Harlan Lunsford wrote:
- quote -

The issue is getting the second signature on, using the same
computer. (I've never tried it except with DSL, so upload /
download speed isn't a problem.)

Phoebe

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << It may not be relied upon for the purpose of avoiding > << penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer or the > << tax preparer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

- quote -

I beg to differ. The Devil invented Bermuda grass. And the
plan whereby gullible folks would actually pay to have it
applied to their yards.

E-filing is spiffy, and doesn't have to be laboriously dug
out of your flower beds when tax season precludes timely
weeding.

Phoebe

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << It may not be relied upon for the purpose of avoiding > << penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer or the > << tax preparer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

Harlan Lunsford wrote:

- quote -

For the life of me, I fail to understand your devilish
opinion of E-filing. It's accurate, safe, and fast, making
refunds to taxpayers available in as little as 8 days. (NO,
I'm not speaking of those refund loans, either.) And it
cuts down on paper, a lot of paperwork.

Now, just because the GAO somehow broke into Treasury's
computer the other day where there were social security
numbers and bank account numbers, has nothing to do with the
efficacy and efficiency of E-filing.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << It may not be relied upon for the purpose of avoiding > << penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer or the > << tax preparer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

The ideas behind Eservices are great. At this time, the only
useful one is "Power of Attorney" filing.

And, yes - password rules and clutzy website programming are
problematical. I suppose the IRS expects us all to get used
to their kind of computer programming.

Rich Vereb, South Bend, IN

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << It may not be relied upon for the purpose of avoiding > << penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer or the > << tax preparer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

Phoebe Roberts, EA wrote:
- quote -

Used to have to same problem until I finally got a DSL line
at the office (sure beats that old 300 baud modem!)

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << It may not be relied upon for the purpose of avoiding > << penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer or the > << tax preparer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

- quote -

Au contraire, mon cher ami. (da#n; I hope I spelled that right.)

There's efiling and then there's kinks, and I keep mine
separated, sort of like... business and pleasure.

I've been efiling since 1989, having efiled the very first
such return in the greater Columbus, Georgia metro area on
Feb 6, 1989, so I'm a firm believer and card carrying member
of the efiling program, with an extremely low ERO #
containing "0007", which I joke is one better than James
Bond.

ChEAr$,
Harlan, EA, ERO, and ET.

Moderator: The Devil invented E-filing and HMO's.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << It may not be relied upon for the purpose of avoiding > << penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer or the > << tax preparer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

Larry wrote:

- quote -

(remainder snipped)

Well, SINCE you asked! (grin

Background; I was in on the initial testing of the
prototype maybe four years ago. (yes, that long ago.) And
I've been touting the service and praising it to all who
will listen.

HOWSOMEEVER; recently I found out that a transcript with
balance due, especially a large balance due, say, on a 941,
is never up to date. If I need a payoff figure to make my
client right with the system, it's not to be found on
eServices. But the service is free, and as noted above
somewhere, "you gets what you pays for." (apologies, Dick.)

Anyway, here is a problem, and I'd like to hear from others
who may have run into this, so I can make appropriate
representations to the IRS next month.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

Moderator:
Harlan and I belong to the Ed Zollars' School of Thought on
e-filing, i.e., too many kinks.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << It may not be relied upon for the purpose of avoiding > << penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer or the > << tax preparer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

Larry wrote:

- quote -

It takes me a minimum of 30 minutes to get a
2-representative POA keyed in and signed - and that's on the
rare occasions when the second signature can be done on the
same computer without having to call E-services to have
things manually reset. Compared to the 3 minutes it takes
to babysit a fax.

I think it's a great idea, but doesn't work very well.
Their phone support is excellent, however.

Phoebe

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << It may not be relied upon for the purpose of avoiding > << penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer or the > << tax preparer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

Larry wrote:

- quote -

It's a big snooze in my opinion. This year I efiled all of
TWO returns, and thus the IRS doesn't consider me (a
Circular 230 practitioner with 29 years experience) as
"worthy" of admission to their special kingdom. (I have, in
fact, signed up. But, all I can do is complete applications
for various ID numbers that I already have.)

I've heard other practitioners complain about problems with
the functionality of the system.

MTW

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << It may not be relied upon for the purpose of avoiding > << penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer or the > << tax preparer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

What do you like & dislike about IRS E-services?

Couple of My comments --

When it works it is great to get a Power of Attorney filed quickly.
Rather than faxing and waiting 3 days for the P or A to be entered
into IRS system.

However, the need to change password and all the rules regarding
passwords is a pain.

I have one system where suddenly I was not able to get into
e-services. The system kept returning to the login screen.
E-services Help attempted to get me into e-services. They were never
able to do so on one of my systems. OK on a second system.

Larry McClellan

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << It cannot be used by any taxpayer for the purpose of > << avoiding penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >