Sort of Tax - Trump to replace IRS Commissioner Werfel

[BulldogTom]

I did not know if he could do this.   I guess he can fire any department head but it is a surprise.

If this sounds political Judy can delete, but I have not been happy with Werfel as commissioner.   Just my opinion.   Seems like there are way to many cat videos on social media posted by him while tax work was not being done. 

I hope the new guy can actually run the IRS efficiently.   One can hope.

Tom
Longview, TX

[jklcpa]

To keep this nonpartisan, theoretically any President, at their discretion, could fire department heads before term expiration and replace them with his own choices.

I'm a little more concerned with the IRS funding that is currently tied up because of legislative language. I find it very frustrating that some of IRS hardware and methods are antiquated, and that we preparers have better equipment and more modernized methods of communication than some IRS departments. Maybe some readers here don't know that there are entire departments that can still only talk to each other by sending each other old-style faxes.

If the discussion here turns too partisan, I'll simply delete it.

[mcb39]

Very Interesting......

[Lee B]

I am concerned that the IRS modernization budget funding will be slashed and the hiring of new employees will be halted.

The IRS has made some progress the last year, but they have a lot of room for more improvement.

Fingers crossed

[Medlin Software, Dennis]

As long as the IRS figures out (what, an hour with a newly minted programmer, at most) how to incorporate 94x efile similar to the easy and free 1099 method, I will be less unhappy. The hoops for software vendors to offer efile at present, are why there is no known to me free service, and why I do not offer it. Having to pay ~$5 per form for a commercial service is silly, unless there are financial/political reasons beating what used to be common sense.

[Lee B]

According to Forbes:  Former Congressman Billy Long will be the new Commissioner of the IRS,

even though current IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel is serving a term that would normally run until late in 2027.

Long does not have any formal training in tax, law, or accounting, does not have a college degree and never served in Congress on a tax writing committee.

[Medlin Software, Dennis]

"Long does not have any formal training in tax, law, or accounting, does not have a college degree and never served in Congress on a tax writing committee."

I give you credit for hoping such things matter. 

The reality for most here is complication is good for business. Maybe more accurately, CHANGE in rules is good for business (as SWMBO reminded me when I shared this news).

[jklcpa]

1 hour ago, Lee B said:

Long will be the new Commissioner

Meh, this is a little like discussing proposed legislation. It hasn't happened yet and each appointee will go through confirmation.

[Max W]

Well I have noticed one positive change.  I called the Special Compliance Division today.  I think it is for accounts owing over $100K. like the big dollar unit they used to have in Buffalo.    I got the option of waiting on hold for a half hour, or having them call me back.  I took the callback which came only 15 minutes later.

My client owed less than $100K and was already on a pmt plan for an earlier year.  They rolled it over into 2023, where he has a large bal due, and set up a 72 month plan for $1150/m, with no need to provide any bank statements, a 433-B, or any thing else.   

It is now waiting for manager's approval and will be notified within 14 days.

[BrewOne]

I'm trying hard to not let this nomination get to me, especially since he promoted claiming the ERTC.  I've met Commissioner Werfel and was very impressed, and think he is doing very well in a difficult situation.

I'll do my best to take the advice of Paul Simon "I can gather all the news I need on the weather report."

[Abby Normal]

20 hours ago, jklcpa said:

each appointee will go through confirmation.

Will they? I keep hearing talk of recess appointments and acting heads of departments.

[jklcpa]

1 hour ago, Abby Normal said:

Will they? I keep hearing talk of recess appointments and acting heads of departments.

I don't get the drama being created over this. The current Congress will have a break for Christmas, and the current Senate isn't responsible for hearings and confirmations of Trump's proposed cabinet appointments.

The Senate confirmation hearings for these cabinet appointments are scheduled to begin after the incoming Congress convenes in Jan 2025. 

[Lee B]

49 minutes ago, jklcpa said:

I don't get the drama being created over this. The current Congress will have a break for Christmas, and the current Senate isn't responsible for hearings and confirmations of Trump's proposed cabinet appointments.

The Senate confirmation hearings for these cabinet appointments are scheduled to begin after the incoming Congress convenes in Jan 2025. 

The drama is because the incoming President has asked the Senate Leadership to greenlight his appointments without confirmation hearings!

[jklcpa]

23 minutes ago, Lee B said:

The drama is because the incoming President has asked the Senate Leadership to greenlight his appointments without confirmation hearings!

Well, it is within the law that this is allowed. There are some appointments that do not require confirmation, and others that he can appoint as temporary while Senate is in recess, and some that Senate may allow him sole discretion under the Constitution. Please consider this:

Quote

Why does the Senate get a say in who works for the president?

Article II is the section of the Constitution that deals with the executive branch. In Section II, it makes clear that while the president is the executive, he hires certain positions spelled out in the Constitution and others established by law with the “advice and consent” of senators. If the Senate is in recess, the president can make temporary appointments.

Here’s what it says in the Constitution:

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

 

 

Edited December 6, 2024 by jklcpa
formatting only

[mcb39]

The drama, FWIW, IMO, is that they are requiring us, as proffessionals, to follow the laws, endorse the laws, make sure that our clients follow the laws, answer all of the phone calls from our clients; just so that we can have a piece of paper hanging on the wall that says we are compliant.  All of this while thousands of other fly by night preparers can do whatever they want.  I understand the reason for the Multi-Factor Authentication.  Than doesn't mean that I have to like it or like the extra time it is going to take up in a business where we are already overloaded, short of time and have access to no or little help from the Powers That Be.  More and more of us are falling by the wayside, creating a huge shortage of compliant, trustworthy and knowledgeable tax preparers.  Just as so many doctors aren't taking new patients; we are being forced to refuse new clients because we simply don't have the time to handle them.  I don't have time to explain BOI to every client who is getting an email telling them that they have to be compliant by the end of the month.  To tell you the truth, I don't completely understand it myself.

Judy, please delete,, if this is too negative.

[BulldogTom]

36 minutes ago, mcb39 said:

The drama, FWIW, IMO, is that they are requiring us, as proffessionals, to follow the laws, endorse the laws, make sure that our clients follow the laws, answer all of the phone calls from our clients; just so that we can have a piece of paper hanging on the wall that says we are compliant.  All of this while thousands of other fly by night preparers can do whatever they want.  I understand the reason for the Multi-Factor Authentication.  Than doesn't mean that I have to like it or like the extra time it is going to take up in a business where we are already overloaded, short of time and have access to no or little help from the Powers That Be.  More and more of us are falling by the wayside, creating a huge shortage of compliant, trustworthy and knowledgeable tax preparers.  Just as so many doctors aren't taking new patients; we are being forced to refuse new clients because we simply don't have the time to handle them.  I don't have time to explain BOI to every client who is getting an email telling them that they have to be compliant by the end of the month.  To tell you the truth, I don't completely understand it myself.

Judy, please delete,, if this is too negative.

This ^^^^^.    Exactly why I am not pleased with the current Commissioner.   I have felt, and still feel, like the the current leadership of the IRS sees professionals like us as the problem, while the do nothing about the "fly by night" Turdo Tax and McPreparers companies scamming low income tax preparers with claims of large, fast tax refunds.   I think we need a commissioner who focuses on tax administration applied fairly across all demographics of Americans, not just the demographics that the current administration (whichever party is in power) wants to target.

This is the organization that let the President of the United States tax return leak and that allowed the 25 richest American's tax returns leak is now telling us how to protect our client's data?   The same organization that said "hey, we have too much work so lets just shred our mail for a while so we can say we got caught up".   

There is a housecleaning that needs to be done.   The IRS has become so inefficient that it barely operates.  I realize the task is large, but posting cat fluencer videos and ads is a waste of resources that should go to other priorities.

Getting off my soap box now.

Tom
Longview, TX 

[mcb39]

On 12/7/2024 at 11:13 AM, BulldogTom said:

   

There is a housecleaning that needs to be done.   The IRS has become so inefficient that it barely operates.  I realize the task is large, but posting cat fluencer videos and ads is a waste of resources that should go to other priorities.

Getting off my soap box now.

Tom
Longview, TX 

Since some of us are sharing our deepest thoughts, don't even get me started on what I think about the WISP.  I agonized over it; took the time to study the template and filled it out.  Now that my assistant has read it, apparently I have to add an addendum to that effect.  Are they really and truly trying to drive us out of business; and, if so, Why?  I hope it isn't because they see more revenue in fines and penalties from preparers who only set up shop once a year to make a fast dollar; then disappear until the next year or forever.

[Sara EA]

I can't believe that someone with NO tax experience can run the IRS.  Title 26 of the United States Code is not beach reading!  All of us can remember our first year preparing taxes.  We thought we knew it all until someone came in with an RRB-1099 or a 40-page brokerage statement.  It took us years to learn such things as carried interest and partners' contributions of appreciated or depreciated assets.  One would hope the person running the show already knows.

[Catherine]

Yes, I am also one who is fed up with the IRS seeing us as a problem, instead of their biggest help and an invaluable resource for and to them. If all of us quit tomorrow, the entire Service would grind to an absolute halt as they would be inundated with calls for help, incorrect returns, mailed-in returns, demands for refunds, and their printers would seize up from printing all the mandatory letters for errors. I don't care who is Commissioner but I do care that the emphasis be on fixing the Service instead of whatever else they've been doing that doesn't fix anything.

[Catherine]

2 minutes ago, Sara EA said:

I can't believe that someone with NO tax experience can run the IRS.

They certainly can't address any tax issues, but a good manager could do a lot of good in terms of directing the focus of departments (such as increasing training/staffing on phones including the PPL), coordinating overall infrastructure upgrades, and stopping the aggression against good preparers while the bad ones either skate or are actively rewarded for their dis-service to taxpayers.

[Corduroy Frog]

I was told at my last seminar that the IRS is now hiring high school graduates.  Expect some of their people to know less than we do. 

Fixing all the problems at the IRS is a behemoth.  The new commissioner, whomever (s)he is won't be fixing anything - too busy going to useless meetings and acting important for public appearances.

I believe the most realistic assessment of the IRS, as well as any blueprint for improvement comes from the office of Nina Olsen.

 

[mcb39]

I have had an assistant in training for four years.  IMO, she is doing an excellent job with what she does.  However, she is far from able to go out on her own; at least with some of my clientele.  I started as a professional in 1992.  My gross income that year was $705.  How do you pit 32 years of knowledge and learning against zero.

Even at that rate, there are days when I feel as though I don't know enough to even be in this business.  There are days when I am constantly researching and there are no days when I don't check out this board to find out what I do or don't know.   I am seriously aggressive and dedicated to this job.  How does someone come in off of the street and have the ability to manage all of us?  I have professional accountants who are willing to take it off my hands, but as long as I am well enough and my brain is clear enough to continue; I will continue because there is a huge need for those of us who hang out here and other professionals.  However, if they cotinue to push back at us, how many of us will there be left.  I just did a little updating on Friday so I guess that means that I have to add an addendum to my beloved WISP.

 

[Corduroy Frog]

18 hours ago, Corduroy Frog said:

I was told at my last seminar that the IRS is now hiring high school graduates.  Expect some of their people to know less than we do. 

Fixing all the problems at the IRS is a behemoth.  The new commissioner, whomever (s)he is won't be fixing anything - too busy going to useless meetings and acting important for public appearances.

I believe the most realistic assessment of the IRS, as well as any blueprint for improvement comes from the office of Nina Olsen.

 

Yes I know Nina Olsen retired a few years ago, but she was extremely accurate with her annual report.

[Sara EA]

In defense of high school graduates, we don't know what the IRS is hiring them to do.  Open mail?  Input data?  I doubt they are starting out as auditors.  Most tax pros had no tax training in high school or college.  I got mine at H&R Block and later in a Masters in Taxation program, long after I received a BA in English.  As long as the young people are capable of learning, I believe they will eventually become experts.  I'm sure IRS would rather hire people who already know what they're doing, but Congress imposes limits on how much they can pay so people who know tax or IT likely search for employment elsewhere.

[BrewOne]

I think the biggest problem was when the IRS stopped giving their new hires 9 months of training before "interfacing" with the public (and I believe a minimum of 24 hours of accounting was a prerequisite for hiring as an agent).  I have reduced my representation to just helping with returns I prepared.  I have no desire to spend my time trying to educate the person on the other end of the line--I tell taxpayers if they get a clueless employee, hang up and try again in 10 minutes.