You Can Now Download Your Tax Return Transcript From The IRS

Huzzah for convenience! Americans can now download their tax return transcript directly from the IRS. Previously, citizens had to slog through a questionnaire and wait 5-10 business days for a physical form through snail mail. I tried out their new service today and, after spending about two minutes answering security questions, I was able to download three years worth of tax information.




“I am very excited to announce that the IRS has just launched, this week, the ‘get transcript’ application which will give taxpayers the ability to view, print, and download tax transcripts,” said Katherine Sydor, Advisor at Office of Consumer Policy at the Treasury. Sydor made her announcement at the White House’s education “Datapalooza,” a gathering of hackers and policy leaders to jam on how open government data can help solve the nation’s education ills (Video link, ~1:37:00)

As is becoming tradition at the White House, the newly launched feature has some bugs. I had to re-register after I couldn’t log in a second time. The IRS asked me for a “user name,” which it never told me; when I tried retrieving it with the “forgot user ID” function, the website encountered an error. A minor bug, but it’s not helping the White House shake its tarnished reputation.

One would think that downloading tax returns would not be novel in 2014. But, the software tax industry has spent millions lobbying the government not to design its own interface. Intuit, the makers of TurboTax, reap heavy rewards from being one of the only web apps for filing and retrieving tax information.

Still, despite the lobbying, it seems the IRS can still make some progress in open government. Check out the Get Transcript web app here.

Important Info on New Health Care Law, Web Site, Easy to Navigate

The newest and most informative web site online right now is www.HealthCare.gov  easy to read, easy to navigate web site for health care for Americans.  We strongly suggest that you click on over to www.HealthCare.gov  and learn more about the new health care options.


Open Enrollment for the Health Insurance Marketplace: The open enrollment period to purchase health care coverage through the new Health Insurance Marketplace begins Oct. 1, 2013. When you get health insurance through the marketplace, you may be able to get the new advance Premium Tax Credit that will immediately help lower your monthly premium. Learn more at HealthCare.gov.


The Affordable Care Act, or health care law, contains new health insurance coverage and financial assistance options for individuals and families. The IRS will administer the tax provisions included in the law. Visit HealthCare.gov for more information on coverage options and financial assistance.

Legislation Introduceded, IRS to Prepare Tax Form for Taxpayers, Read the comments for your daily laugh

All I can say is don't laugh too hard.  This could happen!  The IRS surely isn't happy about not being able to legally test tax preparers.  What if the IRS silently pushed this bill?  I truly believe we as tax professionals should study for the test, take the test and past the test! 

Tax preparers must make sure that IRS doesn't do to them, what the Airlines did to the travel agents.  It can happen.

C. Ingraham, RTRP

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A pair of Congressmen have introduced legislation that would allow the Internal Revenue Service to provide taxpayers with a tax form already containing information received from employers and banks to streamline the tax prep process.

The two Illinois Democrats, Rep. Bill Foster and Mike Quigley, introduced the Autofill Act of 2013 last Friday to simplify the process of filling out federal income tax forms and save taxpayers time and money.

Taxpayers spend an estimated 6.1 billion hours a year complying with the Tax Code and an average of over $200 on tax preparation fees.

The Autofill Act of 2013 would create a voluntary tax filing program that would allow individuals to log in to a secure IRS Web site and download a tax form automatically populated with information the IRS already collects from employers, the Social Security Administration and financial institutions.

“Our Tax Code is complicated enough,” Foster said in a statement. “We shouldn’t be asking taxpayers to submit information the IRS already has. It’s time to bring the tax filing system into the 21st century with a commonsense solution that reduces the burden on taxpayers and decreases the costs associated with filling out tax forms.”

The information from the populated tax forms would be available as both a printable document file and a computer-readable form that would be compatible with existing tax preparation software. Taxpayers could simply review the returns for accuracy and sign at the bottom, saving them time, money and anxiety.

The Autofill Act of 2013 is estimated to save $2 billion a year in tax prep fees and 225 million hours of time. In California, the state’s two tax filing programs, which also pre-populate tax forms, save the state an estimated $500,000 annually and 98 percent of users have indicated that they would use it again.

This article came to my inbox from: TaxProToday.com

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The Next Industry to Crumble Will Create the Next Big Investment Opportunity

This was in my inbox and after listening to the video, I decided that it would be best to share this information with clients, associates and friends.  I believe what The Motley Fool information and have advised clients for a couple years of this upcoming change.  Take a listen and see what you think.  I am not being compensated for sharing this information, I just know that TV as we know it, will be changing in the future.

Another major industry is about to fall. Hard. And it will happen much sooner than anyone on Wall Street expects. (All signs are pointing to 2014.) Everyone will claim they saw it coming. They'll say they knew all about the experimental project that Google launched in Kansas City. They'll say when they heard Apple's big March announcement, they knew for sure. They'll say that the one last "insurmountable" obstacle was obviously no big deal. And they'll be lying. But that's okay. Because you'll be the one who knew which 3 overlooked stocks to invest in now for max profit... before 57.3 million Americans hit the OFF button.

Click here for the new investor alert video!