After a federally declared disaster, the IRS can issue relief that gives taxpayers extra time to meet various deadlines. The problem is that the IRS’s disaster relief postponements do not affect all parts of the tax code the same way. Deadlines and dates change for some purposes but not for others. This isn’t always negative, but there are situations when it can cause taxpayers unnecessary confusion and expose them to additional costs and the loss of valid refunds. Section 112 of the TAS Act aims to fix two issues in the tax code that have created unintended consequences for disaster victims. In these circumstances disaster postponements should be treated the same as extensions under the code.

The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) is a complex tax credit for businesses and tax-exempt organizations that kept paying employees during the COVID-19 pandemic when they were shut down due to a government order, had a significant decline in gross receipts, or qualified as a recovery start-up business.

This is Part Three of a blog series on IRS Processing and my recent experience at the IRS’s Kansas City campus, where I had the privilege of working alongside mailroom employees.

Recently, I’ve received many questions about how Executive Order (EO) 14247, Modernizing Payments To and From America’s Bank Account, will affect taxpayers. The good news is that most taxpayers already receive their refunds using direct deposit and may not even be aware of the change.  During the 2025 filing season, about 94% of individual taxpayers provided their direct deposit information on their Form 1040.  But some taxpayers are unable to provide direct deposit information or may not wish to do so, and they may be wondering what the impact of the EO will be going forward.

This notice explains you have tax and penalties due resulting from either withdrawing less than the required minimum amount from a traditional individual retirement arrangement (IRA) or putting more than the allowed maximum contribution into a tax-sheltered account.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IRS has fallen nearly a year behind in processing paper tax returns.  As of March 18, 2022, the paper return backlog stood at nearly 15 million.  Most taxpayers receive refunds, so return processing delays generally mean refund delays.  Refund delays have caused frustration for many and financial hardship for some, potentially including evictions, utility shutoffs, and the inability to afford food and medicines.

In other cases, a taxpayer’s inability to furnish proof of current filing and a tax transcript due to processing delays has adversely affected loan applications, including applications for mortgages, personal or business loans, and even student financial aid.

When I released my annual report in January, I said that paper is the IRS’s Kryptonite and the IRS is buried in it.  The reason paper returns are so challenging is that the IRS still has not implemented technology to machine read them, so each digit on every paper return must be manually keystroked into IRS systems by an employee.

The IRS is redesigning Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate. The changes to this form will affect nearly every employee and employer, potentially more than once a year.

This notice provides taxpayers with information about their right to challenge proposed IRS adjustments in the United States Tax Court by filing a petition within 90 days of the date on their notice (150 days if the notice is addressed to a person outside the United States).

An Initial Contact Letter is your notification that your tax return has been selected for an audit (also called an examination). Included in the letter is a listing of the specific items reported on your tax return or that you failed to include on your return that are being questioned by the IRS, with a request that you provide documentation to support the identified items.

The Notice LT16 is mailed to you because there is a balance due (money you owe the IRS) on one of your tax accounts and/or because you have unfiled tax returns due.

You may have seen that the IRS is moving away from paper checks. If you usually receive a tax refund by paper check, you might also be experiencing some confusion about how you will receive your refund this filing season.

If you claim a refund on your 2025 tax return, new rules may affect how the IRS issues the refund if you don’t provide direct deposit information or if your direct deposit is rejected. These changes are part of the IRS effort to modernize payments to and from America’s bank accounts.

Here’s what you need to know to avoid delays and understand your options.