File that stack of returns and extensions by July 15!
This weekend, millions of Americans are going to celebrate the Fourth of July. Hotdogs, fireworks, and traffic jams are usually the first things that come to mind, but—at the risk of winning cliché Bingo—it’s safe to say that 2020 has been unique.
While taxes are usually a fading memory when people start reaching for the cooler, the COVID-19 pandemic decided to throw a super-sized wrench in the works. The Internal Revenue Service may have moved Tax Day to July 15, but they announced this week that they wouldn’t move it again. That means your favorite procrastinating tax clients will need to file a 1040 or 4868 before the filing deadline—otherwise, they’re looking at penalties and interest. And if you happen to know some extraordinarily delinquent late-filers, the IRS also announced that $1.5 billion is still waiting to be paid for tax year 2016.
What IRS online resources can help your clients?
The IRS offers a number of payment methods—from directly settling a tax bill to making an installment-payment agreement—that can help your clients make sure they avoid owing penalties.
When it comes to actually paying taxes, IRS.gov serves as a pretty good hub. IRS Direct Pay lets taxpayers make payments directly from their bank account, as well as track the status of that payment once it’s been submitted. Taxpayers can even access EFTPS and third-party payment processors from the site, so almost all of their bases are covered.
Clients who aren’t able to foot the entire bill can also try to set up a payment agreement. The usual suspects are all there, from Online Payment Agreements and Installment Agreements to temporary collection delays and Offers in Compromise. Luckily, they have you to help guide them through the process.
What tax preparation resources can help you quickly file those returns?
Aside from picking a tax preparation software that suits your office, finding efficiency-improvement programs can dramatically improve your workflow. That’s where we come in.
Need a tool for automatically organizing scanned client tax documents in the order of a 1040 return? Try Organize LITE, which quickly returns a bookmarked, searchable PDF that is perfect for you and your clients’ records. If you would like a person to make sure the digital output is accurate, pick Organize.
Tired of manually keying returns? Populate extracts tax information from the Organize PDF and inserts it directly into your tax software. That means no more late nights hammering away at your keyboard like a tax-prep metronome.
Exhausted after spending hours working with that client’s consolidated brokerage statement? Let Trades create an import-ready Excel spreadsheet that will cut the prep time down to size.
Even better? We offer a free trial and demonstration of all GruntWorx products that takes your office into account! So, if you’re interested in giving us a try, just head to GruntWorx.com and enter your email next to the big, orange button—and don’t forget to click it!
Sources: IR-2020-131; IR-2020-134; IR-2020-135