IRS practice & procedure

The IRS’s fiscal 2022–26 Strategic Plan sets out goals to modernize its operations and interactions with taxpayers while adapting to new challenges and threats.

The U.S. GAO recommended that the IRS pilot videoconferencing for its program singling out “high-risk” return preparers for direct compliance checks and education with respect to refundable tax credits and other taxpayer tax benefits.

Temporary waiving of fingerprinting and identification procedures for new federal employees due to the pandemic could have allowed access to taxpayer data by individuals who were ineligible for federal employment.

The IRS’s definition would exclude foreign currency options or other derivatives, but such instruments may still be subject to the Sec. 1256 mark-to-market rules under other provisions.

The IRS also has posted general Superfund FAQs and tax rates for some chemical substances subject to the recently reinstated excise tax.

In her Objectives Report to Congress for fiscal 2023, National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins describes steps the IRS can take to improve its return and correspondence processing and telephone service to taxpayers.

The IRS deploys more AI-powered phone abilities, enabling taxpayers calling the Service to authenticate their identifies and arrange to pay tax liabilities.

The US Government Accountability Office’s 25 top to-do items for IRS tax administration focus on service, tax fraud, cybersecurity, information reporting, audits and staffing.

The IRS highlights additional abusive taxpayer arrangements and tactics as its annual “Dirty Dozen” series ends.

A document issued Thursday by Treasury offers clarity related to, for example, tax and management consulting services that would not be prohibited by the U.S. sanctions announced last month.

Emails appearing to come from the IRS or a tax software provider may aim to steal tax return preparers’ account and client information.

The IRS’s annual series continues with caveats about fake communications intended to bilk taxpayers out of their tax and financial information.