JohnH

I've encountered two situations where the wife received the $600 in Jan but the husband hasn't received anything. Nobody has yet given me a 1444 of any kind.

Yes, an interesting predicament. I'm just laying out the scenario where it applies and telling them to let me know whether they want to file a Federal extension or "just go for it" as things are right now. One thing I'm not going to do is hold onto the returns waiting for IRS or Congress to extend the filing date. If the client want to wait, then an extension goes out immediately. Once their info is in my hands, I either want it out the door on the first pass or send in an extension. (Less stressful for me that way).

I know discussing upcoming legislation is often an exercise in futility, but here's an interesting take on how filing early this year MIGHT be problematic for some people. (If you don't mind clicking a link) It applies to those taxpayers fortunate enough to have experienced an INCREASE in income in 2020 over 2019. Just wondering if anyone else has run across anything along these lines? https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/lose-1-400-stimulus-check-210600457.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=1_11

If parents forego claiming the child/student under age 26 as a dependent, wouldn't there be a risk of not being able to cover the child on the parents' medical insurance?

I tell them the same thing I’ve always told them - “we’re filing an extension”. Doesn’t matter to me whether IRS extends the date or not. I’ll be filing some extensions this week.

Well, I can now confidently state that the Jan 15, 2021 date for the $600 per person second stimulus checks to be received is irrelevant. Today, Feb 4, a client called to let me know they received their check in the mail. This was a retiree, whose first stimulus payment (last year) was direct-deposited to their bank account. So now we know that there will likely be plenty of confusion over whether to claim the second stimulus payment on the 2020 tax return, especially for early filers.

When I skimmed over your post, I first thought $400 was what they wanted to pay. But then I thought, "sounds like $400 should be a reasonable fee for looking over that return (before declining)".

There really isn't any liability... until there is.

I never touch FBAR. Too much liability at stake. I document that I advised them of the filing requirement & penalties and leave it at that. If someone tried to insist that I file it, I would view that as a deal breaker.

It’s very hard for a client to comprehend our explanation when the result of understanding it will mean they have to pay out more money.

Yes, this is the issue with respect to whether to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit or not claim it in ambiguous situations. Will the IRS computers just adjust it, or will the returns just fall into a processing black hole? Whatever happens, any delay will be the preparer's fault in the mind of the client.

So this may mean the Jan 15, 2021 date is irrelevant at this point, I suppose.

Maybe this has been discussed somewhere? I'm trying to figure out what people who have not received their second Economic Impact Payment AND who are not required to file an income tax return are supposed to do in order to claim the $600 per person. Have received a couple of question on it and don't know how to respond. Has anyone seen the answer to this? I'm assuming maybe they file a return anyhow, but haven't seen any guidance on it.

It doesn’t give the amount. But I don’t have access to their account records, so it’s the clients job to look it up. No reason to discuss it any further with me until they’ve done their job.

For anyone who doesn't have the information, I'm going to send them this link and tell them to get back to me after they look it up. https://sa.www4.irs.gov/irfof-wmsp/notice I sent out my letter last week. It had two main points. 1) No in-person meetings; 2) Plan for extensions.

I'm OK with that. They know where I live, so I trust them to send me a new IP PIN in perpetuity if they wish. I doubt I'd ever opt out anyhow even when it becomes available. I always owe, so all I care about is that nobody uses dummy info to claim a refund in my name before I get around to filing. I tried to get one a few years back, using as a reason the loss (or possible theft) of my wife's passport while we were out of the country. But that excuse wouldn't fly. I was relieved to find out it's possible to opt in this year.

I always file extensions and like many of you I was preparing returns back when we had to enter our SocSec number as preparer. So it’s out there everywhere and I’ve always been a little concerned about ID theft and a false return. As soon as they opened up the ability to opt in I got on board. It took about a minute. It’s my understanding the IRS will now automatically send me a new one every year.

For some people, yes. For me, no.

I have one return that was paper filed back in February, yet the taxpayer has never heard a word about their small refund. It was a young person, first-time filer, single, standard deduction, two W-2 forms. They check the"Where's My Refund" tool at IRS.Gov regularly, but nothing has ever shown up there. On the other hand, my return which we paper filed on extension in early October with W2's, K1's, 1099R's, SocSec income, itemized deductions, and a balance due, has been processed. The electronic transcript is already available, including the calculation for a small penalty & interest. (Incidentally, for some reason our return also got flagged for identity verification and I received a Letter 4883C, but that's a separate story.) Both returns were filed at the same service center, (although mailed to different addresses due to refund vs balance due). I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps the better course of action may have been to send the return claiming a refund to the "Balance Due" mailing address.

Maybe you could tell them "I've given you all the information you need. What you do with it is your responsibility." My guess is that they are going to ask you to pay if they get a notice of $25-$50 of interest/penalty (before the eventual adjustment back down to zero). Personally, I might be inclined to pay the $25-$50 anyhow, provided they promise not to initiate any further contact and not bother me any more.

After thinking this over some more, I'm beginning to see the light. Yes, Bulldog Tom is recommending the better position on this.

I haven't tried Webex, but I use Zoom 2-3 times a week for church-related meetings & classes. I'm a big fan of Zoom, especially since they tightened up their security. Once you master the basics, it's amazing what you can do with it. And it isn't very expensive (yet).

What type of "trouble" is the client expecting? $5 per month (or less) of combined interest & penalties on the unpaid balance, which are eventually going to be wiped out? Sometimes the least profitable clients create the biggest headaches, I suppose because they don't have anything important going on and thus have plenty of time to obsess over the insignificant stuff. Personally I wouldn't give them any explanation, nor would I inquire or speculate with them about their motives. I'd just tell them the info they want will not be forthcoming. End of discussion.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends on this forum.

I can think of numerous times when I interviewed potential clients, declined to do their work, and the conversation ended with an effort by them to clarify precisely what the problem was. I assumed they were preparing for what to tell (or not tell) the next preparer they approached. On the other hand, it's usually fairly easy to sniff out when someone comes to you with a scripted story because they've been through the routine with the last person who declined to do their work. Maybe that just comes with experience. But my most reliable tactic has always been to suggest to a potential new client that we put the return on extension (even if early in the tax season). This is especially true in unusual or ambiguous situations. The more they get in a hurry, the more I want to slow-walk the process. That usually solves the problem (for me, although maybe not for the next preparer)