The Internal Revenue Service said Friday it would restart issuing its 500 series of balance-due notices to taxpayers later this month after they were paused on May 9 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the IRS continued to issue most of its notices, the 500 series was temporarily suspended because of a backlog of mail that built up at the IRS while many employees were away from agency facilities due to COVID-19. The IRS came under fire earlier this year for issuing balance due notices with the incorrect dates to taxpayers during the pandemic and agreed to stop sending the notices until it caught up with its backlog of unopened mail (see story).
Christine Pratt is a senior analyst at Aite Group specializing in lending and credit risk and spanning Aite Groups Retail and Wholesale Banking segments. She brings to Aite Group a strong research and consulting background as well as hands-on experience developed working within financial institutions.Ms. Pratt has been widely quoted in national media and industry publications such as Wall Street Journal, Forbes, American Banker, Bank Technology News, Bank Systems & Technology, and Credit Union News. She has presented at major industry events (CBA, MBA) and client conferences for top technology providers.Before joining Aite Group, Ms. Pratt served as president and CEO of Pratt Associates, a firm dedicated to providing marketing and competitive intelligence, including research advisory and consulting services, to the financial services and healthcare industries. Prior to this she was a research director within Financial Insights Consumer Banking and Credit practice, and senior research analyst with TowerGroups Consumer Credit practice. In these capacities she authored research and advised senior management of financial services clients on system selection and best practices in business processing.Ms. Pratt adds strong domain expertise to her list of industry experience, including COO duties for both the consumer lending and mortgage subsidiaries of a large regional lender, and CAO duties for two investment advisory firms. Ms. Pratt managed multiple core banking systems conversions for RBS Citizens Bank, a top 10 U.S. bank, and was a senior vice president at BayBanks, where she had oversight of all credit operations (including credit cards, mortgages, and auto finance) and managed a staff of more than 500. At Shawmut Bank, Pratt drove the centralization of corporate customer call centers and managed all corporate services operations. Additionally, as a senior manager for a New York-based consulting firm, she supported Top 10 financial institutions and Internet startups.Ms. Pratt holds a B.A. in both English Literature and Mathematics from Boston University.
Tracy Walsh is a senior consultant for Population Health Advisor of Advisory Board, a consulting firm specializing in healthcare and technology.
The IRS said Friday that it has now caught up enough with its mail backlog to account for payments that are mailed on a timely basis. Some taxpayers will start seeing updated 500 series notices with current issuance and payment dates in late October or early November.
The 500 series of balance due notices includes three different types of notices that warn taxpayers about different stages of nonpayment: the CP501, the CP503 and the CP504.
The CP501 notice tells taxpayers they still have a balance due and what their options are, while the CP503 lets them know the IRS hasn’t heard from them yet and they may be subject to a tax lien if they don’t pay their taxes. The CP504 alerts taxpayers they need to pay their balances immediately or face the possibility of a levy of their state income tax refunds. The 500 series of notices are typically sent to taxpayers if they don’t respond to or pay their initial notice and demand on the CP14 letter.
Despite the resumption of the notices, the IRS is still in the process of catching up on millions of pieces of unopened mail, prompting a letter this week from Democrats on the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee asking if the IRS will be ready in time for next tax season (see story). They also asked the IRS this week about why it was sending out notices revoking the tax-exempt status of over 30,000 nonprofits despite an extension it was supposed to have granted them for filing the Form 990 during the pandemic while it’s in the midst of processing the backlog of unopened correspondence. Earlier this month, IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig told another House oversight subcommittee that the IRS was still processing 5.3 unopened million pieces of mail, including 2.5 million paper tax returns.
The IRS is encouraging taxpayers who can’t pay to consider some of the available payment options while penalties and interest continue to accrue.
The IRS noted that taxpayers who were affected by the pandemic or other circumstances may qualify for relief from penalties due to reasonable cause if they’ve made an effort to comply with the requirements of the law, but couldn’t meet their tax obligations, due to facts and circumstances beyond their control. Taxpayers should call the toll-free number listed on their notice to ask for penalty relief due to reasonable cause if they believe they qualify and have the supporting documentation to prove it. More information on reasonable cause relief can be found on a page at IRS.gov. Payment options and extra information can also be found on another page of IRS.gov.
