irs

tax refunds, tax pro market share trending up

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data table

* total refunds issued represents returns received and processed in 2024 – the current year only. the number of direct deposit refunds represents returns received in the current and prior year but processed in 2024.

 

how long before more figures flip positive … or might they not?

by beth bellor

the 2024 filing season has been seven days shorter than 2023’s, but that’s making less difference as individual income tax returns keep dropping into the internal revenue service inbox, just 3 percent off last year’s pace.

more: tax pros handle 37.7% of e-filings | tax pros file 33% of early returns
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the irs had received 44.6 million such returns as of feb. 23, the last week for which data has been released. it had processed 44.1 million returns, down 3.6 percent.
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refunds up as tax pros tackle 41.5% of e-filings

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* total refunds issued represent returns received and processed in 2024 – the current year only. the number of direct deposit refunds represents returns received in the current and prior year but processed in 2024.

also: the irs realizes a footnote is in order and we are shocked.

by beth bellor

average tax refunds are on the rise, so the weekly filing data has one uptick besides the amount of traffic to the irs website – an increase that perhaps isn’t a positive.

more: tax pros handle 37.7% of e-filings | tax pros file 33% of early returns
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the internal revenue service had received 34.7 million returns, down 5.7 percent from the same period one year ago, as of the week ending feb. 16, the latest data available. lower numbers are no surprise, of course, because there had been only 19 days in the 2024 filing season, which opened jan. 29, compared to the 26 days there had been in the 2023 season, which opened jan. 23.
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tax pros handle 37.7% of e-filings

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data table

paper still used by 2.2 percent of filers.

by beth bellor
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

tax season moves slowly forward, and tax professionals slowly gain ground

more: tax pros file 33% of early returns | if only the irs’s tax pro were useful | the nightmare of non-credentialed tax preparers | must the irs be a dark hole? | irs plays whac-a-mole with the phones | tax pros are expanding and earning more
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as of the week ending feb. 9 – the latest for which data are available – the irs had received 25.6 million individual income tax returns, down 11.4 percent from the same period a year ago. it had processed 25.4 million returns, down 4.4 percent.

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it’s time to fix the problem of qtips and llcs

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goldberg urges the irs to address new state laws that pose a threat to the qtip marital decuction.

by seymour goldberg, cpa, mba (taxation), jd
the practitioner’s guide to the ira distribution rules under the secure act

lately, some clients and others have inquired about transferring their ownership in limited liability companies to trusts for estate planning and asset protection. i cautioned them that doing so could lead to complex tax and legal problems. to address this, i recently made a formal request to the irs for guidance on a unique situation.

read goldberg’s revenue ruling request here (pdf, 5 pages.)

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pros handle 45% of income tax returns

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data tablerefunds down by double digits.

by beth bellor
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

tax season 2023 has been consistent. refunds are down, and so are self-prepared filings and irs.gov visits. by every other marker, though, business is as usual or better.

more: on business outlook, cpas are confident … and concerned | at the irs, short on staff means short on service | more cpas see worsening economy | marchternity: the solution is community |
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as of feb. 24, the latest data available, the irs had received 46 million individual income tax returns, up 1.3 percent from the same period in 2022. it had processed 45.7 million returns, up 4.3 percent.

we always like to see processing go quickly, and the agency is speeding through returns right now at a clip of 99.4 percent.

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at the irs, short on staff means short on service

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guess who suffers?

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

it probably won’t surprise the average tax practitioner to learn that in the american customer satisfaction index of federal agencies, the internal revenue service ranks dead last.

more: tax pros offer advice for small businesses | busy season barometer finds many cpas in transition | marchternity: just say ‘no’ | news on irs is maybe sort of a little bit good
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it accomplished the same dubious rank in forrest research’s u.s. customer experience index of 221 companies and federal agencies.

two sad things about this:
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tax season opens with refunds up 85%

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data tablenearly two-thirds of returns have been self-prepared.

by beth bellor

the latest tax season is off to a roar, with refunds up 85 percent and processing up 29 percent above last year at this time.

more on tax season: more: marchternity: just say ‘no’ | marchternity: the solution is community | why the irs is still doing data entry by hand | news on irs is maybe sort of a little bit good | why we all hate the tax code | how bullish are you this tax season? | accountants’ top problems for tax season 2023 | tax season 2023: better or worse?

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

as of feb. 3, the end of the first week of collections, the irs had received 19 million individual income tax returns, up 13.5 percent from the same week in 2022. it had processed 16.8 million returns, up 29.1 percent.
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why the irs is still doing data entry by hand

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young businessman sleeping on the keyboard in the officefive recommendations are offered to improve processing. start with scanners.

want to know the top trends and issues this year?
join the survey. get the answers.
start here.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

here’s something you’d better explain to your tax clients, lest you get blamed:

more: news on irs is maybe sort of a little bit good | why we all hate the tax code | how bullish are you this tax season? | accountants’ top problems for tax season 2023 | tax season 2023: better or worse?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

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should the irs create a free file app of its own?

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three ways to fix the program.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

here’s something weird: the irs offers the vast majority of taxpayers the option to use the free file program to prepare returns.

more: irs audit rates are dropping, and big earners couldn’t be happier | six more ways to fix the irs | is remote the new normal? | accounting pros face challenges in turbulent times | your tax season success plan starts here, now | tax prep fintech startup: april raises $30 million | accountants agree: the top five ways to fix the irs

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it costs taxpayers nothing. yet only three percent use it. can it be fixed? should it? congress is weighing in.

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accountants agree: the top five ways to fix the irs

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the united states of frustration: schaffer, zulager, toye, devine. (word cloud: 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research)

some suggestions: burn it down and start over. abolish the income tax altogether. privatize it.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

if the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer were a thermometer, it would be popping its mercury with responses to “how would you fix the irs?”

see: irs tops list of busy season problems

we’re getting a lot of comments, many of them scorchingly hot. accountants and tax preparers are not happy with the government agency that their profession depends on more than any other.

more busy season ’22: survey: big worries for u.s. and small business  |  working harder for every dollar  |  for a few: why busy season 2022 beats 2021 |  can the r&d tax credit be used to offset the amt?  |  21 reasons tax clients fire accountants  |  unhappy about tax season?  |  individual tax refunds up 13%  | shut down the tax charlatans   | eight quick, easy ways to fix irs filing   |  a tax season worse than 2021?  |  16 traits of the best tax clients  | irs under covid: heroes or goats?

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the top five most common recommendations:
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irs tops list of busy season problems

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forget covid. the underfunded, understaffed, underequipped, underappreciated, misunderstood irs is the top problem.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

it probably won’t surprise you that the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer identifies irs operations as the biggest problem tax practitioners face today. in fact, we’ve never seen such widespread agreement among respondents—an astonishing 80 percent of them.

more in tax: shut down the tax charlatans | tax pros preparing 46 percent of e-filings | eight quick, easy ways to fix irs filing | for a few: why busy season 2022 beats 2021 | a tax season worse than 2021? | 16 traits of the best tax clients | six fixable problems at the irs | irs under covid: heroes or goats? | irs launches 2022 season with “strong start” | two big (and obvious) ways irs could work with practitioners | imagine a fully online irs | the real cost of interstate sales tax | irs at death’s door? | beyond tax prep: the big cha-ching! | crisis at the irs | the irs’s 10 biggest problems | fear and loathing for tax season ’22

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that consensus indicates that there really is a problem at the irs. it’s underfunded, understaffed, underequipped, and, at this point, underappreciated and misunderstood.

the real problem is that the problem is creating problems. irs staff can’t keep up with correspondence, yet the computers, even though working off an operating system that dates back to the kennedy administration, keep churning out moot notices and undeserved penalties.

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eight quick, easy ways to fix irs filing

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well, “quick” and “easy” on paper. in real life at the irs, it’s different.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

there’s always room for improvement—even (or, especially?) at the internal revenue service.

for one thing—or really eight things—the process of filing returns could stand a little fine-tuning.

the only problem is, changing some parts of the process require changing the tax code, and that requires congressional legislation, and that requires…well, no one really knows.

more tax: imagine a fully online irs | the real cost of interstate sales tax | irs at death’s door? | beyond tax prep: the big cha-ching! | crisis at the irs | the irs’s 10 biggest problems | fear and loathing for tax season ’22 |  padar joins vc-backed tax fintech for banks |  covid chokes an already crippled irs | tax regs for the metaverse | 10 steps to a superior tax department | accountants critical of competitor price-cutting |  automate busy season with apps you already use | sales & use tax costs are higher than anyone thought | survey: nobody loves the wayfair decision | busy season forecast: more chaos  | a woman named wanda leaves an ira nightmare  | are you under-pricing your client accounting services?  | your best advice: get smart, get tech, get moving | worries for small business clients |

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here are the eight problems with the process of filing tax returns identified by the taxpayer advocate service—and just as many simple solutions.

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