News from NATP

[Kram BergGold]

Inputting W-2s for ITINs
The IRS has announced that for filing season 2012 it is required to manually key entry the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) as it appears on Form W-2. This means software providers are not allowed to auto-populate the TIN on Form W-2 input sheets.


What do you think this means?

[JohnH]

IRS regards tax preparers as data entry clerks?

[Nashville]

Errors in TINs

Probably a knee-jerk reaction by the IRS to certain errors that have been propogated when employers provide wrong social security #s or a variety of possibilities resulting from keypunch errors. Remember a good software package will intercept a bad SS#.

And the IRS darling of self-prepared returns, TurboTax, is now allowing the users to "Scan" the W-2 and save the user the trouble of having to input. Another possible source of bad SS#s.

Causing the preparer to keypunch this stuff in will lead to just as many errors as before.

[Lion]

Dual Numbers

When you set up or roll forward a return, the taxpayer's SS# or ITIN is populated in several places, including every W-2 you assign to that person. However, if he/she worked under a phoney SSN, then the # on the W-2 will not be the person's ITIN. You must make the W-2 info in the return match the W-2 from the employer and not allow the software to populate the ITIN when it was not used on the W-2.

[PIGLEE]

I don't like it, but probably not a bad idea. I have had people were the SS on the W-2 was typed wrong, Income Tax no problem. BUT they did not get credit for their wages with Social Security.

[Kram BergGold]

Follow Up

In the past when I found a W-2 with an incorrect SS #, usually one digit is wrong, I would tell the client to contact the employer and check with SS to see that credit was given. I would do the return as if the SS number was correct. Now what do you think we should do?

[DonPriebe]

Reread the announcement

Inputting W-2s for ITINs
The IRS has announced that for filing season 2012 it is required to manually key entry the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) as it appears on Form W-2. This means software providers are not allowed to auto-populate the TIN on Form W-2 input sheets.What do you think this means?

When I read the notice, it applied ONLY to 1040 returns that were filed under an ITIN, not to the common return filed by a taxpayer with an SSN. Such ITIN returns would include a W-2 only if the taxpayer were working illegally. The TIN on the W-2 could not be the ITIN of the taxpayer, since a W-2 requires a SSN and the holder of an ITIN does not possess one. Hence blindly copying the ITIN into the SSN field would be incorrect.

[Lion]

Don

Don, you explained it so much better! Thank you.