Posted on 02/06/2021 9:47:13 AM PST by george76
Accountants along Colorado’s Front Range are telling CBS4 that dozens of clients who paid their 2019 taxes are nonetheless getting menacing letters from the IRS. Those letters are threatening late fees, penalties and in some cases, property seizure.
“Well they’re frightened,” said Denver CPA William Fraser, “They don’t understand why the government, the IRS, would be chasing after them when they’ve paid their taxes.”
Fraser said he has about 30 clients who paid their 2019 taxes but are still getting the intimidating letters from the feds. He says his clients are “frightened, angry, stressed, worried because the letters say they’re going to come take their assets.”
Tom Conradt, a Denver tax attorney, estimates “easily 50 of our clients made payments but were not credited. They’re freaked out and very scared.”
The problem appears to partly be a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic but also partly due to ongoing issues with the IRS like archaic computer systems, slashed budgets and understaffing that are now causing consequences for taxpayers.
When the pandemic took hold in 2020, the IRS sent nearly 60,000 employees home to work and more than 500 IRS offices were shut down. The remote workforce meant lots of mail that didn’t get opened in a timely manner and a gap in customer service as phone calls from the public were not answered.
As of late last year, there were approximately one million unprocessed tax returns from 2019 and three million pieces of unopened mail. Paper tax returns and letters from taxpayers sat unopened in trucks in post office parking lots for months while IRS offices were closed down.
“It’s a giant backlog,” said Conradt, “Systemic exacerbated by COVID. They are so incredibly backlogged,” observed the Denver tax attorney.
He said there is a “giant disconnect” with payments sent in and being cashed by the IRS, but not being processed and automated delinquent notices are being sent out.
“This is a massive, massive problem that’s going to take some time to fix,” said Conradt.
Another Colorado CPA said he, too, has dozens of clients who paid their taxes but are receiving delinquency notices.
“When IRS received checks they got cashed immediately, however they have not posted the payments to taxpayers accounts. Therefore, the computers do not have the credits and automatically begin sending out delinquency notices.”
Raphael Tulino, an IRS spokesperson, told CBS4 the pandemic “put us behind the 8 ball.” He said the agency is asking for patience.
“IRS is committed to working with taxpayers as we navigate tax administration in and through a COVID environment,” said Tulino. “Although there are still some limited service delays and timing issues, if you get a letter or notice from IRS please respond to it and consider IRS is flexible and will work with you based on your complete set of facts and circumstances.”
Fraser said he is telling clients to relax..
“They will get around to this, they will get it fixed,” he said. “They will get your account straightened out, they will remove the interest and penalties.”
But he cautioned it may take the IRS six months or more to get things worked out.
The Clintoons and Obamazork did this.
I had relatives and friends who were pounded by the IRS until we elected Trump as president.
Our great female conservative acct. (no longer with us) had some simple advice:
1. Never cheat nor lie.
2. Have several legitimate, but unclaimed deductions and during your interview, keep saying, “Excuse me is this a deduction, I forgot to enter it.” The IRS office auditors are on a strict time limit. They hate this action.
3. To make it even more effective have more than one year of
undeclared deductions with you. I have a few hundred $’s for several years.
CBS cannot stop their Commie whining........
“...like archaic computer systems, slashed budgets and understaffing that are now causing consequences for taxpayers.”
Sniff. IRS budget is $12B dollars.
https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/266/19.-IRS-FY-2021-BIB.pdf
Flat tax. Low taxes solve this.
Does anyone have sympathy for FedGov?
McCain Staff Director Henry Kerner promoted financially ruinous audits to Lois Lerner against Conservatives...
Henry Kerner urged the IRS to target peaceful Conservatives: to “audit so many that it becomes financially ruinous..”
Denver talking heads are terrible - not only at cBS..
9News hired a BLM thug to do security who was not licensed to do security.. After one of their journ-0-lists ( Kyle Clark) mocked citizens for being concerned about Antifa / BLM thugs starting arson / looting / violence...
You’re a smug, dishonest propagandist Kyle Clark ( talking head ) taking cheap potshots from the comfort of a TV studio. There is NO moral equivalency between peaceful supporters of law & order at our rally & the BLM/Antifa thugs who crashed ours & BEAT people.. ~ Michele Malkin.. (July 19)…
A former employer sent a duplicate 1099 to the IRS in December 2019, so the IRS sent me a demand letter for $15K in extra taxes and penalties in Feb 2020. I had the employer send them a corrected 1099 in March, but didn’t get the “oops, never mind” letter until Nov 2020.
The incompetence is not a ‘bug’, it’s a ‘feature’...
The enclosed check was cashed within a week. That summer I got a letter my tax return was overdue so I sent in a copy.
A month ago I got another similar letter. Sent in another copy. When I check my tax status online, they still have not been processed even though it shows my payment made.
The IRS is incompetent. And excessive if not unconstitutional.
So no government workers worked during Covid?
For almost a quarter century now I’ve been saying if Timothy McVey and his Iraqi buddy had blown up the IRS offices in DC America would be celebrating April 19th as Patriot’s Day again and forever.
Never forget, when you take the space out of the phrase “The IRS” it tells you exactly how our government thinks and acts about you, your earnings and your property.
This is reminiscent of the SCRS debacle of 1985. I worked at the IRS back in the 80’s. They were updating the Fred and Barney era computer system, did a small test installation, then proceeded to replace the entire system just before filing season. The whole thing crashed and burned in a manner that rivaled the Hindinberg. Nothing was processed for 6 months. Rumors circulated of raw unbatched documents sent to the shredder when the unprocessed batched documents began to pile up. It took 2 years to wade through that shitstorm and finally catch up.
The IRS is the enemy of the American people.
They threaten people....and they’re the victim?!?
I filed an amended return in April with a refund due. I have not received the money yet.
Hell, I filed and paid 2019 last March and have the return receipt and canceled checks to prove it. Still not showing as processed. Has screwed us out of part of last year’s and me the latest economic impact payments. (Ironically, my wife got the latest but not me...we filed jointly!) In addition, it was about to screw us out of a chunk of our social security in 2021 but through a mighty effort on my part and a functioning Social Security office that got fixed just in the nick of time.
“Does anyone have sympathy for FedGov?”
No and I’m retired from “it”.
or that you will CIRCLE BACK to them in several months
So, stop the freaking automated notices until you get the payments properly posted. That’s a no brainer. So sorry, Chairman Xiden has to deal with the consequences of this overhyped Covid debacle. JK
One time I had some tax issue that weren’t being addressed in my favor. Then they sent me a handwritten note, on note paper, telling me I needed to pay them. I ignored them after that, and 10 years later my dispute was settled in my favor. If they were sending handwritten notes 15 years ago, it hasn’t gotten better since then.
No too backlogged to send out collection letters
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