In a March 21 speech before a tax executives convention, IRS chief Charles Rettig stated that the agency is “trending in a really good direction” in catching up on unprocessed returns. However, he warned, the agency needs more in long-term government funding if it’s going to achieve its six-year modernization plan. Despite a recent 6% […]

The next time you contact the IRS, your call or online text might be received by a voice or chat bot. The IRS is now employing the technology on two of its specialized phone-assistance lines and on IRS.gov. The voice bots will provide taxpayers with assistance in English and Spanish. These bots can help taxpayers […]

A bipartisan group of lawmakers recently sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig requesting information on the suspension of certain tax notices that the IRS normally issues when a taxpayer owes tax and the IRS has no record of the taxpayer filing a tax return. The lawmakers expressed confusion about the extent to which […]

Advocates of charities are urging Congress to revive a charitable giving deduction for taxpayers who don’t itemize on their tax returns. The above-the-line tax deduction was created by the CARES Act in response to the pandemic. It was available in 2020 and extended through 2021 but has expired for 2022. For 2021, the deduction was […]

Did you employ a household worker in 2021? This could include a housekeeper, nanny, gardener, cook, health care worker, tutor or someone else. If so, you may owe what’s commonly called the “nanny tax.” If you paid him or her $2,300 or more in 2021 you must file Schedule H (Household Employment Taxes) with your […]

A large number of errors made by taxpayers is hurting the IRS with its inventory of unprocessed tax returns. The backlog is mostly paper-filed returns and is dominated by errors relating to Economic Impact Payments (EIPs). On more than 10 million returns filed in 2021, taxpayers “failed to properly reconcile” the two 2020 EIPs with […]