Auditing for Due Diligence Compliance Audits for compliance with EITC due diligence requirements are another tier of our EITC Preparer Compliance Program. We look at returns with a high chance of errors completed by the same preparer and use that information to select preparers for audits. We may have contacted…

Schedule A To prepare an accurate Schedule A, you should ask your clients sufficient questions to determine that the expenses that are being claimed are correct.  The most common Schedule A issues are: Unreimbursed Employee Business Expenses claimed on Form 2106: Taxpayers may only claim allowable unreimbursed expenses. Mileage claimed…

1. Claiming a child who is not a qualifying child. This error occurs when taxpayers claim a child who does not meet all four tests for a qualifying child. This is the most common EITC error. To be considered a qualifying child, the child must meet all relationship, age, joint…

Paid tax return preparers are required to exercise due diligence when preparing any client’s return or claim for refund. Starting in 2016, the paid tax return preparer’s Earned Income Credit (EIC) due diligence and recordkeeping requirements have been expanded to also cover the Child Tax Credit/Additional Child Tax Credit (CTC/ACTC)…

The states of Arkansas, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, and New York require tax preparers to charge the same fees to all clients irrespective of whether or not a client uses a bank product to facilitate payment of their refund, or in the case of New York chooses to e-file or paper…

E-Services is a suite of web-based tools that allow tax professionals and payers to complete certain transactions online with the IRS. The tools include Registration Services, e-file Application, Transcript Delivery and TIN Matching. These services are only available to approved IRS business partners as noted below and not to the…

Safeguarding taxpayer information should be a top priority for you, as a tax preparer as well as for each employee in your office.  Understanding and meeting your responsibility to protect taxpayer information by putting safeguards in place not only will help prevent fraud and identity theft, but it will also…

Employers The Affordable Care Act requires employers to report the cost of coverage under an employer-sponsored group health plan. To allow employers more time to update their payroll systems,Notice 2010-69, issued in fall 2010, made this requirement optional for all employers in 2011. IRSNotice 2011-28provided further relief by making this…

The information that follows is taken from this article provided by the IRS: Auditing for Due Diligence Compliance Audits for compliance with EITC due diligence requirements are another tier of our EITC Preparer Compliance Program. We look at returns with a high chance of errors completed by the same preparer and use…

Let your clients know they can now pay their tax bills directly from their checking or savings accounts using IRSDirect Pay.  It’s secure, free of charge and available on IRS.gov.   Direct Pay is a new service provided by the IRS that allows taxpayers to pay their tax liability as well…