Tax relief

The Internal Revenue Service is pointing to some of the successes with pro bono clinics that represented nearly 20,000 taxpayers in 2020 who faced a tax dispute with the agency, despite the pandemic.

The service is setting up so-called “surge teams,” temporarily moving approximately 1,200 employees with previous experience back into key areas from other parts of the agency.

A top House Democrat suggested Thursday that his party scale back eligibility for child tax credits as a way to unlock President Joe Biden’s stalled economic agenda.

After coming under pressure from an array of tax and accounting professional associations and hundreds of members of Congress, the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday it would suspend issuance of some of its automated penalty notices to taxpayers, but tax and accounting groups say the agency isn’t providing enough relief.

The service is under pressure from lawmakers to stop penalties and pause automated collections from taxpayers who have been caught in a processing backlog.

A group of Senate Democrats want the expanded monthly Child Tax Credit payment as the “centerpiece” of any revived tax and spending agenda.

Millions of American families came to depend the advanced credit amid a surge in the cost of living and the continued spread of COVID-19.

The Internal Revenue Service added more information on the Recovery Rebate Credit, providing extra details on its Frequently Answered Questions document about finding the first Economic Impact Payment amounts to calculate the credit.

The service has updated the information on its FAQ page for the CTC and advance CTC payments.

Victims of Hurricane Ida in six states now have until Feb. 15 to file various individual and business federal returns and make tax payments.