If IRS cannot answer your call to fix your ID.ME login, can they still penalize you?

[Ringers]

On Jan 7 and 8 of this year, I was able to use my ID.ME account to access the electronic 1099 IRS FIRE site and also the SS site to efile W-2 forms without any problem.  I filed 2 client's W-2 forms and 3 client's 1099-NEC's.

When I got back from my annual 2 week cruise (I know, I know), I could no longer get on either site from my ID.ME login.  I kept getting an error which said "something has gone wrong--please try again or call for assistance."  I started calling on Wednesday and finally got through to the queue (instead of being disconnected) at 3:00 today, Friday.  I waited on the queue for 1 hour and 49 minutes with the constant remeinder that "all of our agents are still assisting other customers--please remain on the line."  Then, after the 109 minute wait, I got a recorded message saying "we will not be able to assist you today.  Please call back during our normal working hours which are Monday through Friday from 6:30 until 6:00 PM Central time.  Goodbye."

If I cannot get through to them before next Thursday, will my clients still be subject to the late filing penalties for W-2's and 1099-NEC's even though the software fault was with the IRS and they will only accept E-filed documents?

It doesn't seem fair to me.  What do you think?  How can I get the phone numbers for IRS in different time zones to take advantage of earlier or longer times to try to get them to answer their phones?

 

[Lynn EA USTCP in Louisiana]

Try a different internet browser. 

[jklcpa]

Different browser may work, or maybe try setting up with login.gov.  I'm not sure if you can have a log in with both of those authenticators though.  

[Lee B]

You could paper file a Form 8809 for each client requesting an extension or you could use a third party to file your W 2s and 1099s

I filed all of my clients W 2s today using Login.gov to access the SSA. 

[Gail in Virginia]

12 hours ago, jklcpa said:

Different browser may work, or maybe try setting up with login.gov.  I'm not sure if you can have a log in with both of those authenticators though.  

I have separate log ins with both authenticators but I used two different email addresses to do that - I used my work email with logmein and my personal email with idme

[Catherine]

You can also use one of the third party services to e-file, like EFileMyForms, for you and your clients. Just pick "efile only" as the option. It's only about $5 per form and gets it DONE for you. Then you fix the ID.me issue at your leisure - or at least, not under a nasty hard and looming deadline.

[gfizer]

On 1/26/2024 at 10:11 PM, Lee B said:

You could paper file a Form 8809 for each client requesting an extension

If you choose this route you also have to fax Form 15397 (Application for Extension of Time to Furnish Recipient Statements) to the IRS prior to the 31st.

[schirallicpa]

ID me works fine for regular IRS stuff for me, although I lost all of my previous years info on the 990N website.  But I went round after round with SS trying to submit my payroll info.  Nope -I don't exist with SS.  I mailed the w3 and w2 for first time in at least 15 years.  I knew it couldn't work so well when another arm of the gov't stepped in.  IRS barely knows how to make it work.

[jasdlm]

My login.gov ID, which has worked for months for other payments, etc., won't let me file W2s.  It's so incredibly frustrating.

[jklcpa]

32 minutes ago, jasdlm said:

My login.gov ID, which has worked for months for other payments, etc., won't let me file W2s.  It's so incredibly frustrating.

I ended up with a personal account to log into for SSA using that login.gov and then I realized there is no longer a link on that page for SSA BSO. I had to Google to find the BSO page and found that my old username show up in a drop down box on the BSO page that allows me to access it and file W-2s.

If that hadn't worked, my backup plan was to use an online site to prepare and file them.

[Lee B]

The first time I tried to use login.gov to log into the SSA BSO on Saturday, it failed.

The second I tried using a different link to the SSA BSO, it worked.

Who knows?