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IRS Makes Plans with Private Sector to Curb Future Cyber Attacks

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John Koskinen, Commissioner of the IRS, announced yesterday in a press conference that his agency is making plans to join forces with states and the entire private tax industry to combat cyber tax criminals like the ones who recently accessed taxpayer data through the “Get Transcript” application of the IRS website.  It’s the whole “it takes a village” concept applied to the ongoing battle to protect sensitive information on the internet. Government and industry plan to share information in ways they have never done before.

As a tax relief attorney, I don’t know a lot about computers and information technology.  If the top level guys at the IRS are IT ninjas, I’m probably a yellow belt noodle maker.  But commingling of IRS and private sector data makes me nervous, if that’s what they’re talking about doing.  I understand the desire to cooperate on this monumental task of stopping international cyber-criminal syndicates, but I feel like a little separation between public and private sector computer systems is healthy.  It seems to my naive mind that the more connected they are, in the event of a large-scale hack, the more likely we all go down together.

Here are a few nice words from Koskinen’s press conference:

[A]ny organization in the public or private sectors with IT systems and sensitive data faces a battle that seems to grow every day. The nation’s tax system is no different….No single organization can go it alone….None of us has a silver bullet to defeat this enemy….Working together we can achieve results that none of us, working alone, could accomplish.

Such an American thing to do, don’t you think?  Everyone joining forces and working together to defeat a common enemy and prevent a crisis.  I hope this is a step in the right direction and not just the IRS telling us what we want to hear.  The upside to all this for the IRS is that the next time their systems are compromised, maybe they can share the blame with businesses and states.

IRS Downplays Latest Data Breach

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The IRS recently announced the unauthorized access into 100,000 tax accounts by cyber-criminals through the “Get Transcript” application on the IRS website.  Virtually every word in Commissioner Koskinen’s statement is calculated to either downplay the seriousness of the breach, deflect the blame, or put a Band-Aid on it, almost to the point that it causes increased suspicion.  It’s like when someone begins a statement with the words, “to be honest,” and you can’t help but wonder if they really are.  I will list everything the Commissioner said that could be taken that way and, of course, let you read between the lines:

  1. The information that allowed the criminals access was obtained from an outside source
  2. The crime was very sophisticated
  3. Access to “Get Transcript” is only obtained through a multi-layer authentication process
  4. The matter is under review by TIGTA and IRS’ Criminal Investigation division (CI)
  5. IRS main computer systems were not affected & remain secure
  6. Although there were 100,000 successful data breach attempts, there were another 100,000 that were unsuccessful
  7. All 200,000 affected taxpayer accounts will get letters from the IRS explaining what has happened
  8. IRS is offering free credit monitoring to those whose accounts were successfully accessed
  9. “Get Transcript” application has been shut down temporarily

And then there was the obligatory and generic “make-them-feel-good” statement:

[T]he IRS takes the security of taxpayer data extremely seriously, and we are working aggressively to protect affected taxpayers and continue to strengthen our protocols.

I totally understand the need to keep the comments positive in this kind of situation.  Any corporation would do the same sort of damage control in the form of some similar carefully worded, lawyer-drafted statement.  We definitely don’t want panic spreading across the nation in response to something like this.  But we are not stupid either.  If this data breach were really as benign as they want us to believe then why did they take the application down?  As much as the IRS has tried to deflect the blame for the data breach, I think they know that there are ways to tighten up security.  Nothing spells this out more clearly than the fact that the IRS immediately deactivated the application to fix it and make it more secure.

IRS Fails Taxpayers Again in 2015

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Based on the interim report published by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), the IRS achieved a 38.5 percent Level of Service and a 24.6 average hold time on IRS phone lines during the 2015 filing season.  I don’t really know what Level of Service entails, but I know that 38 percent is really only good if we’re talking batting average.  You may be wondering, “How do you get such a low score?  I could probably score higher than 38 percent on a test by guessing.”  Well, this is how: you get 45.6 million phone calls and you answer only 4.2 million of them.  BAM.  Done.

Read the report.  It will make you cringe.

Tax Day 2015 Has Arrived!

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Free food is great and all, but is that really what you want on Tax Day?  I suppose if you’ve already filed and you’re just waiting for a refund check, then you may have an appetite for a free Hard Rock Cafe burger, a Schlotzksky’s sandwich, or red velvet cake at Tony Roma’s.  But if you’re like many other taxpayers, you have had to work for every dime you earn and you maybe haven’t had time to get your taxes done yet.  Of course, it is also difficult to be motivated to file when you know you’re going to owe.  It you fit this description, then maybe you’re looking for a more valuable bit of Tax Day info, like how to file an extension.

Keep in mind that the automatic extension is “automatic” because it is granted to anyone who asks without the need to show reasonable cause, not because it happens automatically.  You have to so something.  You have to ask for it**.  The IRS website is extremely sluggish right now due to all the extra traffic it gets this time of year, but requesting an extension online using Form 4868 is still the fastest and most convenient way to do it.

You can file it with your electronic payment, through your tax filing software, or through your tax professional.  You’ll need your name, address, and social security number.  You will also be asked to estimate your 2014 tax liability, provide the amount you have paid towards that liability (if any), the amount you are sending in with the form (if any), and lastly, the total remaining liability.

So, what do you get when you file an extension?  How is six extra months?  Congratulations, you may take a deep breath and relax a little because you don’t have to file until October 15th now.  But, there is one big “BUT” associated with filing an automatic extension: an extension to file does not also give you an extension to pay.  If you don’t pay on time then you’ll be charged interest and late payment penalties.

**You don’t even have to request an extension if you are a US citizen living abroad, or if you are serving in the military outside the US.

The IRS and Social Media

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Discover the IRS’s Social Media Presence, Minus Instagram

The IRS’ use of social media has always seemed sort of awkward to me.  There’s the IRS Facebook account, for example.  Completely bare bones.  A couple pictures of IRS national headquarters, a blurb about this not being an official source of information about the IRS, and links to the official IRS homepage.   Zzzzzzzzzz.

Yes, I know it has 38,000 likes.  But you have to wonder if these people really “like” the IRS, or if they are acknowledging the IRS in the only way that Facebook allows, there being no “unlike” button.

The IRS doesn’t have an Instagram account.  Their complete social media portfolio includes Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, and IRS2Go, their mobile app (which I’m not sure really counts as social media).  But thank goodness they don’t; there is nothing really visual about what they do.  One look at an tax law firm Facebook page will confirm that.  What kinds of pictures would they post? Suits and cubicles, Friday potlucks, maybe some of the stuff they have seized and sold at auction?

Just for fun, I looked at some of the 46,738 photos with an IRS hashtag and they are nothing special.  Most of the #IRS posts are advertisements.  The second most common, as far as I can tell, are pictures that have nothing to do with the Internal Revenue Service.  Maybe IRS means something else in another country, that’s what I’m thinking.  Lots of Ford Mustangs – maybe a special edition or some fancy tuning.  By far the best ones are the memes.  There is one meme of a guy sitting in his car with a tethered cheetah sitting shotgun that says “When you get your tax return and start buying unnecessary sh*t.”  There are a few memes of skeletons “waiting for their tax refund” or “waiting at the IRS office.”  There is a cartoon in the style of Far Side (accredited to “Reynolds”) that shows a couple sitting at the IRS office.  The sign says “THE IRS” and the guy turns to his wife and says, “Like the sign says . . . it’s all THEIRS.”  My favorite, probably because I can identify with it best, is a screenshot of a cell phone displaying the IRS toll free phone number and the call timer at 50 minutes.  The caption: “This is why no one likes the #IRS…”  Thank you for that @caitlinmaguffee.  It helps to have a good sense of humor this time of year.

Franchise Tax Board (FTB) Contact and Customer Service: Request a Call-Back

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There are many things that the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) does that I would hope the IRS never adopts.  But some might appreciate it if the IRS would follow the example of the FTB when it comes to their customer service phone lines.

Clearly, the IRS could never deliver the same level of customer service as a state taxing entity, due to the insanely large number of calls that IRS gets each day.  I don’t think anybody really expects them to compete on that level.  Likewise, it is naive to think that the state should be able to answer every call as it comes in without leaving taxpayers on hold.  However, FTB has figured out a way to make it much more convenient for the caller.  The FTB phone system has a feature that allows the taxpayer to request a call-back during times of heavy call volume.  The system estimates about how long you’ll have to wait on hold if you choose to hold, and then gives you the option of leaving your name and number and having an FTB customer service rep call you back during that same time frame.

This call-back feature is handy for tax attorneys and tax practitioners, but it is especially useful for unrepresented taxpayers.  I have used the call-back feature a few times, but I typically do not mind holding either.  I often have a handful of cases that are queued up and ready to go once they pick up, and while I wait there’s always Instagram and TIGTA reports, but mostly Instagram.  But taxpayers calling in on their own case can be really discouraged by a 30+ minute wait, and it is nice to have the option of saving your place in line without actually waiting on the line.

I understand the administrative burden this feature would cause though.  It’s not a huge amount of extra work, but even a little extra work on such a large scale can be reason enough to just maintain the status quo.  IRS customer service has really gone down the toilet in the last few years, so really status quo wouldn’t seem too awful right about now compared to any additional slippage in service.

IRS Audit Percentages Still Dropping

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I have written before about the federal budget cuts and reduction of IRS personnel and what sorts of implications this has on the typical taxpayer.  One of the most noticeable consequences is that when you pick up the phone with a tax question or an inquiry into your tax account, you have about a 50/50 chance of getting through and speaking with someone.  Customer service is at an all-time low.

But something else has hit a record low, at least in the last ten years.  And that something is Audits.  Less than 1 percent of tax returns were selected for audit in 2014, and even fewer will be audited this year.

Obviously this is very good news for the taxpayer, but very frustrating for IRS executives, including Commissioner Koskinen, who stated that this trend “carries serious implications for our tax system and the nation.”  I can’t say for sure, but I’d assume that at least one implication is less revenue.  That’s my attempt at a joke.  Of course that’s one of the implications.  They are the Internal Revenue Service.  What’s the point if they’re not bringing in revenue?  Which leads me to an interesting question: Assuming it is true that your chances of being audited are the lowest they have been in 10 years because there are only about 11,600 revenue agents (and dropping) conducting audits, if you are selected, what are the chances of walking away unscathed?

The fact is some tax return audits result in zero liability.  But I could see that becoming a thing of the past.  First, I could see the IRS becoming more selective in the returns it picks for audit.  They will pick the returns with more obvious issues; ones that will more likely result in additional revenue for the government.  Second, I could see the IRS becoming more rigorous in their audit techniques.  If the overall number of audits is low, then the IRS has to be more “effective” in their audits to keep the revenue flowing.  I apologize in advance for this obnoxious analogy, but a boa constrictor often goes months in between meals, so when it does capture its prey, it is not going to let go before it squeezes the life out of them.  We’ll keep an eye on the IRS and see if these snaky predictions come true.

800,000 Obamacare Enrollees Received Incorrect Tax Forms

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Here’s a suggestion for the IRS’ next Tax Tips article: “What you should know about the incompetence of the IRS.” Or maybe this one: “10 reasons why you should not renounce your citizenship and move to Brazil.”  Their latest screw up came on Friday — or at least it was announced on Friday — that 800,000 Obamacare enrollees were sent the wrong tax forms and will need to wait until sometime in March to file their taxes.  Yet another reason to not be so eager about filing early.  And what about those conscientious tax return filers who already pulled the trigger?  Well, the Obama administration hasn’t quite figured out what to do with them yet.

Just keep checking in with the IRS on their website.  That’s where the IRS likes to funnel all inquiries these days.  They don’t have enough employees in their call centers to answer the phones usually; I would definitely not recommend you try calling.  I’m sure there will be some sort of extension for those who already filed using the wrong forms.  The Obama administration is great about accommodating people with extensions.  It will be all over the internet, just be sure you are looking to reputable news sources for you info.

There are always ways to describe Obamacare (or IRS) blunders so that it highlights the administration’s incompetence:

The White House tells us in a classic Friday news dump that nearly one million Americans could see their tax refunds delayed because of this president’s inability to implement his own law.

~ Diane Black, Rep Tenn

Not a full-blown “spin” though, in my opinion, because they very well could see their tax refunds delayed.  Years from now we will be able to look back, with experience and time giving us a better perspective, and determine if this is one of several innocent mistakes or if the government really did fail in the administration of Obamacare.  I know a lot of people believe we can make that call now, and would say that it has been a complete flop, not only the administration of the new law, but the whole idea of it in the first place.

Will IRS Lighten up on Structuring?

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By law, you must report to the IRS bank transactions of $10,000 or more.  It is one government tool for curbing white collar crimes.  Manipulating deposits so that they come just under the reporting requirement is called “structuring,” and it is illegal.  The IRS can seize bank accounts without notice to the account holder when structuring is suspected, and they have done so freely in the past, even if the money is obtained legally.

It is obvious to Commissioner Koskinen that this policy is way too harsh.  Today the commissioner apologized to taxpayers who have not been treated fairly “under the code.”  I don’t know how to take this apology.  It seems a little half-hearted to me.  It’s like saying, “we are sorry for seizing the accounts of law-abiding citizens, but we were only doing what we are permitted to do under the code.”  And it’s not necessarily a win for taxpayers until some changes are made to the code.  Semantics aside, it looks like a step in the right direction.

2014 National Taxpayer Advocate Report

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It’s a little bit (ok, a lot bit) frustrating reading the National Taxpayer Advocate’s annual report to congress that was released today.  Of course my frustration is with the IRS, not the Taxpayer Advocate.  It’s pretty much the same report year after year.  The IRS is severely understaffed and underfunded, and its employees are less than qualified.  The level of service is reaching abysmal levels and still dropping.

This year the Taxpayer Advocate applauded the IRS for adopting a Taxpayer Bill or Rights administratively, but is still pushing for it to be enacted legislatively so that it really has some “teeth” and so that it becomes a permanent fixture that encourages voluntary compliance.

One point that evokes an abundance of frustration for me is the “absence of studies to determine whether existing penalties promote voluntary compliance.”  What this means in plain English is that the IRS has been punishing Americans with penalties as long as anyone now alive can remember, but the IRS has done relatively little to determine if these penalties actually work.  This is the functional equivalent of building a castle on sand or on an active volcano.  And if you think this is a minor problem, you’ve probably never had a tax debt that has tripled in size due to penalties and interest.  Furthermore, you’re probably unaware of this little factoid:

The number of provisions in the Internal Revenue Code that either authorize or require the IRS to impose penalties has ballooned from 14 in 1955 to over 170 today.

A penalty is considered effective if it promotes voluntary compliance.  In other words, a penalty (or all the tax penalties combined) should cause taxpayers who are on the fence about paying to decide that they will pay voluntarily rather than expose themselves to IRS enforced collections.  And the IRS needs to strike the right balance: not too severe and not too light.  That’s not an easy task, but the IRS does not appear to be taking it very seriously, according to the Taxpayer Advocate.  Ever heard of the IRS Office of Service-wide Penalties?  Of course you haven’t because it’s a 6-man operation tucked neatly out of sight that hasn’t answered to Congress in over 20 years.

On a positive note, I am very happy with my own direct experiences with the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) recently.  I had previously been told that the TAS would not provide assistance to taxpayers without the presence of an IRS levy or threat of levy (or other adverse action).  And even then, I was under the impression that TAS may not take a case without the presence of some sort of delay.  However, I have noticed that the TAS intake department has become quite a bit more liberal.  In fact, I have a couple cases that the TAS gladly accepted where there was no financial hardship whatsoever, only delay.