Tax Court forms help please

[TaxLadyinPA]

Client brought me a letter she received that states she can request a petition form from the Tax Court.

Can I get this form someplace on the IRS website? It doesn't tell me a form # or any other info.

Reason I need this :

year 2006 I prepared tax return for 19 year old who cleaned the local electric company office. She received a 1099-Misc for $ 900.00. We prepared the return.

The IRS says the 1099-Misc is for $ 90,000.

I asked client - didn't you ever get a different letter (the one that says - here is your figures and here is our figures). She states that she did NOT get any other letter.

Now the letter I have in front of me states this is going into tax court for them to obtain the tax that they think is due them. If she doesn't agree she has 90 days to petition the tax court. It says we can get a form from the tax court.

Nothing is ever simple grrrrrrr. any idiot can see that the IRS keypunched the $$ amount incorrectly. But because the client never got a letter prior to this one we are where we are.

I have no doubt that she did get an initial letter. but she is young and has moved 3 times in the past 2 years and this letter probably went to la la land.

back to my question. where can I get a form fast ?? or do I have to write to the tax court to get a petition form?


Thanks for your help

[travis bickle]

wow, sorry for your client's situation

i do not have any direct experience with what you need to do.

i did a google search on "tax court petition form" and got this url:

http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/forms/petition_kit.pdf

it looks to be what you need, but as i said before, i do not have direct experience in this realm.

sure hope you get this resolved easily.

Edited to add:
it also seems that this site: http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/taxpayer_info_start.htm
has a wealth of information for you.

[taxmandan]

US Tax Court forms are on-line

The forms are on-line Travis says. Don't be so sure the IRS keyed the number incorrectly, if the electric company files the 1099s electronically, it likely was their error. You should start the process now to get a copy of the 1099 from the electric company, it will take some time. If the electric company 1099 was correct, you'll need a copy anyway for Appeals.
Have your client file the petition to the Tax Court and the court will then refer it to Appeals for resolution. I have found Appeals to be easy to work with and they'll 'get it' that the 1099 is in error but will expect your client to provide proof.

Daniel

[New York Enrolled Agent]

T.B. gave you the correct info. You need the petition (Form 2), taxpayer identity (Form 4) and place of trial (Form 5) and a $60 filing fee.

HOWEVER, before you do all this, you can still get the problem solved. Contact the examiner on the 90 day letter, fax in the information and often, you will get the problem solved without any petition. Put a mark in your calendar about 4 days before the last day to file the petition expires. If you have not resolved the problem by that time then file the petition. If the IRS accepts your information you will get a letter 3581 which ,in essence, cancels the 90 day letter.

[TaxLadyinPA]

Thank you all...

Thank you Thank you Thank you.....

I got, filled out and printed the form for the tax court. Thanks so much for providing that website. I got frantic when I couldn't find anything on the IRS website.

I have the actual 1099-misc. I have a signed POA from the young girl, but am not sure that the examiner will talk to me as I am an unenrolled preparer. (Depends on the agent for other issues) but I never had to deal with a "tax court" issue and try to talk to an IRS examiner.

I guess I should just call them anyhow and see if they will talk to me.
Then if not .... I will have to send in the form to tax court.

I see on the tax court forms it says "DO NOT" send in any other tax papers, meaning I cannot send the copy of the 1099-misc which clearly will show $ 900 and prove that the original tax return is correct.

A huge thank you to you all for your fast responses. I really appreciate your help.

[OtisMozzetti]

Unenrolled preparer can furnish limited representation

As the preparer of the original return, you do qualify to furnish LIMITED REPRESENTATION since the client has provided you power of attorney. Part of the limited nature of your representation is that you may deal only with Customer Service representatives and with Audit, not with Appeals or with Collections.

I would like to think that this matter could be cleared up by requesting AUDIT RECONSIDERATION, with a well-written, polite letter and phone call to the Audit Division person and without having to involve Appeals even though it has already been ignored by the client to the point of receiving the 90-day letter. The issue about $900.00 vs. $90,000 SEEMS probably to be very cut and dried in favor of your client.

[Davc]

And for future reference, you're not supposed to be preparing tax court petitions unless you've been accepted for practice before the tax court.

[Kong]

Davc

Does this also apply to Certified legal Document Preparers? My home State is Arizona.

[OtisMozzetti]

Failure to exhaust administrative remedies

I understand that one of the possible outcomes at the U.S. Tax Court is that the court rules that one of the litigants should have pursued administrative remedies such as IRS Appeals Division. In that event, certain costs might be assessed against the litigant who didn't try to get the matter resolved through the IRS. Also, the Tax Court refers some matters to the IRS Appeals Division, and the IRS itself reviews matters before it goes into Tax Court.

So the difficulty for our Tax Lady is that she might be obliged to deal with the IRS Appeals Division even though she is not enrolled to practice with the IRS, i.e. cannot deal with the Appeals Division herself. It has gotten to this situation since earlier notice of an audit has been ignored. After an audit occurred, she could have requested to speak with the auditor's supervisor. It might be necessary to involve a Circular 230 professional such as an EA, CPA, or attorney, although it still seems possible that Tax Lady might get the Audit people to reconsider the matter even though a 90-day letter has already been issued.

Another approach would be for the taxpayer herself to represent her own argument with the IRS Appeals Division, since any taxpayer can represent herself or himself.

[taxladyea]

Letter regarding going to tax court

Back in Oct. 2006 had a client receive such a letter after we had responded to ONE (1) notice of defiency. The letter stated that since we had not responded blah blah blah that it was going to tax court.

What I did and it worked was to respond to the heading on the letter and say not sure how it got here as client never received any previous correspondence but here is proof we responded plus copies to back up your error.

In your case I would do the same thing. Respond to he heading address ont the notice and send them a copy of the 1099 misc pointing out the keypunch error and I believe that
will take care of your problem.

Sometimes I think that IRS employees get no training.

Blessings

[TaxLadyinPA]

And for future reference, you're not supposed to be preparing tax court petitions unless you've been accepted for practice before the tax court.

I totally understand this, I only typed info into the form for the client who in this case would be signing and sending it in herself to represent herself only because I don't feel that she really needs to hire a tax lawyer at this time. Hopefully she won't need to do this at all.

I am so grateful for all your responses here.

I have the POA but it is in my files and not in the IRS files. Everytime I have ever called them about anything in the past the first thing they want of course is my CAF # then they tell me that the POA is not in the system. Of course it isn't .... it is still sitting in my file because I just obtained it. *L*

I think I will have the client return to my office and do as you suggest and try calling the examiner to hopefully avoid the need to go any further. I think if I have the young girl in my office when I call she can talk to them also on the phone giving them permission to talk to me. I can fax the information to them while I am on the phone if they request it.

It doesn't give me an address to mail a nice polite letter (I agree with you about writing a polite letter pleading for their help). That is what I wanted to do in the beginning which I could have done if she would have received the initial letter that they said they sent to her. This letter itself comes from Philadelphia with a phone number to the examiner.
The only address is the one to Cinncinnati to enclose payment and the one for the Tax Court.
So we will start with the phone call.

Thanks so much again for all your responses. I really appreciate all your help. I just panic when I know it is such an easy fix of a mathematical error and it has exploded into a nightmare for this young girl.

[OtisMozzetti]

New IRS Publication About AUDIT RECONSIDERATION

The Tax Lady, and others, might be quite interested in a new IRS Publication, #3598, entitled "What You Should Know About The Audit Reconsideration Process", which they put into their www.irs.gov website last week.

My guess is that the U.S. Tax Court would be somewhat irked either with the taxpayer and her tax preparer or with the IRS, or with both, if a dispute revolving around $900.00 vs. $90,000 on a Form 1099-MISC could not be settled without involving the Tax Court.

[Jiggers]

Self-prepared 1099's, W-2's

Reason I need this :

year 2006 I prepared tax return for 19 year old who cleaned the local electric company office. She received a 1099-Misc for $ 900.00. We prepared the return.

The IRS says the 1099-Misc is for $ 90,000.

I have a client that prepared her own W-2, as only employee of her husband. Handwritten.
Shows "22000".

Is that $220.00 or $22,000.00?

I know it is $22,000.00 because the client said it is that. But what will SSA & IRS do with that?

[Lion]

Fax POA

I use e-services now, but in the past when I would phone the IRS and they'd ask me for POA, I'd ask for their fax # and fax it right then; they'd pick it up off their machine and then talk to me. I did it so often that I was issued multiple CAF #s, since I hadn't been notified of my number before filing another POA and being assigned another CAF by their computerized system. (I've straightened that out now.) And, with three-way calling and such features on our phones and cells, it's also possible to call the IRS, then conference in your client to give the IRS permission to talk to you, and let the client go back to her business while you deal with the IRS.