Tax Talk

  • Holiday Office Hours

    From our family to yours, Federal Direct would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season!  Federal Direct corporate offices will be closed on Christmas Eve December 24th and Christmas Day December 25th. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

    IRS May Fine 122,133 Paid Tax Preparers $345 Million in Penalties

    Last tax season marked an increasing level of noncompliance by tax preparers with the Internal Revenue Service’s due diligence reporting requirements for the Earned Income Tax Credit, according to a new report reviewing the IRS’s performance during the delayed tax season. The report, from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, found that as of […]

    2014 Tax Season Opens on January 31st

    According to IR-2013-100, the IRS plans to open the 2014 filing season on January 31. The IRS cautioned that it will not process any tax returns before January 31, so there is no advantage to filing on paper before the opening date. Until tax season officially begins, the stockpiling rule doesn’t apply. The April 15 […]

    New IRS Commissioner Koskinen Approved

    John Koskinen, a 74-year-old multimillionaire with a resume full of accomplishments, will be the new Commissioner of the IRS. The Senate Finance Committee approved his nomination Friday.

    Tax Prep Fees on The Rise

    According to Accounting Today, average fees for tax prep are rising. While it certainly does depend on which forms you need, all tax prep fees are steadily increasing a few percentage points, and will very likely continue to rise as the individual mandate is facilitated through tax filing.

  • Fraudulent Tax Offices and Check Cashing Stores Targeted by IRS

    The first week of the tax season has seen some interesting actions taken by the IRS.  They have actively taken aim at both high fraud tax offices and check cashing facilities that seem to consistently be in the middle of of these problematic returns.  In prior years, the IRS has taken more of a reactionary […]

    Detroit Tax Fraud Ring Blamed for First Week Slow Fund

    The IRS released insight that tax returns filed between the 17th and 24th are experiencing delays in funding, but returns filed after that 24th should be back inline with the standard funding cycle.  IRS fraud detection systems are at the root of the delays. Over $800,000 in fraudulent tax filings were said to have been […]

    PTIN payment site scheduled to be operational on Monday 1/16/2012

    The IRS’ PTIN website for renewing and obtaining Preparer Tax Identification Numbers has been a challenge this year, to say the least.  Ever since mid December, the PTIN site has been broken and under maintenance more than it has been up.  New PTIN applicants have not been able to complete the process and pay for […]

    PTIN Application Website Down For Maintenance

    Due to previously scheduled maintenance on IRS systems, the PTIN system will be unavailable for NEW applications from 5:00 PM ET on Friday, December 23 until approximately 9:00 AM ET on Monday, January 9. Preparers are still able to renew existing PTINs during this window. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.”

    2011 IRS Publication 17 now available

    The IRS has released the final revisions to the 2011 tax year publication 17.  This publication is probably the most comprehensive set of information covering individual tax return filing, and is also one of the forms that will be available to you while taking the upcoming RTRP examination.  You can access a downloadable form of […]

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