IRS

Refunds Up as Tax Pros Tackle 41.5% of E-filings

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* Total refunds issued represent returns received and processed in 2024 – the current year only. The number of direct deposit refunds represents returns received in the current and prior year but processed in 2024.

Also: The IRS realizes a footnote is in order and we are shocked.

By Beth Bellor

Average tax refunds are on the rise, so the weekly filing data has one uptick besides the amount of traffic to the IRS website – an increase that perhaps isn’t a positive.

MORE: Tax Pros Handle 37.7% of E-filings | Tax Pros File 33% of Early Returns
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The Internal Revenue Service had received 34.7 million returns, down 5.7 percent from the same period one year ago, as of the week ending Feb. 16, the latest data available. Lower numbers are no surprise, of course, because there had been only 19 days in the 2024 filing season, which opened Jan. 29, compared to the 26 days there had been in the 2023 season, which opened Jan. 23.
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Tax Pros Handle 37.7% of E-filings

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data table

Paper still used by 2.2 percent of filers.

By Beth Bellor
CPA Trendlines Research

Tax season moves slowly forward, and tax professionals slowly gain ground

MORE: Tax Pros File 33% of Early Returns | If Only the IRS’s Tax Pro Were Useful | The Nightmare of Non-credentialed Tax Preparers | Must the IRS Be a Dark Hole? | IRS Plays Whac-A-Mole with the Phones | Tax Pros Are Expanding and Earning More
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As of the week ending Feb. 9 – the latest for which data are available – the IRS had received 25.6 million individual income tax returns, down 11.4 percent from the same period a year ago. It had processed 25.4 million returns, down 4.4 percent.

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It’s Time to Fix the Problem of QTIPs and LLCs

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Goldberg urges the IRS to address new state laws that pose a threat to the QTIP marital decuction.

By Seymour Goldberg, CPA, MBA (Taxation), JD
The Practitioner’s Guide to the IRA Distribution Rules under the SECURE Act

Lately, some clients and others have inquired about transferring their ownership in limited liability companies to trusts for estate planning and asset protection. I cautioned them that doing so could lead to complex tax and legal problems. To address this, I recently made a formal request to the IRS for guidance on a unique situation.

Read Goldberg’s Revenue Ruling Request Here (PDF, 5 pages.)

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Pros Handle 45% of Income Tax Returns

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data tableRefunds down by double digits.

By Beth Bellor
CPA Trendlines Research

Tax season 2023 has been consistent. Refunds are down, and so are self-prepared filings and IRS.gov visits. By every other marker, though, business is as usual or better.

MORE: On Business Outlook, CPAs Are Confident … and Concerned | At the IRS, Short on Staff Means Short on Service | More CPAs See Worsening Economy | Marchternity: The Solution Is Community |
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As of Feb. 24, the latest data available, the IRS had received 46 million individual income tax returns, up 1.3 percent from the same period in 2022. It had processed 45.7 million returns, up 4.3 percent.

We always like to see processing go quickly, and the agency is speeding through returns right now at a clip of 99.4 percent.

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At the IRS, Short on Staff Means Short on Service

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Guess who suffers?

By CPA Trendlines Research

It probably won’t surprise the average tax practitioner to learn that in the American Customer Satisfaction Index of federal agencies, the Internal Revenue Service ranks dead last.

MORE: Tax Pros Offer Advice for Small Businesses | Busy Season Barometer Finds Many CPAs in Transition | Marchternity: Just Say ‘No’ | News on IRS Is Maybe Sort of a Little Bit Good
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It accomplished the same dubious rank in Forrest Research’s U.S. Customer Experience Index of 221 companies and federal agencies.

Two sad things about this:
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