ProPublica: How to Track Your Tax Refund in 2023. “You’ve figured out your deductions or credits, calculated how much you owed in taxes and successfully filed your return. If you’re sitting around wondering where your money is, you’re not alone. Lucky for you, the IRS offers several ways to track your tax return.”
Motherboard: The Company Helping the IRS Go Undercover Online. “Internal IRS documents obtained by Motherboard show the IRS paid Israeli firm Cobwebs Technologies hundreds of thousands of dollars for a tool that helps it monitor the web while undercover.”
ProPublica: The IRS Hasn’t Released Nearly Half a Million Nonprofit Tax Records. “According to a ProPublica review of public IRS data, which powers our Nonprofit Explorer database, the agency is behind on releasing nearly half a million tax records, known as Form 990s, for tax-exempt organizations. The delays, which began two years ago, are stymying access to key financial information that governments, the public and grantmakers use to evaluate the nation’s tax-exempt companies.”
Gizmodo: House Committees Slam ID.me for ‘Baseless’ Unemployment Fraud Claims. “ID.me, the controversial biometric identification verification company whose facial match technology provoked a major privacy backlash at the IRS earlier this year, may have misled the public and lawmakers when its CEO claimed the U.S. lost $400 billion to fraudulent pandemic unemployment claims.”
National Taxpayer Advocate Blog: NTA Blog: Improving Services to Taxpayers With Visual Disabilities. “Millions of U.S. taxpayers are visually impaired and unable to read print material in a standard font size. As a result of a settlement agreement between the IRS and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) on July 10, 2020, the IRS agreed to develop a process for taxpayers to request post-filing tax notices in a variety of acceptable formats, including Braille and large print.”
Engadget: The IRS says it accidentally exposed confidential information involving 120,000 taxpayers. “Around 120,000 taxpayers who filed a Form 990-T will be hearing from the IRS in the coming weeks, telling them that the agency inadvertently exposed their information on its website. Exempted organizations, including charities and religious groups, with unrelated business income are required to file Form 990-T. As The Wall Street Journal notes, though, people with individual retirement accounts invested in assets that generate income, such as real estate, are also required to file the form.”
CNN: Activists pushed the IRS to drop facial recognition. They won, but they’re not done yet. “Facial recognition has emerged as a hot-button issue where activists who oppose it see a chance to win. Even as the technology has proliferated and been embraced by law enforcement, lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have expressed serious concerns about its deployment. And while most legislation regarding its usage has been passed at a more local level, this recent decision by a federal agency could mean more widespread limitations are achievable — or so the activists hope.”
KDKA: IRS Launches Resource Page That Offers Latest Guidance On Tax Filing Season. “The page provides you with the latest information affecting the 2022 tax season, and provides updates on the efforts by the agency to address the inventory of previously filed tax returns.”
Associated Press: IRS to end use of facial recognition to identify taxpayers. “The IRS said Monday it will suspend the use of facial recognition technology to authenticate people who create online accounts after the practice was criticized by privacy advocates and lawmakers.”
CNN: The IRS website will soon require facial recognition to log in to your account. “The next time you try to log in to the Internal Revenue Service’s website you’ll be urged to use facial-recognition software to verify you are who you say you are. The verification process includes taking a picture of a photo ID, like a driver’s license or passport, and then taking a video selfie with a smartphone or computer so software can compare the two. It’s part of a partnership the IRS has with ID.me, a fast-growing company that uses facial recognition software as part of its identity-verification process.”
KVOE: CORONAVIRUS: IRS starting tax season early. “The IRS has announced this year’s tax filing season will begin Jan. 24, 17 days earlier than it started last year. The main reason, like it is for many adjustments the past two years, is coronavirus. The IRS is anticipating a resurgence of COVID cases — underway now across the country — as well as less funding authorization from Congress than requested by President Biden.”
Government Accountability Office: How the Pandemic is Changing the IRS. “At the onset of the pandemic, IRS had to temporarily shut down its onsite operations, including its mail processing facilities. The impact could be felt by taxpayers, who waited longer for returns to be processed or to receive COVID-related economic relief checks. But the pandemic also disrupted IRS’s tax enforcement programs used to check that information provided by taxpayers is verified, and that the correct amount of tax is paid to the federal government. Today’s WatchBlog post looks at our new work on how IRS was impacted by COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, as well as the long-term changes the pandemic may have on its operations.”
IRS: IRS unveils online tool to help low-income families register for monthly Child Tax Credit payments. “The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service today unveiled an online Non-filer Sign-up tool designed to help eligible families who don’t normally file tax returns register for the monthly Advance Child Tax Credit payments, scheduled to begin July 15. This tool, an update of last year’s IRS Non-filers tool, is also designed to help eligible individuals who don’t normally file income tax returns register for the $1,400 third round of Economic Impact Payments (also known as stimulus checks) and claim the Recovery Rebate Credit for any amount of the first two rounds of Economic Impact Payments they may have missed.”
ProPublica: What Forms Do I Need to File My Taxes and Where Can I Get Them?. “For 2021, the tax deadline for individuals was extended to May 17. This list highlights the most common tax forms and which ones you might need, depending on your circumstances.”
CNBC: Covid masks and hand sanitizer can get you a tax break, IRS says. “Americans can get a tax break this filing season for masks, hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes and other personal protective equipment to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the IRS announced Friday. The tax code lets taxpayers deduct medical costs that exceed 7.5% of their adjusted gross income each year. The IRS is counting costs incurred for PPE as a medical expense that qualifies for the tax break.”
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