We all had a lot going on personally and professionally “way” back in March with the federal and local responses to COVID-19. The moving of the tax deadline and the various legislations that were pending or being approved that impact your business, your lives and those of your clients has been stressful to say the least. Before I go any further, I am not a fan of government overreach. I am not a fan of how our “representatives” on both sides of the aisle have slowly but surely allowed the federal government to become much more than it was intended to be and I am not a fan of the influence that is peddled around DC.
Despite what I just wrote, I must write something positive about the IRS People First Initiative. I missed it, but as I said, we all had a lot going on and on our minds back in March. I just read through the description and details of it on the IRS website and when I completed it, I felt compelled to give the IRS, and the IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig, a positive shout out.
In short, the IRS People First Initiative is a series of steps the IRS is implementing to assist taxpayers by providing relief on a variety of issues ranging from easing payment guidelines to postponing compliance actions. Regarding the initiative, Commissioner Rettig stated, “IRS employees care about our people and our country, and they have a strong desire to help improve this situation. These new actions reflect just one of many ways our employees are working hard every day to assist the nation. We care, a lot. IRS employees are actively engaged, and they have always delivered for their communities and our country. The People First Initiative is designed to help people take care of themselves and is a key part of our ongoing response to the coronavirus effort.”
Some of the key features of the People First Initiative include changes to or action on items like:
- Existing Installment Agreements for taxpayers who have payments due between April 1 and July 15, 2020 are suspended. No Installment Agreements will be placed into default during this time.
- Offers in Compromise are impacted in various ways.
- Liens and Levies initiated by field revenue officers and new automatic, systemic liens and levies will be suspended during this period. Field revenue officers will continue to pursue high-income non-filers and perform other similar activities where warranted, however.
- New delinquent accounts will not be forwarded to Private Debt Collection agencies during this time period.
Other areas/activities of the IRS that are impacted include, but are not limited to, EITC Wage and Verification Reviews, Statute of Limitations, Practitioners Priority Service and Independent Office of Appeals.
The complete details can be found on IRS.GOV
If you have a positive experience with the IRS that you’d like to share, please share it with us in the “Leave a Reply” box at the bottom of the page.
