Over 70 million taxpayers each year have to interact with the IRS outside of filing a tax return. Many of these taxpayers need their account information at the IRS for a variety of reasons -including resolving an IRS notice or tax problem or getting their tax information for other uses, like applying for financial aid or a loan. Tax professionals are repeatedly called on by clients to help both obtain and understand their IRS information. Also, effective tax problem solving requires that the tax professional conduct effective due diligence which includes understanding their client’s IRS account information. This course will go into the importance of understanding taxpayer account information, including how to obtain, analyze, and use the five types of IRS transcripts. We will also cover how to interview the IRS to get other critical tax account information.
Publication Date: January 2022
Designed For
Tax professionals and tax firm leaders who want to be able to understand how to obtain, understand, and use IRS account information to answer client questions and resolve common tax issues with the IRS.
Topics Covered
- The need for IRS account information
- Interviewing the IRS
- IRS transcripts
- Client access to IRS account information
- Third-party authorizations
- 7 uses for IRS transcripts
- Best practices and tips on obtaining and analyzing tax account information
- IRS account information and resolving a tax problem
- Real-time access to client IRS account information
Learning Objectives
- Identify what information you can obtain from the IRS about your client and where to obtain IRS account information
- Recognize how to execute the proper authorization (Form 2848 or 8821) to obtain your client's account information at the IRS
- Describe how to effectively conduct due diligence to identify and resolve a client's tax issue with the IRS
- Identify how to interview IRS Practitioner Priority Service and campus compliance units to obtain important information about your client
- Recognize how to obtain, analyze, and use the five type of IRS transcripts to answer client questions and resolve tax problems and issues
- Describe how to initiate access to the IRS e-Services Transcript Delivery System platform to obtain client transcripts
- Utilize IRS transcripts to identify future tax problems and notices and to double check the accuracy of prior year filed returns
- Identify the approximate number of taxpayers with a tax problem each year
- Identify which January 2022 IRS notices relates to advance child tax credit payments
- Recognize what is included as one of the three primary sources of information from the IRS
- Recognize which online IRS tools is used to release a tax return refund after receiving IRS Letter 5071C/5747C/6331C/5447C
- Identify types of taxpayers who would ordinarily not have a mismatch resulting in a CP2000
- Identify the final step in the three-step process for tax problem solving
Level
Basic
Instructional Method
Self-Study
NASBA Field of Study
Taxes (2 hours)
Program Prerequisites
None
Advance Preparation
None
Instructor
Jim Buttonow
Jim Buttonow, CPA, CITP, has been a leader in helping taxpayers and tax professionals resolve tax problems with the IRS.
For 19 years, Jim worked at the IRS in various compliance enforcement positions. Since 2006, Jim has been in private practice and tax and accounting software development. Jim consulting practice focuses on the areas of tax controversy and tax administration. Jim led product development and marketing for a successful software company that developed tax problem software for tax professionals and has developed and implemented post-filing tax services to large tax providers, such as H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt. This software is currently being used by tens of thousands of tax professionals and businesses in the United States.
Jim has been an IRS partner in improving IRS operations and post-filing service to taxpayers. Jim served as chairperson of the IRS Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC) in 2015 and 2016 during which ETAAC played a central role in promoting the IRS digital strategy to develop transformative technology solutions to systemic challenges in tax administration. Jim also served as the North Carolina representative on the IRS’ Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) from 2020-2022.
Jim regularly speaks on areas of tax administration and problem solving to national associations and has testified before Congress in areas of tax administration. He has also published many articles in industry publications. In his articles, Jim focuses on delivering practical insights, advocating for IRS transparency and efficiency, and proposing innovative large-scale solutions for taxpayers and tax professionals.
Jim currently authors the Tax Problems and Solutions Handbook, a publication aimed at helping tax pros work more effectively in post-filing matters and resolving their clients’ most common tax problems. The book can be found online at TaxProblemsHandbook.com. Jim can be reached at Jim@buttonowcpa.com or at his website at buttonowcpa.com.