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A new year ushers in many changes for the Internal Revenue Service, but one massive problem will not go away – backlogs.

While the IRS still must deal with a backlog of mail and a backed-up phone system that leaves taxpayers and practitioners on hold and frequently drops the call, changes are in the works. Among them are a potential new commissioner (Danny Werfel was nominated for the role in November 2022) and an increased budget that will give the IRS billions of dollars to spend, although it has less than two months left to develop a spending plan.

 $1.2 billion in penalties will be refunded to 1.6 million taxpayers

In late August, the Internal Revenue Service announced on its website that it had issued Notice 2022-36, which will provide penalty relief to most taxpayers who filed certain 2019 or 2020 tax returns late.

In late May, the Internal Revenue Service enhanced the Where's My Refund? tool on their website.

This new feature allows taxpayers to check the status of their refunds for current tax year and two previous years.

In order to check their refund status, taxpayers will need to provide their Social Security number or ITIN, filing status and expected refund amount from the original filed tax return for the tax year they are checking.

Previously, Where's My Refund? only displayed the status of the most recently filed tax return within the past two tax years. Information available to those calling the refund hotline will be limited to the 2021 tax return.

Using the Where's My Refund? Tool, taxpayers can check the status of their refund within:
• 24 hours after e-filing a tax year 2021 return
• Three or four days after e-filing a tax year 2019 or 2020 return
• Four weeks after mailing a return

The IRS reminds taxpayers that the Online Account continues to be the best option for finding their prior year adjusted gross income, balance due or other type of account information.

“We encourage those who expect a refund, but requested an extension, to file as soon as they're ready,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “We process returns on a first-in basis, so the sooner the better. There's really no reason to wait until October 17 if filers have the relevant information to file now. Free File is still available for extension recipients to use to prepare and file their federal tax return for free.”

Electronic filing is available anytime and the IRS continues to receive returns and issue refunds. Once taxpayers have filed, they can track their refund with the Where's My Refund? tool.

This helpful tool, accessible on irs.gov or the IRS2Go mobile app, allows taxpayers to track their refund through three stages – received, approved and sent.

The tool is updated daily and gives taxpayers a projected refund issuance date as soon as it is approved.

The IRS does not recommend taxpayers call them to check on their refund status unless it has been more than 21 days since the return was filed or the tool says the IRS can provide more information.

If the IRS needs more information to process the return, the taxpayer will be contacted by mail.

For more information about checking the status of a tax refund, please visit irs.gov/refunds.

Often taxpayers will provide their tax preparer with most of their pertinent information needed to file tax returns. However, they sometimes forget to pass along notices from a tax authority, which could impact returns.

For instance, when the Ohio Department of Taxation identifies a perceived calculation error in an individual tax return, they issue a variance notice to the taxpayer. This notice compares the figures on the return as filed to the department's recalculated figures and allows for the taxpayer to disagree with some or all of the adjustments by providing additional documentation.

As the end of the year approaches, now is a great time for businesses to get a jump start on year-end payroll processing.

Even if you use an outsourced payroll provider, there are some things that you can do to make the year-end processing more efficient.

Over the past decade, more people have moved to electronic payments of their monthly bills and expenses.

The days of sitting down and writing checks to pay bills has quickly become a thing of the past. In fact, for many people under the age of 30, they do not know, nor have they ever had a physical checkbook!

According to Accounting Today, the Internal Revenue Service began sending out letters from its Automated Collection System function in June and restarted the income tax levy program in July.

Suspended last year, the IRS tax levy program includes both tax levy and treasury payments.

As small business owners complete the second quarter 2021 filing of their state unemployment tax payments with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, they should be aware that tax saving benefits have been preserved for the coming years.

On June 29, Gov. Mike DeWine signed House Bill 168, which appropriates $2.2 billion of the $2.7 billion that Ohio is slated to receive this year under the federally funded American Rescue Plan.

In early June, the U.S. Treasury Department released its general explanations of proposed changes to the U.S. tax code.

Please note, the following items have only been proposed. In order to become law, they must pass through both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 18 into law, which ensures that expenses paid with forgiven Paycheck Protection Plan loans become deductible for state income tax purposes.

The legislation, which was supported by the Ohio Society of CPAs (OSCPA) will conform tax laws in the Buckeye State with recent changes to federal tax law, including deductibility of expenses from the Paycheck Protection Program and excluding $10,200 in unemployment compensation from income tax.