Practitioner Hotline

[mcb39]

I need the number asap. Thank you to anyone!

[Bart]

This is the number I have. (866) 860-4259

[mcb39]

This is the number I have. (866) 860-4259

Thanks, Bart.....that is the one. On hold for 23 minutes, will try again tomorrow.

[Lion EA]

Mondays have pretty heavy calls, so Tuesdays after a long weekend must be even heavier. Some numbers are open after 5 p.m., so try this evening.

[mcb39]

Mondays have pretty heavy calls, so Tuesdays after a long weekend must be even heavier. Some numbers are open after 5 p.m., so try this evening.

Client is going to drop off the letters he received in the morning so I will wait until after I get the paper. It is just a matter of tracking his refund......filed on 3/05; has not received refund and message is that "return has been received and is being processed. Nothing unusual about this return, either, except for a few windows that he had installed. I have copies of those receipts.

[Max W]

The day after a weekend is always bad. Late afternoon, especially on the west coast, is best. If the recording says that the wait time is more than 15 minutes, call back later as 'more than 15 minutes' can run into an hour.

[Jack from Ohio]

Save your time.

Will calling the IRS give me additional information or speed my refund?

• No, calling the IRS won’t do anything to speed your refund. The IRS processes more than 140 million tax returns each year, and our telephone assistors are not the people who actually process tax returns.
  
• The best option for taxpayers is to check “Where’s My Refund” or IRS2Go and remember the vast majority of tax refunds will be issued within 21 days.
  
• More information about the refund process is available in our YouTube video, When Will I Get My Refund?, and an IRS fact sheet.
  

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=254102,00.html

Unless you a CPA, EA, or Attorney with signed 2848, you will not be able to get information. I know this from first hand knowledge and experience from this tax season.

Your client will just have to wait.

[jainen]

>>On hold for 23 minutes<<

In half that time you could have submitted the entire matter through e-services. It's a couple of days wait, but isn't time used more important than time elapsed on such a routine non-emergency?

[Tax Prep by Deb]

Save your time.

Will calling the IRS give me additional information or speed my refund?

• No, calling the IRS won’t do anything to speed your refund. The IRS processes more than 140 million tax returns each year, and our telephone assistors are not the people who actually process tax returns.
  
• The best option for taxpayers is to check “Where’s My Refund” or IRS2Go and remember the vast majority of tax refunds will be issued within 21 days.
  
• More information about the refund process is available in our YouTube video, When Will I Get My Refund?, and an IRS fact sheet.
  

http://www.irs.gov/n...=254102,00.html

Unless you a CPA, EA, or Attorney with signed 2848, you will not be able to get information. I know this from first hand knowledge and experience from this tax season.

Your client will just have to wait.

But keep in mind that 21 days has come and gone. I have a client in exactly the same situation. Refund was scheduled, then changed, then went to "we have received your return and it is being processed".

I called the hotline, the agent looked up the info for me ( I had checked me as third party designee) found in her file that she needed to call a special number. I tried to call that number for her, was on hold for 1 1/2 hours the first attempt, 45 minutes the second attempt. I finally had the client call the special number, but the computers were down and they told her to have me call the next day. When I did finally get to talk to someone I was told that the problem had been resolved two weeks earliers and to allow another 6 weeks for the refund to process. This was last week, checked on where's my refund and finally have May 31. We will cross our fingers and hope for the best.

I honestly think this just got stuck in the system. When we called the number they didn't have any explanation, except they wanted to know if I had prepared her taxes this year and last year.

Last year I filed her jointly as surviving spouse, this year as single. Maybe the switch in status did it, we will never know.

Deb!

[Jack from Ohio]

... When we called the number they didn't have any explanation, except they wanted to know if I had prepared her taxes this year and last year...

My point exactly.

[mcb39]

I tried E-Services first but got nowhere with them. Probably because I am not an EA or CPA. My CAF did not match their info. I think Deb might be right that some of these just get stuck and if you don't make some attempt, nothing will ever get done. They used to have an inquiry that you could fill out on "Where's My Refund", but that is gone. They are sure closing all the doors of communication. If the client calls, he gets the same recorded message: "Return has been received and is being processed", then a hangup.

[Catherine]

Jack from Ohio --

You are right that they had no explanation for the taxpayer. BUT. It may have been the "goose" they needed to actually process the return and refund. Sometimes things sit and sit and get forgotten _until_ there is a call. So even though there is no explanation to the taxpayer it is the event that starts the taxpayer's result.

Sigh.

[Jack from Ohio]

Jack from Ohio --

You are right that they had no explanation for the taxpayer. BUT. It may have been the "goose" they needed to actually process the return and refund. Sometimes things sit and sit and get forgotten _until_ there is a call. So even though there is no explanation to the taxpayer it is the event that starts the taxpayer's result.

Sigh.

Let me know how that works.... Our experience here (over a hundred clients) is that it makes no difference. Comparing those where someone calls vs. those where no calls are made.

This is the same organization that is going to police our CPE credits for our PTIN registration and look for preparers not signing returns all at the same time????

There is a song.... "Do YOu Believe In Magic?"

[mcb39]

Dead end! I tried E-services again as the client brought in the two identical letters that he has received on 3/14 and 4/2. No luck with E-services. Called Practitioners Hotline and waited 46 minutes, but did put on speaker phone and continue to work. Finally got a live person. Of course, there is nothing he could do for me other than verify that they have received the return and were reviewing it; which is exactly what the two letters said. I asked him if he could jog it; and he said he could do nothing but put a note on it that I had called. Maybe Catherine is correct and this might start something. He could not tell me what they were reviewing. So frustrating and a little frightening that these are the same people who rule our lives as professional preparers.

Oh, he did tell me to call again 45 days after receipt of the last letter. I said the letter is dated Apr 2 and today is May 30; I believe that is more than 45 days. He said, "Oh!" ;)

[Jack from Ohio]

How much unbillable time have you spent?

After making this call for ten of my clients, and getting the same results, I have stopped making the calls.

I now tell my clients with this situation the truth.... "It is in the hands of the IRS, and there is nothing you can do that will make things work any faster than THEY choose to."

I threw out the refund schedule on Feb. 1.

"Do You Believe In Magic?"

[jainen]

>>Nothing unusual about this return<<

You don't really know that for sure now, do you? Sometimes when the IRS takes a closer look it's because the client neglected to tell you something.

[mcb39]

>>Nothing unusual about this return<<

You don't really know that for sure now, do you? Sometimes when the IRS takes a closer look it's because the client neglected to tell you something.

No, I don't really know. However, if they are looking for anything in particular, why aren't they asking any questions after three months? Why hasn't he gotten a CP2000 instead of two generic letters; one from Austin and one from New York? This is a single man whose return I have prepared for years. He has one job, owns a home; pays property taxes and a little mortgage, gives to charity and has receipts for everything, including the energy efficient windows that he had installed. Oh, and he loves and lives to fish in his time off. Perhaps they are trying to find out if he ever caught more than his limit.

[jainen]

>>he loves and lives to fish<<

Yeah, that's what I meant--this whole scenario sounds fishy. In my experience, fisherman never tell you everything. They almost never tell you anything.

[mcb39]

Jainen, you are just a bundle of information and hope. It does sadden me, though, that we have no resources to rely upon. The IRS keeps making it more difficult for us to practise and at the same time withdraws assistance to those of us who comply.

[jainen]

>>The IRS keeps making it more difficult for us to practise and at the same time withdraws assistance to those of us who comply.<<

I think that's unfair (not that the IRS needs me to defend it). The government has given us fabulously useful tools, including the one in the title to this thread. It is not an all-purpose tool, but it's real good when we use it correctly. IRS has stood up to vicious criticism while raising our ethical standards and simplifying filing procedures. The IRS web site is a wonderful resource for fast research, almost unbelievable in a government agency.

The problem is a particular political party, the one that wants to hobble government powers. So now things take longer than they used to, are done out of chronological order, or have other time issues. Or even quality control issues with training and other staff reductions, which is one of the principal ways we are paying for that political party's tax cuts. You don't know the reason for this delay, but that does not mean there is no reason. Maybe someone already used your client's SSN, or they are investigating a complaint of unknown validity. Or maybe there is a random audit hit. Well, it doesn't matter anyway. Re-read Jack's posts above, and get on with your life.

And don't forget, it has long been an axiom of our profession that a refund suggests our own failure to properly advise the client.

[cred65]

Spoken like a true Marxist!! BTW you guys did a great job in Cuba, USSR & N. Korea.

[Jack from Ohio]

The truth is undeniable. Our government and the people in charge are definitely moving us toward a Marxist State. As long as the majority of voting Americans remain apathetic and ignorant about things outside their own back yard, it IS the way we are and will be going.

If you can dispute the truth without name calling, I will listen. Telling the truth does NOT make a person a Marxist.

In a FREE America, everyone has the right to have and express their opinion. When you resort to namecalling because they believe differently, it speaks loudly about your inability to allow others to have that freedom. This does not shed a good light on your ability to contemplate or consider things that are not like you or what you believe.

Closed minds, apathy and ignorance will be the death of the FREE America we have come to take for granted.

What name do you have for me now? I am anxious to see!!!

[Catherine]

Herman Cain calls that the "SIN" tactics -- sidestep the issue, ignore facts, and name-call.

[GeneInAlabama]

>>And don't forget, it has long been an axiom of our profession that a refund suggests our own failure to properly advise the client.<<

How much interest would a large refund draw if put into savings? How many people would actually put the difference into savings? My experience has been that the vast majority of people would just spend the difference and have nothing to show for it. Actually, I think having extra withheld is an excellent way of forced savings. I have known people who overpay and use that for their vacation (it comes at the right time of the year). A large refund can pay for a new appliance or for a home improvement which they would not otherwise be able to afford. Most of my clients do not have extra capital to work with, so a large refund is a good boost for them. I know the IRS doesn't like for people to over withhold, but I work for my clients, not the IRS.

[Gail in Virginia]

>>And don't forget, it has long been an axiom of our profession that a refund suggests our own failure to properly advise the client.<<

I work for my clients, not the IRS.

Personally, I advise people to shoot for a zero sum return. However, if they tell me they need a refund for whatever reason, I am perfectly happy to help them plan that way. I don't think it is always about what I thinkt is the best choice - it is about what the client needs. And for some people, they can't save if they get their hands on the money so withholding for taxes is one way to enforce saving.