Fines and Penalties when the IRS rejects your return.

[stixoffire2]

My Tax forms were fine, my filing Electronically was fine - except that the IRS rejected my return because their database records did not have my prior year AGI in it. There is a special database apparently that is used for the filing to compare to, the online web version is not pulling from that system - my online web information on the IRS website was correct. The IRS Rejected my Tax Filing. Then after I find out from the hard to reach IRS how I can file the thing - it finally goes through and I do not get a notice back from TT about any rejection.
A month Later the IRS says they want to Fine me and charge me Interest for "filing late" .. uh no I did not file late.
I called and waited 2 hours for someone to answer, they stated I had to pay it .. I said it's not my problem - I hand you the return by the due date - you reject it and then say I have to pay!! Seriously!! The agent then says they will waive the penalties but not the interest on the penalties! MAFIA for sure.. Next they will be selling us "protection"..
This should not happen to anybody ..

Will Audit Defense do any good in this regard ?

[NCperson]

@stixoffire2 if this helps any...

you were required to pay all the money you owed by April 18.  if you didn't interest accrues.  

regardless of when you filed the tax return itself, are you getting back a refund or do you still owe.  Because you still owe, THAT is why there is interest.  

[stixoffire2]

uh no - I paid in full when I filed - Every Last Penny. The IRS rejected the return for mismatched AGI and I received notice they rejected the return after the filing deadline. Not my problem they rejected the return on account of their records not being up to date either. I filed ON TIME and Paid On Time.
That is like you send them a check and they don't cash it until 4 months later and then claim you were late to pay! 
That is like handing in your taxes to the man at the door and him saying we can't find your last years AGI in our system - sorry we rejected your return.

That is not my issue they did not have the AGI in their database that their electronic filing API uses. The AGI  was on the IRS website when I logged in (just so I could verify they had the same as me) and that matched what I had in my records (my copy of last years return) and what I put in the TurboTax when I filed.

It's a crock - they are operating like the Mafia!

[Mike9241]

a suggestion for the future. Don't pay by check. if you are registered with the IRS you can set up payment on its website using a checking account, savings account, credit or debit card. the latter two have fees.  you can specify the date payment is to be made in advance, still has to be timely, and after finishing you can print a receipt that will serve as proof of timely payment even if it takes the IRS two months to actually take the funds provided there were enough funds available on the date specified.

technically the IRS is supposed to go by the postmark date to check if the payment is timely. i'm not sure if that applies when an office machine is used because the date can be tampered with. You also risk the possibility of the check getting lost in the mail. Even certified mail.  

the other thing you can do is specify on a timely filed return - not extended - is direct debit. however, if the return is rejected then and not successfully e-filed until after the due date, I'm not sure if the IRS would charge late payment fees.

if you used Turbotax and the e-file was rejected, you should have gotten a rejection e-mail from Turbotax. depending on your spam filters that could end up in your spam folder.  

i

you are among many that even though this AGI issue. 

[NCperson]

@stixoffire2 - once again, let's go back....CALMLY and without the emotion.

how did you pay the tax due by April 18?  the IRS is quite clear that the money is  due in their hands by that date.  Did you submit the tax return and expect the money to be auto-debited based on the tax return submission? 

What date was the tax return rejected? 

What date did you finally pay the amount due? 

What I am trying to do is separate the requirement to pay the money vs. the requirement to submit the tax return.  The interest is related only to the former, 

[stixoffire2]

Mike I appreciate the answer .
1: I did not pay by check - I was providing an example process of what it compares to.
2: I filed and paid via Turbo-Tax directly.
3: I did receive a notice back after the deadline had passed.

In any case regardless; the filing date is post mark date if mailed by US Post office stamp, it should be the same if filling electronically - regardless if there is an issue with that return or not (my fault their fault should not matter) - if the money is sent electronically with it - they should cash it / accept it and deal with issues later.

Not hey we reject your return for non-sense (their issues, not mine) - just suppose their computers just rejected everyone's return and let the time period lapse before sending out the notification..... Think about that - would it be right for them to fine people and charge interest?
Same thing here .. just they did not do it to everyone.

[NCperson]

@stixoffire2 lesson learned..... pay any amounts due at the IRS website.  Don't have the tax due auto-debited with the tax return submission.  

[stixoffire2]

Right inside TurboTax when filing the return.  All monies and the return filed at the same time.
The requirement to Pay by filing date, and requirement to file by date were both met.

 

[stixoffire2]

Here is my lesson - go to my representative and see if they can fix this , so it does not happen to anybody else.
It's horse hockey and a mafia's way of doing business.

Taxes should be as simple as a post card. Graduated flat tax done. You earned X dollars whether business or personal here is what you pay - submit here and done.
I know a lot of accountants and Government (IRS)  employees out of work..

[Critter-3]

Ok ... brass tacks are :

1) you efiled and it was rejected for whatever reason ... it is your responsibility when you use a DIY program to make sure the efile was successful by looking for the emails  and/or logging in again and checking that way ... anyone waiting to the last minute to file needs to be more proactive ... (FYI ... never wait to the last minute to file ... you can file a balance due return anytime and wait to PAY the balance due until the last day ... so if you had tried to file before the deadline you would have had ample time to make other filing & payment arrangements before 4/18). 

2) if the return was rejected then the payment information was not received by the IRS and thus no direct debit was completed

3) you had 5 days to fix the rejected return to be considered timely filed ... if you could not get the return to efile then you had to print, ink sign and mail in the paper return with a copy of the rejection email notice.  Payment should have been sent with the paper return or  paid online directly.

4) the payment is late ... period.  You may be able to reduce the failure to pay  penalty if you did pay within the 5 day "perfection" period already mentioned. 

5) the return is also late ... period.  Again you may be able to reduce the failure to file penalty if you can show just cause.

[NCperson]

https://proconnect.intuit.com/support/en-us/help-article/tax-calendars/electronic-filing-deadlines-p...

• When an e-filed return or extension is rejected, the IRS provides a Transmission Perfection Period, or look-back period, to correct the filing and retransmit it. If the previously rejected filing is accepted by the IRS within the perfection period, it will be considered to have been received on the date of the first rejection that occurred within the period. Extensions for individuals are typically granted 5 calendar days. For more details on the perfection period, see IRS Pub. 4164. Check your state’s website to verify whether they allow the same perfection period as the IRS.

[stixoffire2]

I do not understand what you are not getting here.

My return was correct.
The IRS requires you to submit your previous years AGI in the Turbo Tax System for identity verification - that is it.
I submitted my previous years AGI (from my records). I know it was correct and further it was also posted on the IRS website under my account which I had logged in to (you do know you can log into your Tax Account on the IRS website ..) .

When I finally got an IRS agent (which took forever to get to someone) - he specifically asked me to check the IRS website for my account - I said I already did. He went to check as well and said yes you are correct those numbers should have worked. He requested to put me on hold while he checked another system and when he came back off of the hold he told me the other database is the one that electronic filing is compared to and that IRS did not have the proper information in that database.  That is how I know they have two different systems for the records.

So please tell me when everything was correct on my end; what on my Tax return filing should I have corrected ?

[Critter-3]

Ok ... if the AGI off the originally filed 2021 return (no amendments)   is rejected by the IRS  for any reason  AND  using a single zero for the AGI  also did not work then your only options are (1) print, ink sign and mail in the return  OR (2) use/pay a local tax pro that doesn't need that AGI verification that DIY programs need to efile the return.