Banks and Transcript Heaven

[Snaggletooth]

I suppose in this era of TurboTax and ease of creating a fictitious tax return, more and more banks are insisting on transcripts directly from the IRS.

Some of this responsibility is being foisted upon us whether we want it or not. I don't.

I've just had a client try to do this by himself and security locked him out, so he wants ME to do it. I will need a Power of Attorney as I have no intention of getting online and pretending to be him.

Any ideas? Please don't respond with a link to a 275-page document that I have to read and interpret. Links are OK if they go to a relevant and reasonably quick source. If you don't want to talk in plain English please don't send me anywhere. That's been a recent problem on this board - sending inquirers all over the world instead of just discussion.

Thanks for any relevant feedback - Snag

[Rapid Robert]

[...] I will need a Power of Attorney as I have no intention of getting online and pretending to be him.

Any ideas?

You seem to have answered your own question, or is there another question in there?

[WhiteOleander]

Have your client call the IRS himself. There's no requirement to request them online. If he's too "busy" (read lazy) and wants you to do it, get the POA and call and charge him.

[Snaggletooth]

Very Good

Exactly the kind of feedback/discussion I was hoping for.

The bank has offered to do this for a fee. If I'm going to have to get a POA it will end up costing him more than what the bank charges. And the bank is the party creating the requirement to begin with. Appropriate enough.

Thanks Fast Bob and White Flow'r.

[commonstalk]

8821

Why not use Form 8821 and still charge him?

[taxea]

If the bank wants the IRS transcript they can have him sign the form then send it in themselves. No need for you to be involved.

[JohnH]

I agree. Tell the taxpayer to pay the bank to do this. Otherwise you should plan for twice-daily calls asking "Heard anything about my transcript yet? The bank is really pushing me and my loan is being held up over this. Can you check on it?" Personally, I'd prefer that the taxpayer pester the bank about this rather than me.

[Gretel]

Depends on client

Since I have access through e-services I would make it dependent on the client. If I have the relevant tax return information to file the 2848 online and then be able to look up the transcript, I would do this for a good client but of course charge for the service. Otherwise, I would happily send them back to the bank...

[Lion]

Can we file 2848 online again? While we had to mail in and wait and wait until we could finally get online transcripts, I sent many of my clients to the banks instead to let the bank mail in the forms and wait for transcripts in the mail.

I like the time-saving and convenience of entering 2848s online.

[Gretel]

I do not know

I haven't had one in a while that qualified for the online process....

[Snaggletooth]

Thanks to All

Thanks to everyone who responded, and exactly the type of discussion needed.

I realize that I sounded snarky at the outset, but people do come to the forum to consult others in the tax profession and for discussion and opinions. The forum is getting many responses that don't bring this kind of discussion - we are getting a lot of "See Pub 525" or "Have you talked to the Bank" or "Here is a link to Lexus/Nexis article" or "Consult the Regs." I've even seen a response as redundant as "Observe the advice of previous posts." This kind of non-discussion is not why people bring their questions to this forum in the first place, and quite often when getting a response of this nature, the discussion thread comes to a screeching halt.

Most people on the forum already have at least a minimal background in research and maybe not thoroughly immersed in code/regs but are simply looking for guidance or reinforcement from other tax professionals.

Thanks again to all who have participated.