tax representation help

You don't need an attorney in a case like this. Either an Enrolled Agent (EA) or Certified Public Accountant (CPA) will bill the bill.

However be sure the one you pick does practice in the area of representation. Not all do.

For a referral, goto

ChEAr$, Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

"cacadick" wrote

A CPA is best unless you are into some illegal activity.

A CPA will be all you need.

I agree. An attorney is better down the line, if and when it gets to court. But during the pre-litigation process CPA's and EA's who have dealt with these issues generally have more experience and a better handle on just what to do.

Stu

Apparently others here were able to read more between the lines than I. Why would simply amending filing status from MFS to MFJ require any representation at all, if there were no problems with the original returns? And especially, why would the Office of Taxpayer Advocate be involved?

-Mark Bole

Sounds like the amended return was not accepted...and they went to the advocate to get it resolved...Not unusual for it to be rejected or even examined...The advice here is true, an Enrolled Agent or a CPA who practices in the area of taxation and does representation work is sufficient at this juncture...

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote: [...]

That's what I'm trying to educate myself about -- what would commonly lead to an audit of an amended return, where the only change is to take all the items from two MFS returns and add them together (applying any changed rules or limitations, of course, such as previously disallowed credits, etc)?

I'm trying to imagine what the IRS correspondence might state in this case. Are they using the amendment to MFJ as an opportunity to go back and review the previously filed original MFS returns? Or have they simply caught an arithmetic/worksheet error in the consolidation process? What types of errors make this situation "not unusual"?

Due to tax law changes in California, for 2007 any RDP's (registered domestic partners) who file non-married for federal will be filing MFJ (or MFS) for state, so if the process of consolidating two returns into one is fraught with common errors, it would help to know of them ahead of time.

-Mark Bole

Mark, I am a former Revenue Agent and manager with the IRS, I am now retired now...I saw many amended returns come out for audit in my day...There are many reasons why, there may be inconsistencies between the two original returns and the new joint return...There may have been some items on one or both of the returns that are questionable/large or unusual and either return may have fallen out for examination anyway...Also, in many instances, the amendment claims more expenses/ deductions and generates a refund or a large reduction in the tax on the original return...Most of the separate to joint returns that I or my agents saw, had some inconsistenciesor additional deductions when joined together...I was thinking that since the person who asked the question may have done it himself, there may be errors on it, since these are not easy for a layperson to do...Just a thought... Last year I represented a client here in Sacramento whose amended was rejected and brought out for audit...It was truly a mess (that someone else amended)...this return may have passed through the DIF system, had he not tried to reduce the original tax due...

Now with domestic partners here in CA, the feds still will not allow this filing status, and I am not familiar with the criteria the State uses to examine such returns...and after a meeting I attended up here in Sacramento where a FTB employee made a presentation, I am not sure that know what to do with this as well...smile

Isn't it true that amended returns are actually processed by human beings, whereas original returns may be entirely processed by computer if e-filed, or only actually seen by data entry clerks if paper filed? Maybe that makes the difference.

(or maybe it's just an urban myth.)

Actually Don, you are correct...Because the IRS processing systems are set up to handle current year returns, they do have to manually process amendeds and delinquent returns...If you think about it,many line items on a return change from year to year, especially when some aspects of the law change, then the new law has to be accomodated in the systems...So long story short, you are correct...