Tax season

Clients have a lot of questions this year beyond just higher taxes. Preparers report they’ve already begun fielding inquiries about the later start to tax season and possible delays in refunds.

The recent fiscal cliff tax deal extends the ability to treat mortgage insurance premiums as qualified residential interest, and the Internal Revenue Service is providing guidance on how to report the premiums on Form 1098, both electronically and on paper.

Preparers who add more employees during tax season -- especially employees new to a practice -- must develop standards of communication and management, according to the Income Tax School’s white paper, “Leveling the Playing Field: How to Compete with the National Firms.”

The Internal Revenue Service faced challenges last tax season providing telephone service to taxpayers and responding to their correspondence, continuing the negative trends in recent years despite some efficiency gains and efforts to improve service, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.

Approximately 60 percent of taxpayers who claim large-dollar noncash charitable contributions on their returns may not be complying with federal reporting requirements, according to a new report, with potentially erroneous contributions estimated at $3.8 billion in 2010.

The Internal Revenue Service has reversed course on its prohibition against stockpiling tax returns before transmitting, and said Friday that because of the late tax law changes, the stockpiling rule does not apply.

The Internal Revenue Service has released the annual inflation adjustments for 2013, including the tax rate schedules and other tax changes from the recently enacted fiscal cliff legislation with its new tax rate of 39.6 percent and permanently patched Alternative Minimum Tax.

The Internal Revenue Service stated on Tuesday that they will begin processing individual tax returns on Jan. 30, 2013, marking the official beginning of “tax season” for tax professionals.

CCH has issued a new report looking back at the year in tax, summarizing the major developments up to and including the fiscal cliff legislation that was passed by Congress on New Year’s Day.

The IRS has posted a list of 30 additional tax forms that 1040 filers can begin filing in late February or into March.

The Internal Revenue Service warned electronic filing providers Wednesday that they must not submit tax returns electronically before receiving all Forms W-2, W-2G and 1099-R from taxpayers.

The Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday that it plans to open the 2013 tax filing season and begin processing individual income tax returns on Jan. 30, more than a week after the initially planned start date of Jan. 22, but some returns cannot be processed until late February or March.

The Internal Revenue Service has begun accepting electronic signatures on requests for tax transcripts.

The Internal Revenue Service said Monday that its Modernized eFile system has begun accepting business tax returns.

Tax forms from the federal government and many states may be delayed in the aftermath of the fiscal cliff legislation, one of the largest tax preparation chains warned.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued proposed regulations to create a new taxpayer identifying number known as the IRS Truncated Taxpayer Identification Number, or TTIN, that can be used instead of a Social Security number in response to the growing problem of identity theft-related tax fraud.

Even though President Obama indicated only last Friday that the fiscal cliff deal likely to be produced by the January 1 deadline would be a basic package, lawmakers managed to come out with a surprisingly comprehensive set of tax provisions, some with long-lasting effects.

The Internal Revenue Service has finalized its regulations regarding how tax preparers can use and disclose the information on their clients’ tax returns.

A new Web site aims to establish a competitive bidding system where tax preparers can compete for clients.

In the face of major uncertainty regarding the upcoming tax season, Jeff Gramlich, president of tax software developer CCH Small Firm Services, is urging tax preparers to get in touch and stay in touch with their clients.