COVID-19 Pandemic: Firm Status Update as if April 13, 2020
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As a firm, we have been focused on helping our business clients with applications to the various government assistance programs (both federal and state). We have also assisted clients with the Separation Information Request letters as a result of COVID-19 related layoffs.
This was a difficult decision, but we triaged our time in this manner because assisting businesses meant saving jobs or at least minimizing layoffs. We hope that our individual tax clients will understand the gravity of this moment.
With that said, we've been able to push some of the 1040s along, but not at the scale that would be expected during a normal tax season.
The IRS gave us an extra 90 days of tax season, to 7/15/20.
While we don't plan on taking all that time, the likelihood of completing 300+ returns before April 15th is, in a word, low.
We don't want to drag out tax season any longer than necessary, and we know that you want - and need - your refunds.
To assist us, it is important that you make use of our firm's portal and respond to our questions in a timely manner. And also, it's important that you don't call and email asking for the status of your return. These phone calls and emails are disruptive to our workflow and slow us down. The status of your return is that it's in process. If you haven't sent us your documents yet, then the return is not in process. If you've heard from us, it's in review.
Because of all the changes to the tax laws, both the TCJA, the FFCRA, and the CARES Act, we need to ensure that each return gets its proper review to minimize mistakes.
To illustrate the sublime complexity of this moment in history, I'll go into the weeds on the matter of whether the 90 day extension applied only to tax filings or to tax filings and certain qualified plan contributions.
There was a great deal of confusion around this. At first, the extension was only for 1040s and 1120s, but not for payments. Then payments were extended, but not for IRA or HSA contributions. Then, finally, the extension was applied to these payments as well. But, as of now, the due date of extensions is still 10/15, not six months after the due date of 7/15.
We're also in a situation where the 1st quarter estimated payment is due after the 2nd quarter estimated payment.
I could make any number of pithy remarks about all this, but I'm not going to do that. A wise old accountant once taught me to never joke about tax. Instead, I would simply state that what was complicated before is now fraught with opportunities for mistakes. We don't want to rush anymore than we want this to drag out.
Please be patient, please make use of our portal, and please adopt strong security practices.
Thank you again for this opportunity to serve.
Stay safe and wash your hands.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Rivlin, CPA
President
The Rivlin Group PC
Disclaimer:
The purpose of this article is for informational/educational use only. No client relationship is intended by virtue of your use of this article. This article cannot be relied on for official advice regarding your specific situation, and is meant only to be general in nature. Because the regulatory environment is so dynamic at this time, it is possible that the content in this article will be superseded. This article was drafted on 13th April 2020.