PaunchyPirate
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I thought I'd report on my interaction with a subject matter that I've seen mentioned on this forum in the past -- The IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service.
This is an independent group within the IRS set up by an act of Congress to help taxpayers resolve issues with the IRS that they have been unable to resolve by the more normal contact methods. They can't really expedite your tax return due to Covid delays. But if there are other circumstances that are causing the delay, then maybe they can.
You request their help by filling out Form 911 and sending it in to one of their offices.
Some of you may have seen me post elsewhere about my 83 year old mother's ongoing issue (since the 2017 tax filing) with the IRS. My father died that year and it seems that the IRS somehow marked her as deceased too (or instead). We've had to call them every year to resolve various issues that were side effects of this. Each year, we are able to get them to "fix it", but then the issue returns the next tax season. The IRS agents have told us that it is their fault -- a known issue. But each time they fix it, they say this should do it. But it doesn't. The issue is currently holding up her $2400 tax return. They've processed it, but have had it on hold since August with no communication to us.
So I decided to fill out Form 911 and see if it did anything. Couldn't hurt. I am an authorized Power of Attorney for IRS issues for my Mom. We've done this by filling out IRS paperwork. I'm not her overall POA.
Less than 2 weeks after sending in the form, I received a call from an agent with the Taxpayer Advocates office. We spoke for about 30 minutes on the issue. His first assumption was that the Social Security Administration has put her in the Master Death File that they send the IRS twice a year. While this MAY be the cause, he agreed that this doesn't seem likely since the SSA has never missed a benefit payment to her, sends her a yearly tax form showing her benefits, and hasn't done anything to interrupt her Medicare benefits. Her state pension benefit hasn't been alerted to her death by the SSA either. So it seems unlikely that the issue is the SSA.
So, his role now is to investigate with IRS channels to determine what is happening. He had access to the history of her account as we talked. He was able to see how the "deceased" flag was set and reset multiple times on specific dates. Hopefully he can get access to their technical people and determine/fix the issue.
He told me that we should not expect to see her tax return until at least April 22nd at this point. That would be a target date only. It will be a paper check and not direct deposit (which her tax form requested). He confirmed the amount and can see it in the system "on hold". He said it's also possible that the check could be sent at any time before that date too. It all depends on how the resolution works out internally.
For the 2021 filing, he suggested that we do not file it until he has more information for us. We should perhaps wait until just before the filing deadline. He thinks if we filed it electronically this week (which we could do), that the IRS would reject it due to her "deceased" status. That is what happened one year ago.
He also scheduled a call-back appointment with me for March 18th just as a status report check-in. He actually gave me his direct phone number in case something happens that I need to talk to him about something.
So, while the problem isn't resolved yet, we certainly do see a glimmer of hope. We will continue to be patient and see what he can come up with. Fortunately, Mom isn't in need of the money to meet her expenses. But still, one would like to have money that belongs to them.
I just thought some people would be interested in hearing about the Taxpayer Advocate group. I'll keep this thread informed of any activity on the issue.
This is an independent group within the IRS set up by an act of Congress to help taxpayers resolve issues with the IRS that they have been unable to resolve by the more normal contact methods. They can't really expedite your tax return due to Covid delays. But if there are other circumstances that are causing the delay, then maybe they can.
You request their help by filling out Form 911 and sending it in to one of their offices.
Some of you may have seen me post elsewhere about my 83 year old mother's ongoing issue (since the 2017 tax filing) with the IRS. My father died that year and it seems that the IRS somehow marked her as deceased too (or instead). We've had to call them every year to resolve various issues that were side effects of this. Each year, we are able to get them to "fix it", but then the issue returns the next tax season. The IRS agents have told us that it is their fault -- a known issue. But each time they fix it, they say this should do it. But it doesn't. The issue is currently holding up her $2400 tax return. They've processed it, but have had it on hold since August with no communication to us.
So I decided to fill out Form 911 and see if it did anything. Couldn't hurt. I am an authorized Power of Attorney for IRS issues for my Mom. We've done this by filling out IRS paperwork. I'm not her overall POA.
Less than 2 weeks after sending in the form, I received a call from an agent with the Taxpayer Advocates office. We spoke for about 30 minutes on the issue. His first assumption was that the Social Security Administration has put her in the Master Death File that they send the IRS twice a year. While this MAY be the cause, he agreed that this doesn't seem likely since the SSA has never missed a benefit payment to her, sends her a yearly tax form showing her benefits, and hasn't done anything to interrupt her Medicare benefits. Her state pension benefit hasn't been alerted to her death by the SSA either. So it seems unlikely that the issue is the SSA.
So, his role now is to investigate with IRS channels to determine what is happening. He had access to the history of her account as we talked. He was able to see how the "deceased" flag was set and reset multiple times on specific dates. Hopefully he can get access to their technical people and determine/fix the issue.
He told me that we should not expect to see her tax return until at least April 22nd at this point. That would be a target date only. It will be a paper check and not direct deposit (which her tax form requested). He confirmed the amount and can see it in the system "on hold". He said it's also possible that the check could be sent at any time before that date too. It all depends on how the resolution works out internally.
For the 2021 filing, he suggested that we do not file it until he has more information for us. We should perhaps wait until just before the filing deadline. He thinks if we filed it electronically this week (which we could do), that the IRS would reject it due to her "deceased" status. That is what happened one year ago.
He also scheduled a call-back appointment with me for March 18th just as a status report check-in. He actually gave me his direct phone number in case something happens that I need to talk to him about something.
So, while the problem isn't resolved yet, we certainly do see a glimmer of hope. We will continue to be patient and see what he can come up with. Fortunately, Mom isn't in need of the money to meet her expenses. But still, one would like to have money that belongs to them.
I just thought some people would be interested in hearing about the Taxpayer Advocate group. I'll keep this thread informed of any activity on the issue.
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