximately 55,000 EY employees in the U.S., according to the Financial Times. Late in the day, after the fix was announced, some employees said they were still experiencing problems, while some reported they had been paid double." Well that will remove some of the glitter from ADP's image.

The IRS has so many systems that don't talk to each other that I am not surprised. There could have been a data entry error when the paper filed return was entered.

I agree, rather than taking the time to develop an approach that effectively addresses the problem. the IRS is moving ahead with ID.me to be able to say, "Look we are doing doing something."

Another free efiling tax system that I have never heard about: "MilTax online software is also available for members of the military and certain veterans, regardless of income. This software is offered through the Department of Defense. Eligible taxpayers can use MilTax to prepare and electronically file their federal tax returns and up to three state returns for free."

Yes, there are taxpayers out there trying to game the system. Years ago I fired a Hairdresser filing HOH, once I realized that the income she was reporting every year hit the exact sweet spot to maximize her EITC. Personally I am far more irritated by the large international tech companies that report billions of profits and pay very little tax. For example, for years Apple's effective tax rate runs about 8%.

Funny, my client finally went up in their attic and found the W 2 they needed

Two of my better business clients have rentals that generate profits, however their primary source of Income are operating businesses.

I am curious, how did you determine that?

Unfortunately with our audit so low, audit roulette works for many taxpayers who brag about about it to their friends who then complain and whine that we need to do something because they pay way too much!

I didn't know the IRS offered this until I stumbled across it earlier this year: "About Free File Fillable Forms Free File Fillable Forms are electronic federal tax forms you can fill out and file online for free, enabling you to: Choose the income tax form you need Enter your tax information online Electronically sign and file your return Print your return for recordkeeping If you choose Free File Fillable Forms as your Free File option, you should be comfortable doing your own taxes. Limitations with Free File Fillable Forms include: It won't give you guidance about which forms to use or help with your tax situation It only performs basic calculations and doesn't provide extensive error checking It will only file your federal return for the current tax year No state tax return option is available You can't make changes once your return is accepted Free File Fillable Forms is the only IRS Free File option available for taxpayers whose 2021 income (AGI) is greater than $73,000. Taxpayers whose income is $73,000 or less qualify for IRS Free File partner offers, which can guide you through the preparation and filing of your tax return, and may include state tax filing."

I understand your post and what you are saying, but I don't understand what your client expects you to do?

"On May 20 the Houston headquarters of R&D tax credit consulting firm Alliantgroup was raided by the IRS, in the weeks since we’ve had plenty of speculation about the whys and we’ve heard countless accounts from current and former Alliantgroup employees about the “evil, toxic, and emotionally damaging company” that employed them. We’ve now learned that the government is sending subpoenas to CPA firms that referred clients to Alliantgroup and is seeking client tax returns as part of the investigation. Going Concern has reviewed a letter from one CPA firm to clients that received services from Alliantgroup advising these clients that the firm has received a federal grand jury subpoena seeking information relating to Alliantgroup. The government’s demand for information is “broad” and includes tax returns and related information in the firm’s possession for clients who received services from Alliantgroup. The government’s demand references R&D tax credits, cost segregation, and IRC Sec 179D and any related information from January 1, 2011 to present. Clients are assured the firm believes the focus of the grand jury proceedings is strictly related to Alliantgroup, not the clients. The letter states in explicit terms that the firm has no reason to question prior tax credits and/or deductions clients took as a result of their relationship with Alliantgroup at this time. The letter does advise however that clients are welcome to consult with their own attorneys to better understand their rights in this legal matter."

Or if it ends up in a savings or investment account, then it won't be support

The point is you are trusting them with every piece of your personal identity. "and releases them to third parties, along with location, occupation, language, the list of pages browsed at ID.me, and the URLs visited before and after using ID.me" which is the same thing that google does.

ID.me's policy states, "by utilizing your ID.me Account at Third-Party Websites, you are expressly authorizing [ID.me] to share certain Personally Identifiable Information or Sensitive Information tied to your ID.me Account with such Third-Party Websites." ID.me originated as a competitor to Groupon marketing deals which they still do. Now they also promote their own Digital Wallet which they actively market.

Would you be surprised to know that ID.me uses the information they accumulate to grow their revenue and profits just like Equifax!

I guess getting advice like this is very expensive. Supposedly his fee for helping was $ 1 Million

"Houston tax lawyer Carlos Kepke had been tutoring rich Americans like Robert F. Smith for decades on how to move assets offshore when an undercover agent posing as a bar owner turned up in 2018. The goal was to gather evidence for a tax fraud case against Kepke. It wasn’t hard. As the wired agent recorded the conversation, Kepke bragged about placing assets in offshore trusts, notably in the Central American nation of Belize. Clients move money and claim to yield control, in keeping with federal law. But they decide how it’s used, not the foreign trustees. “You never lose control,” Kepke assured his visitor. “You’re just playing with bank accounts.” That assurance, and others like it, are spelled out in a newly public affidavit in Kepke’s case. It sheds light on the Internal Revenue Service’s two-decade pursuit of Kepke, a player in the global network of lawyers, accountants and financial advisers who help hide billions of dollars in offshore money havens. And it opens a rare window into how the schemes function." https://www.accountingtoday.com/articles/the-sting-that-snagged-the-tax-lawyer-to-a-pair-of-billionaires?position=editorial_2&campaignname=ACT Tax Practice-07122022&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=V2_ACT_TaxProToday_20210503%2B'-'%2B07122022&bt_ee=xGJK6MJlr5NSrROCOhZxHw4kjEiAXC9BJC9wqB1NCub4vbjFD3qqroDEE2tRpKrj&bt_ts=1657641643456

My client turns 70 next month, so at this moment I am assuming that it was triggered by his applying for SS, like what happened to Abby. Still waiting for a copy of the letter.

I believe the number of returns that you can open depends on the amount of useable RAM available in your computer at that moment.

I have a business client for whom I have done all of their Accounting, Payroll and Tax Work since the middle of 1993. One of the owners just received a letter from the SSA wanting verification of his 1992 W 2 information. Are you kidding me? Very few people keep documents from 30 years ago. I wonder if they will remove the 1992 earning from his 35 year earnings history?

"In February, a U.S. accounting watchdog fined PricewaterhouseCoopers’s Canadian partnership $750,000 for weak controls that saw more than 1,200 employees participate in “improper answer sharing” in internal tests from at least 2016 to early 2020. Rival Big Four auditor KPMG paid a $50 million penalty in 2019 after the SEC found it had used stolen information to prepare for regulatory inspections, while some of its auditors “manipulated an internal server” to lower the pass mark in training exams." Surprise, Surprise !

Unbelievable, you have clients who aren't 100 % honest? I am sure they just weren't able to remember?

"Revenue departments in Colorado and Utah are implementing programs to enable businesses and individuals to pay their tax bills with virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin, targeting implementation within a few months. The two Western states look to be outliers, however, and still face some logistical hurdles before their programs launch." This would make scheduling estimated tax payments an interesting challenge, since the value of cryptocurrency changes every day