in these companies. they should be forcing them to develop things that fit the public need and it is not. >> join in the conversation. sunday at noon eastern on book tv on c-span2. ♪ >> journal" continues. host: joining us is erin collins here to talk about the 2020 irs filing season. remind us, what is the irs tax advocate? guest: today is actually my one year anniversary, i was sworn in last year as the pandemic was picked -- was taking off. the service our lead was created by congress to help taxpayers free of charge when facing

financial difficulties, economic hardship, or handling problems within the irs when their systems have failed. our charge is to be the voice of taxpayers to advocate for solutions and make suggestions for administrative change within the irs in an effort to improve taxpayer service and protect taxpayers rights. we also have the privilege of making legislative recommendations to ensure pat -- in short taxpayer rights protected -- ensure taxpayer rights are protected. i expressed concerns on taxpayers'behalf within the irs and congress and had the ability to identify -- to propose change on their behalf. host: you will hear from those taxpayers today. we want you to call and, if you live in the eastern part of the country, 202-748-8000.

mountain or pacific, call 202-748-8001. -- guest: the irs has had a heavy lift. i know we like to focus on the things that go wrong, but we have to acknowledge the things that have gone right. last march, congress created the cares act that was signed into law by the president. that allowed the first set of stimulus payments to be issued. most of those payments went out in april and may of last year. at the end of december, congress enacted a second set of legislation that provided an additional $600 for individual and child. that was in january. then recently congress initiated a third round of stimulus payments on behalf of taxpayers. that was $1400 for eligible

individuals and $1400 for dependence. the irs -- for dependents. the irs has done a good job getting those checks out and a good timeframe. the last one, checks went out within 24 hours of the legislation being signed. we still have a challenge of getting it out to all taxpayers. that is usually an area we can focus on, how the irs can do better. host: what is the cause of people not receiving payments if they qualify? guest: it depends which set of stimulus checks. the irs has learned and created lessons learned from the first to the third payment. the biggest challenge was getting everyone into the irs system. they waited legislation was written, it applies to all taxpayers whether or not they

file a tax return or not. if they are eligible, if you were single it was below $75,000, you are entitled. if you did not file a tax return, the irs is not aware of your existence. the first and second round we had to get people into the system for the irs to pay. the irs works with the social security administration with respect to those individuals in the system. they had to get those files over to the irs so we could incorporate it and get those out the door. the biggest challenge of the remaining individuals, those who are homeless or don't have a permanent address, who don't have bank information, those are the ones it has been difficult getting payments out to. host: how has the pandemic impacted the agency overall? guest: the pandemic has not been kind to anyone and the irs is no exception.

i started march 30. that was the time the commissioner has shut down all offices across the united states. he put the health and safety of the employees as top priority. last year's filing season was very difficult and the irs is still digging out of a hole we have been dealing with in respect to last year. when you think about tax administration, it was created as a one time administration. every year people file tax returns, refunds are paid, and then you roll forward and having exterior. what has -- and you have the next year. congress has used the irs not only to be a tax administrator but to help with social programs. they have a number of credits that are beneficial to individuals that the irs is administering. the child credit, many other

credits the irs is involved in. stimulus payments are no different. the challenge is that some of the irs's technology is outdated and staffing has been reduced by about 20% over the last dated. if your staff is reduced, if your technology is outdated, you have an issue. the question i have is at what cost? you have to prioritize and something has got to give. a lot of individuals responsible for processing tax returns, answering telephones, working with taxpayers, they are stretched very thin. as a result, taxpayer service is suffering. for example, the song lines -- for example, the phone lines last year were difficult and this year is not much better. congress funds the irs to be

responsible for six out of 10 calls. i don't think that is efficient. i would like to see the irs funded to receive 100% of calls. we are seeing there are days when it is less than 10% of those phone calls are able to be answered and that is due to an increased high volume of calls coming in. and, again, the challenge of having remote workers who are responsible to answer those calls. it was a difficult season last year and this year we are struggling as well. on one hand, thanks to congress because they have between the december legislation and the march legislation, they proposed taxpayer, -- taxpayer-favorable payments. the challenge to the irs is they usually don't turn on a dime. their ip system is not created to do that. when you propose a legislation

that impacts the filing season a month into filing season, it is difficult for the irs and for the taxpayers to make sure they get the benefits they are entitled to. host: the irs has extended the filing dates into may. how will that help? guest: in my role, i always look at what is the benefit to taxpayers but also how does it impact tax administration. the extension date is a great example of the dichotomy. for many individuals, having that individual month is helpful. it has been difficult for people to get assistance and prepare their returns. that gives them an additional month to file returns and pay. taxpayers have the ability to file the extension which is automatic and would give them until october 15. the challenge i have on behalf of tax administration is every

time we make a change to the irs i.t. system, that taxes the i.t. folks. when you think about irs folks, we talk about front-line people and all the benefits these individuals have provided. some of our i.t. folks have not had a break since last march. they have been working around the clock between stimulus payments, changes due to legislation. this is no different. we have a challenge going on now getting stimulus payments out the door. at the last count, we were in excess of 130 million payments made to individuals and families. they are doing a tremendous job trying to get it out. we will always be the first to say we can do is better and we can make sure we can get 100% coverage. host: we will go to calls. from greenwich, new york. go ahead. caller: i have a question in

regard to the 30 million americans on social security, disability, that kind of thing. the stimulus payments -- nobody is getting them. most people, as far as people i speak to, it is because of the and resolve -- because of david black working there at social security. there are people who need the money. i'm curious if you're entertaining the thought of speaking to congress. they are trumping appointees -- they are trump appointees. can you explain when people get their money? i think it is because of these two gentlemen. guest: i am not sure i agree with that. when you talk about the 30

million individuals, i assume you're talking about those not filing tax returns. they are not currently in the irs system. the irs has reached out to the veterans administration to get the file information. their name, social security number, direct deposits to send checks to. that has to be updated every year. the irs received the information from social security information and is in the process. i've talked to some individuals and payments have started going out the door or showing up in their bank account. i think you will see the remaining group of individuals that comes back to payments coming out the door in the near future. hopefully those folks will start to receive checks in the mail. it could be a prepaid debit card. we always remind people that even though it looks like junk mail, open your mail.

do not throw them out and hopefully payments will be coming out shortly. host: mike in sioux falls, south dakota sends us a text. if i make less than $25,000 a year and all of my income is social security, do i need to file a federal tax form? guest: i will answer generally because tax is not simple. i believe the answer is no you do not. if you're only income is $25,000, that should not be a problem. if you're interested in getting the stimulus payment and not having to wait for the irs, you can file a tax return even though it has a zero tax impact. that way you are in the system, the irs has your information if there would be future payments. you may also have other benefits that a tax return would allow you. host: lynn in utah, good morning.

caller: good morning. this $1400 check we will get, will we pay taxes on it? guest: no. that is a good question that has come up. all the stimulus payments are not taxable. you do not have to include them in your income for tax purposes. i think the states are following that rule. host: we will go to anthony in brooklyn. caller: good morning. i have a couple of questions about things i have heard. first of all, i heard the irs was sending out letters for this tech season -- for this tax season for identification purposes and that they would not make direct deposits on the texas.

-- on the taxes. guest: let me address the second part, the irs is making direct deposits if we have your banking information on file. if you file a tax return and you are requesting a refund, there is a line where you can provide your bank routing information. if the irs has that information, they will be making the payment by direct deposit. if there is a problem with the bank information or the money gets returned to the irs, they will subsequently send you a check. they are making those direct deposits. hopefully you will start to see those payments going out the door. host: eddie in michigan, good morning. caller: how are you doing? guest: i am well, thank you. caller: this is concerning me. i got the first stimulus check direct deposit in my credit

union. then i also got the $600 stimulus check, direct deposit in my credit union. now i get ssi which i did not have to file taxes for the $1200 or $4600. -- for the $600. i have not received the $1400 at all. nothing has changed. my status is the same. this website y'all have up, i tried using that. for some reason that is not working right. for some reason you can never get through on a good day or a bad day. you can't get through to talk to a live voice. what i'm asking you is when will i be receiving my stimulus check?

guest: i am glad to hear you received your first two checks without any problems. as i indicated earlier, the irs received the information from social security and the veterans administration. those checks are in the process of being processed. you should see your check in another week or two. we all want things done quicker or better but the legislation just passed march 11. it has only been two weeks. i know everyone needs their money and we want to get that money out as quick as possible. the checks will be coming in the near future or deposits will be made with respect to social security. you do not have to do anything additional. you brought up the "get my payment" which is a tool the irs has. that allows you to login to see the status of your payment.

once the irs processes your payment, they will update the "get my payment" account and you will be able to see if it was sent by direct up -- direct deposit and what the amount is. you are very frustrated because right now it is probably saying you are not eligible or it is not processed. i will keep my fingers crossed for you that in a week or two that is updated and you will see the payments. host: another text, this from one of our viewers who writes in that her sister died from covid-19 on april 27, 2020. there is a stimulus check that came in under her name. "i would like to know if that check can still be deposited into her state -- into her estate account." guest: the first round of

stimulus had to do with 2020. congress referred to it as an advance payment on your 2020 return. as long as you are alive january 1, 2020, you are entitled to those benefits. i'm sorry to hear about the loss of your sister passing but she is qualified to receive the payment for 2020. host: larry in tuscaloosa, alabama. caller: good morning. i have a comment into two questions. the irs is in help of need -- is in need of help. they are in need because when you have people in prison receiving unemployment and stimulus, when you have illegal immigrants receiving

unemployment and stimulus, the irs needs some help. my first and second question to you, if people receive the stimulus and they are on ssi, like some of the callers, if they don't have any income and they are still waiting for their stimulus, can they file a "rebate recovery credit?" the second one is dealing with -- why is it the person who is sending the form off with their name on top, they are going to get charged and the person who prepares the form will get -- i would like to hear from you if

you could elaborate on that. they keep a much. -- thank you very much. guest: i will see if i remember all of the pieces. you correctly pointed out the irs has had a difficult last decade. the budget has been reduced by about 20% over the past decade. that was a real challenge. it impacts hiring, staffing, there have been challenges there. in essence, i am a strong believer all of us deserve a functioning tax administration on behalf of the u.s.. it is imperative they have the adequate funds to serve taxpayers and provide us the assistance we need to comply with tax laws. as you pointed out, the rebate credit is what the text

technical term is for the stimulus payments. if you did receive the payments, you do not have to file a tax return if you received the correct amount in 2020 from the first or second stimulus. you would not be required to file it in order to receive the third stimulus. some taxpayers have filed to get their information within the irs. if there are future payments, it can be made. your third point had to do with penalties and return preparers. fyi, there are penalties that also apply to return preparers. if you return preparer does not do due diligence, they may be subject to entities -- to penalties with respect to the irs. we ask our agents to make sure they properly and accurately file tax returns on your behalf.

they are responsible. they are responsible to you but also potentially responsible for penalties if they are preparing a false return. host: samantha, ohio. caller: good morning. i just received social security, disability, and the last two stimulus checks were direct deposited. this time we have not received any direct deposit. i found out that for the last two rounds, people who received paper checks have now gotten direct deposit. the irs has out information from

the last two stimulus. why the change this time? guest: i will start at the end. the irs does not have your current data. what they have done is reached out to the social security administration to verify, for example, that you live at the same address and have the same information because the information they have is one year old. they do not want to send payments to the my account. they're working to get your most up-to-date information so they can get those deposits out. the preface the irs has is to do direct deposits. even the u.s. has restrictions on how much money can go out the door in certain manners, how much can be direct deposited, how many checks can go out the door. there are challenges. there are times in order to get

money out quickly, it could go out in direct deposit or in checks. the irs is pushing to get the money out as quick as possible -- as quickly as possible and work within the restrictions we have. host: a text, "i lost my job in 2020, i made $70,000 in 2019. i received the first stimulus and some of the second. for the third stimulus i received $40. how is it possible they changed the formula so drastically?" guest: there is a lot in the provision. what congress intended is called a opry quote -- is called an -- is called a "recovery rebate credit."

they didn't want taxpayers to have to wait to file a return until march or april this year. they instructed the irs to rely on taxpayers' 2018 or 2019 income levels to get payments out the door rather than wait for your 2020 income. i believe the color indicated in 2020 they were on unemployment and income was reduced. if your 2020 income -- if you are single, $75,000 or below, you are entitled to the maximum amount forced me this permit one, stimulate -- for the stimulus payment one, two, and three. the irs information they had on you west your 2019 return. you can now file your 2020 return. if you received less than you

believe you were entitled to, you would put the amount you did not receive online 30. for example -- on line 30. let's say you received $1000. you would file your 2020 return and ask for the additional $200 on your 2020 return. you should be getting the payment. also, stimulus payment number three you are receiving is based off a prior year's return. if you get your 2020 return into the irs, they are hoping they will be able to adjust their ip programming that once those 2020 returns are being processed and in the system, after that period of time it will not be tomorrow -- that period of time -- it will not be tomorrow -- in the foreseeable future the irs willy

you the amount so you do not have to wait to file your return for 2021 next february, march of 2022. that is a lot of information, but hopefully that answers your question. host: steve wants to know, what is the arbiter wait between filing electronically and getting your return deposited? guest: like everything in life, that depends, but the general rule to follow is if there are no issues with the electronic the filed return, the guidance is under 21 days. to be honest, i think most times it is under a week, and sometimes it is within days. again, the caveat is if there are no processing errors. we have a couple of issues that taxpayers are dealing with this year. it is kind of a good and bad news. the good news is congress changed the law at the end of december and changed the law in

march. for example, on unemployment insurance. and since they made the law change, what is happening is the irs has to manually make some of those adjustments. at the end of december, congress changed the law with respect to determining your credit. for example, if you have earned income tax credit, it is computed based on your adjusted gross income. a lot of taxpayers received unemployment, lost their jobs during covid, and when you look at the tax consequences, in order to calculate your credit, they do not include unemployment compensation. so a lot of the credits would have been reduced this year. but what congress did was it gave taxpayers the ability to elect. you can use your 2020 income or your 2019 income in order to get the maximum amount of credits, which is great for a lot of people. there are probably millions of people who will get a benefit from this. the challenge is they made that

legislation literally at the end of december and the irs filing season started in early february, so the irs was not able to program it systems. if you were one of those individuals electing to rely on your 2019 income for the childcare or eitc credits, what is happening is the irs is pulling those electronic file returns and they have to manually verify your 2019 income. that is substantially slowing down the process. if that is something you have on your return, it is going to expend well -- extend well past that when he went days when you see those refunds. -- past the 21 days when you see those refunds. the irs staff, they currently have to when he 5 million returns they are try to process. if it is electronic, there are

no problems with the return. it does not require a manual computation or verification. in my opinion, it will be under a week before you see that deposit in the bank account. host: minnesota. caller: yes, ma'am. host: billy, go ahead. turn down that television. just listen to us through your phone. all right, billy, are you there? caller: yes, ma'am. host: go ahead. caller: i was just wondering -- i live on social security, but i only get $738 a month. so i don't have to file income tax because i am so far down the poverty level. and i was wondering, how will i

get my stimulus? and would it be cut because i mix a little? guest: did you receive the first or second stimulus payments? host: i apologize. i did not realize. he is not there anymore. guest: i will answer the hypothetical then. if you received the first or second payment, the irs has you in their system. they will use your current information and those checks will either be mailed or direct deposits will be sent. we have seen a handful already made. i suspect it will be over the next few weeks that those payments are going to start hitting those accounts. host: larry in san antonio. caller: hi. i have not received any stimulus checks yet. i am self-employed. i have not filed by 2020 taxes yet.

if i file my taxes, can i expect to receive any checks? guest: yes. so if you did not receive it for the first or second payment but you did qualify, again, online 30 of your 1040, it says recovery rebate credit. you would put the amount you are entitled to for the first payment and the second payment on that line. hypothetically, $1200 for the first payment, $600 for the second payment, so it would be $1800 you would be asking the irs to give you credit for with your 2020 return. once you file your 2020 return, irs will use that information to issue your third stimulus check. so again, if you are under the $75,000, which it sounds like you are, you would receive that third payment after the processing of your 2020 return. there could be a couple months delay to get that third payment of a so the system and have

those payments made, the better. so if you can get the 2020 return, you can claim that credit for the $1800. host: in temple hills, maryland, you are next. caller: good morning. how are you? host: morning. caller: i just had a question. i received the first payment, the $1200 payment, but i had to close that bank account. and i was wondering if the irs -- because i have not yet received the $600 payment or the $1400 payment. i was wondering if the irs is going to submit to my most recent address like on my 2019 taxes, and i have not filed my 2020 tax returns. guest: so what the irs should be using is their most current information on your address. if your 2020 return is your correct address, then they

should have mailed a paper check if your banking information in essence got bounced. if you closed your account, the bank would send the money back to treasury, and treasury would adjust your account and they should reissue a paper check. if you have not received the second payment, again, i would file your 2020 return, provide your current bank information, and that will allow the irs to make a direct deposit of that $600 you are entitled to from the second stimulus. and then once you are in the system, the irs will issue the additional, you qualified, $1400 for the third stimulus. if you get the return in the system, you will get the second payment as well as the third a lot quicker. host: mark in eastpoint, georgia, once to know, what about the people who did not get stimulus payments but have money from their 401(k)? do we have to claim it as income this year? guest: that's a good question,

and i'm going to be honest, i don't know the answer. i hate to give you incorrect advice. i know the irs has on their website, irs.gov, a whole section on covid frequently asked questions. i am seeing those questions i believe that is one of them. i just unfortunately don't know the answer off the top of my head and don't want to give you incorrect tax information. check irs.gov. that information will be there. host: we are showing it now on their screen. melvin in fort pierce, florida. caller: hello. good morning, greta. good morning, miss collins. thank you both. i was calling to ask a question in regards to nonprofits. are nonprofit organizations go into or are they able to receive stimulus checks? if they are still in this grant or something like that. guest: to answer your question, the stimulus checks are issued to individuals.

the nonprofit would not qualify. so the checks are going out to individuals, they go out to their dependents as well. so if you have children, let's say 10 to 12, the parent would receive stimulus checks on their behalf and on the behalf of their two children. but the checks are not to entities or nonprofits. host: debra lee wants to know from you, miss collins, as someone who has won awards for your work and litigation of high-profile complex tax cases and now advocates for taxpayers, what is the ability of billionaires who pay $750 billion in taxes on corporations that pay zero? guest: looks like someone read my bio. thank you for that. at the end of the day, the question is, did they follow the law? there are many tax benefits, whether for billionaires or whether or not they are for lower income individuals where

congress has determined that they are entitled to certain benefits from us for the real question is not, do i think as tax policy what billionaires should be paying or not. the real question is, are the billionaires properly recording based on the laws as written? as a society, if we have a problem with billionaires having those benefits, then we need to change the law. it really is a question. the other challenge is, and has been a lot of press about this, is the irs currently auditing the right people? that comes down to a budget issue. i think a lot of the things the irs is being faulted for, they don't disagree that they would like to do more. it is just financially without the additional staff and the financial support, it is difficult to do everything that we would all like to see them do. host: lewis, salisbury, north carolina. caller: yes, top of the morning.

earlier today, a gentleman called in and said something about the two other gentlemen that are over in the trump administration. he said something like, you don't think it is because of that. i called my congressman, i called the senators, and let them know certain people were not receiving their money. the secretary of social security , a letter saying this money is not being sent out, and all of a sudden now they sent the money to the irs, which we should be already in the government in the first place and we should have gotten it. do you think those two gentlemen were -- i am sure c-span has the documentation that congress sent them a letter and they have a response. you think that was a sabotage from the trump leftovers? guest: my personal opinion, absolutely not.

i know the commissioner very well. i cannot really speak on his behalf. i can tell you since my year being a national taxpayer advocate, i have seen the commissioner bend over backwards to make sure the taxpayers are protected and getting the money out the door. again, when you think about it, the law was passed less than two weeks ago. they have already paid 137 million payments have gotten out the door on behalf of taxpayers, and they are intending to get the remaining humans out in the near future is the goal. we all have been sort of spoil because the irs has made such quick payments. if you think about more than 10 years ago, the last set of stimulus payments, the checks did not go out for six to eight weeks from the time the law was initiated. again, we absolutely want that money to go out and get out there quicker, but i do not believe there is any foul play with respect in getting the money out the door. it is my opinion.

i do see every day the commissioner as well as others working very hard to get the money out the door to individuals that are in need. host: let's go to gia, annandale, virginia. caller: yes. thank you for taking my call. my question is regarding inmates. i don't they are eligible for their stimulus. however, i don't know how. can they apply? or do their family numbers have to apply for them? if so, how do we go about that? guest: the inmates is an additional challenge because they have limited access to internet, mail issues. again, assuming they meet the criteria, i will assume single, under $75,000 a year, they would qualify, so they would have to have a tax return in the system and on the tax return they can either provide a mailing address or they could provide bank routing information. if the irs has not, the payment

can be made. i have heard anecdotally there are challenges of getting the payments to the prisoners depending on what facilities they are at, but those are additional challenges they are having to deal with. absolutely, if they do qualify based on their adjusted gross income, they can file a joint return with the spouse. they can file on their own. once that information is in the system, those checks should be going out. host: through the q&a section of the irs website to enter that caller's question about the 401 distribution. i want to make sure this sounds right to you. first of all, the irs is the coronavirus distribution is made from an eligible retirement plan to a qualified individual between january 1 of 2020 to december 30 of 2020 up to an aggregate limit of $100,000 from all plans and ira's.

and then it goes on to say, do i have to pay the 10% additional tax on a coronavirus related distribution from my retirement plan or ira? no. it does not apply to any coronavirus related distributions. erin collins? guest: i think that is correct. when we talk about the initial tax, if you pull your money out early from an ira, it is in essence a penalty for pulling the money out sooner. what congress is doing is allowing people to have access to their ira's in order to pay their basic necessities that they are in need for. what that section is referring to is saying you do not pay the normal penalty you would have to pay by pulling the money out earlier. thank you to your producer for pulling that out. it is somewhat complicated, but there is specific information on this issue on the website that i am seeing on your screen there. host: william, pleasantville,

new york. caller: yes. good morning. getting away from the stimulus money and looking for a little help or advice on something, some problems i am having. i wanted to ask a question. i am a disabled veteran. my son committed suicide a number of years ago. my wife fell off the deep end and became mental with bipolar, and then we got in trouble on taxes, and also i am a cancer survivor and all that. i have a company helping me out with 2017 and 2018. does the irs, you folks, take into consideration people's service to the country and also things that have happened to them in their lives that affect

things? if i get hit with some of these big bills, it is going to destroy me. i hope they can help me out. host: erin collins? guest: so, first of all, i am very sorry to hear about some of the challenges you are facing. and thank you for your service. the irs will work with you with respect to payment options. depending on what your finances are, the irs has the ability to reduce potential tax liabilities as part of an offer compromised where you can agree to an outcome. it is usually based on your financial outcome. we can work with you with respect to postponing payments. we can work with you with respect to doing an installment agreement. so my recommendation would be to get current in the system, work with the irs, and if that is not going well and you are having problems with the irs and they are unable to move forward, you

can always reach out to my office, which is the taxpayer advocate service, because those are situations where we work with taxpayers and basically as i would name implies, we advocate. taxpayer advocate service, we advocate on your behalf with respect to the irs. i first recognition would be to getting your system and work with the irs with respect to either a payment plan or an offer of compromise to reduce the liability or eliminate the liability. if all else fails, you can reach out to the taxpayer advocate service. host: we were just showing your website. irs.gov/taxpayeradvocate. you can also follow them at your voice at irs. north carolina. caller: yes. good morning, ladies. my question is, has it got to show up on the get my payment website before you actually get the payment, or can you actually get the payment and it not show

up on the get my payment deal? guest: assuming everything is working right, it should go up almost simultaneously on the get my payment at as of the time the irs mailed the payment or sent the information to your bank to have it deposited. they should happen around the same time. hopefully that is not a challenge. but again, with programming and i.t. challenges, there are sometimes delays, but the intent is to get the information out there as quick as possible. host: daniel in cincinnati. caller: good morning. inc. you for taking my call. my question is a little interesting. i did receive the first stimulus payment. i did not -- which was $1200. i did not receive the second stimulus payment for $600. i did receive the third payment

for $1400. but most recently, i received a letter from the irs dated march 12 which said that you would receive this $600 within seven days of this letter. that date came around. i called the irs, and they said, excuse me, that letter reflected a payment that should have gone out in january. my response was, you mean the letter i received dated march 12 was about a payment i was supposed to get in january and that payment has not come, so what should i do? they asked me to wait a little while longer and they would put a trace on it. i guess it just seemed pretty odd. i have been in the system for 20

years as far as filings go, but i did not know why that happened. guest: yeah, unfortunately what you are saying makes perfect sense. it sounds like the irs believes the payment was made at the end of january because they normally send out that letter, a notice that the payment has been sent. usually it is two weeks, six to eight weeks that that was out. if you did not receive the payment as the person indicated that you spoke to, i assume a customer service representative, you have the ability to put on a tracer or trace my payment. there is a phone number the irs has. sad that i know this. 800-919-9835. that is where you would call to initiate the trace for the payment, and they also have a form called a 3911 that he would file with the irs to request for

them to trace it. if they can show the payment was not negotiated they would then reissue the check. unfortunately, it will not be tomorrow. it is a period of time before this thing gets processed, but you need to get in the system to get that moving so you can get that payment. the other option, if you file your 2020 return and request that as a rebate credit of that $600 online 30, i will give you a heads up right now, if your records are inconsistent with the irs records, that will bounce your return, and the irs has to manually process that. if you have other refunds coming , the fact that the irs reflects the $600 and you are now asking for it on your return is going to cause an inconsistency to have that return pulled out. if you don't have any other credits or other refunds, that may be a quicker way to get it done. but unfortunately, it sounds

like the irs believes the payment was going out and we need to find out what happened to that payment so we can get it reversed and get that money issued to you. host: michigan. caller: yes. my name is ralph. i hope you can help us out. we filed our income tax. we owe like $1600 to the federal government. why that is, my wife collected $16,000 on unemployment. she had taxes taken out, but i guess not enough. we are hearing that in the taxes, i guess with the irs or this last bill, they are going to forgive the first $10,000 of the unemployment. i tried calling the irs. i tried calling senators, everybody. i cannot get an answer from nobody. nobody answers the phone ever. what would this $10,000 kick in?

because i guess we have to file amendment taxes. ok, thank you. i will listen to my answer. guest: you bring up a great question. you are not the only one asking this question. i will have a before and after answer. if you have previously filed your return, and it sounds like you have done that, you are in a different category. so we will deal with that in a second. if you have not filed your return, the irs has updated its forms, and all of the software companies in order to file a return have also updated the board. going forward for taxpayers, i think after march 20, the software on the irs forms have been corrected to reduce the $10,200 from your income so that you don't pay tax on the additional benefit that congress gave as part of the march 11 legislation. but if you have filed the return

and included income, what the irs is trying to do is they are trying to automatically reprocess those we turns, and in my opinion, it will be millions of returns picking up the additional $10,200. their goal is to then automatically refund the money to the taxpayers. do not, do not file amended returns, because that will slow down the process. irs is hoping to get guidance out in the near future. it is a very complicated transaction for them to do because many taxpayers have different situations. you can be single, married filing separately, married filing jointly, you can have a household, credits, other benefits so the question the irs is asking, legally, can they make adjustments without requiring an amended return? if so, do they have the i.t. capability to make that

adjustment for all taxpayers? this is a very big issue impacting a lot of taxpayers. i suspect millions of taxpayers. i hate to say this, but stay tuned because if the irs can automatically process this, it is going to be better for you to wait, and it will be better for all taxpayers because being flooded with an additional one million, 2 million, 3 million paper or electronic returns that have to be manually processed is just going to slow it down for everyone. i am sure people are impatient. they want their money. they paid into the system. but at this point, stay tuned. keep an i on the news. i suspect what's the irs announces this, you will see it in every newspaper across the country as to what you need to do in order to get that benefit, but it sounds like by reducing your income by the $10,200, it may eliminate the tax liability you have. host: erin collins, adding onto that, how long does it take to

process a payment return? guest: that's not an easy question. so last year, there were over, i believe, 16 million paper returns that were filed by the end of december. there was 6.7 million of those paper returns still not processed. that is very atypical. usually the irs has substantially all of those returns processed before the end of the tax year. unfortunately this finding season, we already started in the hole of getting all those returns processed. paper is not the irs's friend right now and not your friend. if you have the ability to file electronically, find a friend, find a family member. irs has a free filing electronic system online called free file. that you may be able to use to file your return. but make every effort this year to file electronically in order

to ensure a timeliness of your refunds you are entitled to. host: live oak, florida. caller: hello. host: hi, rob. go ahead. caller: yes. yes. i was just calling today to let ms. collins know that she is doing a very good job today on the income tax and the stimulus payments, especially this third stimulus check for people who don't file income tax and are still waiting to receive their third stimulus checks, as i am. i just wanted to let her know she is doing a very, very good job with all her explanations. that helps us very much. i just wanted to call and let her