TAX

IRS Sluggish on Identity Theft

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bar chart with line chart

And slow isn’t all that’s wrong.

By CPA Trendlines Research

Victims of identity theft suffer plenty enough without the IRS making a rotten situation worse.

But that’s what’s been happening.

MORE: Check These 41 Items on Business Tax Returns | IRS Must Speed Up Tax Return Processing | First Tax Filing Reports Are In | Cut Down Your Tax Work in Progress | Steve Yoss: Unlocking Business Insight with Power BIs | Quick Tax Tip | More Than 1 Million ERC Claims Still Not Processed | Art Werner: The Godfather and Tax Issues | Quick Tax Tip | Advanced Tax Preparers Need Managing, Too | The Top Ten Problems the IRS Still Needs to Fix
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The National Taxpayers Advocate’s 2024 Annual Report to Congress says, “These victims are still experiencing unconscionable delays waiting for the IRS to process their returns and pay their refunds with no immediate resolution in sight.”

Congressional Concerns

How unconscionable? How about an average of 556 days – nearly 19 months – to process a case and issue a refund?
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Tax Preparers Share Advice for Your Clients

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Man and woman at table in client meeting

Help them prepare for what’s to come.

Join the Busy Season Barometer. Get the results.

By CPA Trendlines Research

Accountants sound worried. When the 2025 Busy Season Barometer survey asked if anyone had advice on how small businesses should prepare for the next 12-18 months, almost half took the time to respond.

MORE Barometer: Staffing, Tech, Prices Top Tax Pros’ Concerns | Tax Pros Gear Up for a Better Busy Season
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Here’s a list of some of the more meaningful responses. Which would apply to your clients? Which should you share with them?

___ Figure out which labor-intensive functions they can automate ASAP. (Andrew Schwartz)

___ Take advantage of near-term opportunities with post-Tax Cuts and Jobs Act legislation (as they become clearer) and provide services/planning for more probable changes in taxes/economy for 3-5 year, 5-10 year and 10 year+ timeframes. (Anthony Aleta) READ MORE →

Check These 41 Items on Business Tax Returns

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Woman's hand using a pencil on notepad

A handy reviewer’s checklist.

By Ed Mendlowitz
Tax Season Opportunity Guide

Client ________________________ Year _____

Prepared By ___________________ Date _____

MORE by Ed Mendlowitz
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Notes: 1) The term “owners” will be used to refer to stockholders, partners or members, as the case may be. 2) Even though “trial balance” is used in this checklist, you can use the company’s financial statements if those were what were used for the preparation of the tax return, or computer-generated statements.

Following is a suggested checklist of things for the reviewer to consider:
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IRS Must Speed Up Tax Return Processing

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Six steps to making it happen.

By CPA Trendlines Research

It’s hard to comprehend the job that the Internal Revenue Service performs. Every year, more than a quarter billion tax returns flood into the agency’s complex of pipelines. Some 10,400 employees get to work on “submission processing.”

MORE: Cut Down Your Tax Work in Progress | Steve Yoss: Unlocking Business Insight with Power BIs | Quick Tax Tip | More Than 1 Million ERC Claims Still Not Processed | Art Werner: The Godfather and Tax Issues | Quick Tax Tip | Advanced Tax Preparers Need Managing, Too | The Top Ten Problems the IRS Still Needs to Fix | Tax Pros Gear Up for a Better Busy Season | IRS Processing Up; Payouts Down | Help Tax Clients Help You | Four Challenges of Managing New Tax Preparers | IRS Funding Pays Eye-Popping 415x ROI | Tax Season 2025 Begins. Ready or Not.
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In most cases, one of the pipelines leads back to the taxpayer with a timely refund or a notice of additional tax liability.

But in many cases, glitches in the system burden taxpayers with onerous and frustrating challenges.
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First Tax Filing Reports Are In

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data table
* Total tax returns processed includes returns received in the prior or current year and processed in 2025. # Total refunds issued represents refunds for returns received and processed in 2025, which reflects current year returns only. However, the number of direct deposit refunds represents refunds for both current and prior year returns processed in 2025, which makes this figure larger than the “total number of refunds” listed for the current year.

 

Refunds are up; everything else is down.

By Beth Bellor

The first week of tax season is over! Cue the applause!

Some of you seem less than excited. We know it’s early. All too early.

MORE: Steve Yoss: Unlocking Business Insight with Power BIs | Quick Tax Tip | More Than 1 Million ERC Claims Still Not Processed | Art Werner: The Godfather and Tax Issues | Quick Tax Tip | Advanced Tax Preparers Need Managing, Too | The Top Ten Problems the IRS Still Needs to Fix | Tax Pros Gear Up for a Better Busy Season | IRS Processing Up; Payouts Down | Help Tax Clients Help You | Four Challenges of Managing New Tax Preparers
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Still, it’s time to begin our weekly tally of how things are going, starting with 13.2 million individual income tax returns received as of Jan. 31, down 14 percent from the same period in 2024. The total returns processed was 11.7 million, down 15.8 percent.
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