Charles Rettig

The Internal Revenue Service appointed Lia Colbert as the new commissioner of its Small Business Self-Employed Division to oversee the IRS’s collection activities and the examinations of most businesses in the U.S.

“IRS employees want to do more to help taxpayers,” Commissioner Rettig told Congress on Thursday.

The service has been under pressure from Congress and accounting groups to perform better as another hectic tax season comes to a close.

The IRS has the expertise to enforce President Joe Biden’s proposal to tax the unrealized gains of mega-millionaires and billionaires, Senator Elizabeth Warren contended in the face of criticism over the workability of a proposal she strongly supports.

Lawmakers are asking the Internal Revenue Service to expedite the processing of Employee Retention Tax Credits and not to penalize small businesses for incorrectly paying their estimated quarterly taxes as they await their claims.

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Rettig pledged to do more to improve taxpayer service after Congress approved a $675 million funding increase.

The page aims to provide the latest about the current tax season, and the agency’s efforts to deal with the backlog of millions of previously filed returns.

The agency is halting automated collection notices, balance due notices and unfiled tax return notices, after coming under pressure from lawmakers and tax professionals to first catch up on its backlog.

The Internal Revenue Service backtracked from a plan to use facial recognition software from a third-party company for taxpayer authentication.

The service faces a backlog of millions of unprocessed tax returns, and warned taxpayers and preparers to be patient.

The Internal Revenue Service made its Free File program available on Friday, allowing taxpayers who earn less than $73,000 in adjusted gross income to start preparing and filing their tax returns for free.

When filing season begins in two weeks, taxpayers should be prepared for delays as returns and refunds are processed, and for difficulties in reaching the IRS.

The IRS will begin processing and accepting 2021 returns on Monday, Jan. 24, with a filing deadline of Monday, April 18.

The Internal Revenue Service has updated its guidance on claiming the Recovery Rebate Credit and issued a report Friday on how it responded last year to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Internal Revenue Service is strengthening the identity verification and sign-in process for its online self-help tools after a number of high-profile data breaches.

The measure could be used to pay for a modification of the cap on the federal deduction of state and local taxes.

The Internal Revenue Service is asking tax professionals to help clients who fell prey to identity thieves who have been filing unemployment claims in their names during the pandemic.

The Internal Revenue Service has launched a campaign this summer to persuade tax professionals to improve their cybersecurity amid an escalating series of ransomware attacks around the world.

The service is gearing up for a potentially massive tax-enforcement push if Congress passes a plan including $40 billion to expand audits on the wealthy.

The service released a Data Book Thursday highlighting its work this past fiscal year, particularly in response to the pandemic.