kcjenkins

They have not yet said HOW long. Until they set a specif date it's still a guessing game. That will not be until DECEMBER. Here is the full notice: 2014 Tax Season to Start Later Following Government Closure; IRS Sees Heavy Demand As Operations Resume IR-2013-82, Oct. 22, 2013 WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced a delay of approximately one to two weeks to the start of the 2014 filing season to allow adequate time to program and test tax processing systems following the 16-day federal government closure. The IRS is exploring options to shorten the expected delay and will announce a final decision on the start of the 2014 filing season in December, Acting IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said. The original start date of the 2014 filing season was Jan. 21, and with a one- to two-week delay, the IRS would start accepting and processing 2013 individual tax returns no earlier than Jan. 28 and no later than Feb. 4. The government closure came during the peak period for preparing IRS systems for the 2014 filing season. Programming, testing and deployment of more than 50 IRS systems is needed to handle processing of nearly 150 million tax returns. Updating these core systems is a complex, year-round process with the majority of the work beginning in the fall of each year. About 90 percent of IRS operations were closed during the shutdown, with some major workstreams closed entirely during this period, putting the IRS nearly three weeks behind its tight timetable for being ready to start the 2014 filing season. There are additional training, programming and testing demands on IRS systems this year in order to provide additional refund fraud and identity theft detection and prevention. “Readying our systems to handle the tax season is an intricate, detailed process, and we must take the time to get it right,” Werfel said. “The adjustment to the start of the filing season provides us the necessary time to program, test and validate our systems so that we can provide a smooth filing and refund process for the nation’s taxpayers. We want the public and tax professionals to know about the delay well in advance so they can prepare for a later start of the filing season.” The IRS will not process paper tax returns before the start date, which will be announced in December. There is no advantage to filing on paper before the opening date, and taxpayers will receive their tax refunds much faster by using e-file with direct deposit. The April 15 tax deadline is set by statute and will remain in place. However, the IRS reminds taxpayers that anyone can request an automatic six-month extension to file their tax return. The request is easily done with Form 4868, which can be filed electronically or on paper. IRS processes, applications and databases must be updated annually to reflect tax law updates, business process changes, and programming updates in time for the start of the filing season. The IRS continues resuming and assessing operations following the 16-day closure. The IRS is seeing heavy demand on its toll-free telephone lines, walk-in sites and other services from taxpayers and tax practitioners. During the closure, the IRS received 400,000 pieces of correspondence, on top of the 1 million items already being processed before the shutdown. The IRS encourages taxpayers to wait to call or visit if their issue is not urgent, and to continue to use automated applications on IRS.gov whenever possible. “In the days ahead, we will continue assessing the impact of the shutdown on IRS operations, and we will do everything we can to work through the backlog and pent-up demand,” Werfel said. “We greatly appreciate the patience of taxpayers and the tax professional community during this period.

Is he a tax preparer?

It is still strange, tho. BTW, I got a phone call from "my rep" yesterday, which started with "I talked to you at the _____ Show last month..." [did not catch the location] which, of course was impossible as I did not go to any of them.

And where death is certainly an issue that should be covered, it's far from the only issue. What about one of them in a debilitating accident or a stroke? If one of them is unable to work, for any reason, that needs to be planned for.

Julie, I'm with Tom on this, for the reasons stated but also because you do not want to lose them as clients, and this is a situation where you can have each of them questioning your loyalty to him. Directing them to a qualified planner who will work with you makes you a valued resource without having to 'own' the final plan.

I'm safe. So far.

As far as I know, they still have no appeal process in place. My friend was lucky, he was good friends with a US Senator, who contacted the IRS and asked to be informed why the EFIN had been suspended, when the reason given the preparer was provably false. The IRS assigned someone to respond, and within days the EFIN was re-activated. But that does not deal with the underlying problem of no recourse when the IRS acts arbitrarily.

http://lilicpastudy.blogspot.com/2012/11/long-term-construction-contracts_9.html http://www.cpa-connecticut.com/completedcontractmethod.html https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CHsQFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.umsl.edu%2F~moehrlej%2Fclass14ex1.doc&ei=n3pgUozxFNGIigK-j4G4Ag&usg=AFQjCNGzOeo5_PiHSTTICFbZUmVCZbDB-A&sig2=BnS4IUplFbHpAKDCtygPPw&bvm=bv.54934254,d.cGE

Don't misunderstand, I was very happy when they gave us the PTIN so we did not have to put our SSNs on there. I have no problem with them tracking who prepares what returns, and going after the bad ones. What I did not like was when they decided to use it to control preparers without allowing a way to defend against unfounded IRS blocking of a PTIN. I knew someone who was mistakenly accused of some violation of the rules, and discovered that the IRS could freeze a PTIN without any structure in the law for challenging that action, or getting a hearing. And that was BEFORE they came up with the fees.

HOW? Before the PTIN we had to use our SSN, so either way they had and still have the ability to track preparers.

But if you are smart, you will get at least that much anyway, given all that has been going on in the tax code this year. Lots of free or cheap sources available.

Gail, that is exactly how kids should feel about their parents. And John, I agree if one child is taking on the physical job, that should get that taken into consideration, where the parent has enough assets for it to be an issue. Sadly we see a lot of cases where that's not how it happens.

Yes, the three months seems extreme, but two weeks of being closed after Thanksgiving might be a smart thing to plan for. And a couple of long weekends during the season, that you plan and make absolute no taxes, no phone, no emails, just rest and peace and quiet, might actually make you more productive than if you had worked those extra days. It's worth thinking about.

John, I think you did miss something. The issue bothering some of us was not her getting paid, it was, for me, that in this case it sounds like it's not really the best care for the mom. That she was doing it to keep that money from her sister, but that she sometime left mom alone for 2 hrs. Mind you, everyone needs a break, but there are funds to pay for help during those times, so mom does not end up laying alone in her own waste while daughter takes a break.

Yep, Any unexpected gift from a client feels great, mostly because it says they appreciate you rather than just taking you for granted. If ot's good to eat or drink, all the better!

That is correct.

That is wonderful, Judy. When I was caring for my mother, my sister was too far away, and "too busy", and my brother, sadly, was right there but eager to inherit, and I actually had to protect her from him. But hard as it was, not only on me but on my family to do without me during that time, I will never regret a single day.

Or more important, to PREPARE for it. Why Your Brain Needs More Downtime http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=mental-downtime&WT.mc_id=SA_facebook

While you can ALWAYS, IN EVERY RELIGION, find a few extremists who behave that way, that does not mean you should smear the whole religion because of a few nuts. Do you think that Westboro represents Christianity's attitude toward homosexuals, for example? Actually, while Christianity does not approve of it, very few churches close their doors to them, instead they accept them and pray for them. Christianity does not demand that church members be pure, indeed if that was the case there would be little need for churches. Most churches in this country work hard to extend help to all who need help, supporting homes for pregnant women who need help, supporting food banks that help anyone who needs it, operating AA groups, etc. I find your argument against religion hard to understand. As I do you mention of "immigrants". I notice you make no distinction between illegal and legal immigrants? Do you believe nations have no right to control their borders? Or are you referring to how the tax code treats them?

See, that is what I mean about "abusing", Tabby. Not that she is beating her. But leaving her alone for two hours is, in your own mind, too, WRONG. And, by the way, I know from my time caring for my husband, toward the end, that there are better ways to deal with the situation than just cleaning up the entire room after Mom has soiled the whole place. That should not be happening. Clearly, Mom would be better cared for in a facility where she would get PROPER care 24/7. And I seriously doubt she would "be there for you", unless there was money in it for her. But that's your call.

Tom, you and Patty are solid, down to earth parents, so I'm sure that he's not just one of those one-sided brainiacs that has no idea of the real world. He will do just fine.

" They don't draw a line between "evasion" and "avoidance," but talk of abuses which "deprive governments of the resources required to provide the programmes that give effect to economic, social and cultural rights, and to create and strengthen the institutions that uphold civil and political rights." TRANSLATION: deprive those in control of tax money to use to control their populations. Certainly we need government regulations rather than anarchy, there is no sane person who disagrees with that. However, there is a big difference between reasonable regulation and government trying to micro-manage the entire economy. And I know of no "religion opposed to helping others.". Could you give us an example, Jainen?

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Modernized-e-File-(MeF)-Status-Page