Posts by Henry Chavez5

Hannah Harris6 said:I just successfully submitted my ID and VAT return for January 2013 through the IRS portal. As a service provider, I have a few clients who recently filed powers of attorney with the IRS, so I’m officially authorized now. Can someone walk me through what the first step is this time when I'm filing forms for those clients? Is it as simple as, say, opening the VAT form and just deleting my own Tax ID and Company Name in the header to type in the client's Tax ID and Name instead, followed by their specific data? Or am I supposed to perform some other action first? I'm a bit lost here... thanks in advance!

Mark Bennett said:And honestly, I don't know why everyone is being so aggressive, maybe just take it easy... Besides, if you had read my other posts on this thread, you would've realized my comment about the field visit was about Goldman Sachs and that I just got mixed up... you also would've seen that I never said the app itself was the problem, since I can't even get to the IRS site because it won't read my card. I wouldn't have known it was a Goldman Sachs issue until they pointed me in that direction. Since it's an IRS matter, I figured they should be familiar with the whole process instead of just passing the buck to Goldman Sachs while collecting a paycheck... and I guess I don't see where all those contradictions are, except for the part about the IRS in the last paragraph...

Maria Kern2 said:I really need some help here. I’ve got this USB security token from my bank for online banking, and apparently, I'm supposed to be able to use it to file forms through the IRS portal. But there's a catch: every time I install the software, plug in the stick, and try to submit my electronic filing request to the IRS, it hits me with an error: "Keyset does not exist!" I called the bank, and they’re insisting everything is fine because the digital certificate is clearly installed on the drive. Then I called the IRS, and they just told me to call my bank and fix it on their end. It’s a total loop. Is anyone else using a bank-issued security token for tax filings? If you've dealt with this mess, how did you actually get it working? Thanks for any advice.

Mark Bennett said:I don't think any of the issues mentioned in that link apply to me. I've already installed the certificates, Omnikey, GemPC for the card reader, and the ActivClient—everything was done exactly according to the manual. I even tried restarting with the USB plugged in and everything. But whenever I open ActivClient, I get
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I suspect there might be an issue with the GemPC card reader software itself, because for a while now, every time I restart my laptop, I get this error: ,
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And when I try to check the status using GemStart, it shows me this...
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I'm actually looking at buying a new laptop because this one is on its last legs and is incredibly slow, which makes installing everything even harder. It’s running Windows 8... though honestly, I feel like I might need to hire a pro to do this for me via TeamViewer or something similar. My nerves are just totally shot from trying so hard 🤣
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Not to mention how incompetent their customer service is... it's honestly terrible. First, I couldn't find the number for the IRS, so I called them directly. A guy picks up and basically snaps, "Oh, so you finally decided to call?" Then I'm stuck trying to explain how urgent this is because of my filing deadlines, and he's just asking if I'm trying to send something via fax? 😕 hehehhe, what a joke
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So I call the IRS help line again to explain the problem, and they tell me, "No, you have to write an email detailing the exact issue." Fine, I write the email, and the response is to uninstall ActivClient and download some version from a Bank of America link they sent me. I do all that, and it still doesn't work. Then they tell me, "You'll have to contact the IRS; it's not our problem..."
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Then I call the IRS and wait half an hour for someone to pick up, only to be told, "We don't know about that. If you want, we can send you a field agent," which is just $67..
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The bottom line is 🙂🙂🙂

Nicole Lee6 said:I went down to the local IRS office and received an envelope containing the USB stick. We got the initial decryption PIN via email; now I really need to sit down and study this process. Apparently, I have to take this stick to the tax office first, before I can even attempt my first electronic filing—I didn't catch exactly what the procedure was, but something like that.

Hannah Harris6 said:Alright... let's dive into this. Since I’m currently neck-deep in paperwork, I have a question about how things work with the IRS. When my accounting service—basically my firm—draws up a Power of Attorney for a client, who actually counts as the principal here? Is it the firm itself, or am I acting as the individual? Whose Tax ID gets entered on the forms? When I look at my own primary Power of Attorney filed with the tax authorities, my company is listed as the principal, and I'm just the agent. So, if I'm reading this right, since Microsoft doesn't provide pre-set templates that always fit perfectly (honestly, dealing with US bureaucracy is a bit of a moving target, isn't it?), when we set up a Power of Attorney with another client, under the "principal" section, it should be my full name, but instead of my personal Social Security number, I use my business EIN . Am I hitting the mark here? Or am I totally off base?

silverbadger said:Actually, those weren't linked to the business entity itself, but rather to the SSN of the individual listed on the power of attorney. I know this for a fact because I originally drafted a power of attorney using the company's tax ID, and the IRS wouldn't accept it, so I had to go back and change everything to my own SSN.

josip yyyy;43318542 said:Yeah, unfortunately, that's the reality. So much of this makes zero sense; I'm constantly being "surprised" by new nonsense here.

Supposedly, it all comes down to liability. After chatting with someone at the IRS, I realized accountants are basically losing faith in their clients—maybe because some books aren't exactly accurate or people are working under the table. Now, they’re demanding everyone have their own individual digital ID (like a specific taxpayer credential) so you have to submit electronic documents personally ("don't dump your mess on me"). They’ve tweaked the laws so accounting firms have to vet their clients as "high-risk groups" or whatever. It's an attempt to shift the blame. Most of these clients are just small local contractors who don't even deal with sales tax, so instead of managing 50 accounts, the accountant is stuck doing this tedious vetting process for 20 people. It’s neither efficient nor practical. Last year, apparently, only those with more than $267 were forced through this hoop.

Please, walk me through the logic here. If an accountant was already filing forms for their clients, what actually changes now that they're doing it electronically? WHAT? If someone wanted to cook the books, they’ll keep cooking them regardless of whether the paperwork is physical or digital. And any accountant foolish enough to try and manage 50 different digital signatures is just begging for a headache. They'll end up getting blamed for everything—by the IRS, by the state—because if they're signing every single form with a unique certificate, but the forms themselves look identical and don't clearly label which client they belong to, there's a massive chance of a mix-up. Plus, does the client really want to drive over to the office every single time a form needs to be sent just to hand over their digital key? No way. The whole point of electronic filing is to streamline things, save time, and cut costs on paper and gas. Instead, the accountant is just becoming a slave to the bureaucracy.

silverbadger said:The folks on the phone explained to me that there's only one valid certificate allowed per Social Security number. Since they already have my SSN listed on the power of attorney, they'll just pull up the right certificate themselves. At the end of the day, a digital certificate is my personal signature, not some corporate stamp belonging to the firm I work for.

silverbadger said:I figured I’d just post this here to answer my own question, though it might actually end up being pretty helpful for someone else on the forum too.

When you're heading in to get your access set up on the IRS online portal, there is absolutely no need to bring your FINRA card along with you.
"The agent really shouldn't have been asking you for that card in the first place, since those digital certificates are all accessible right through the intranet—it's just that nobody can actually do anything with them unless they have the correct PIN."

So, bottom line: if an agent asks to see your FINRA card with its digital signature, just keep it to yourself and don't hand it over.

Donna Jones26 said:I noticed that businesses required to file electronically now include those making less than $267... will accountants be handling the filings for every single client, or are owners going to have to jump on the computer and do it themselves every month?

It looks like clients have started filing individual requests with the IRS and submitting powers of attorney to the tax office... I wonder how much it's going to cost per client if accountants end up doing all these separate filings? And does anyone know the electronic filing deadlines for this month versus next month?

Raymond Martinez10 said:Federal Register 136, amendments to the General Tax Code (Section 4).

Dana Moore6 said:Hi everyone.

I couldn't find an answer on the forums, so I figured I'd just ask... I have a few clients who all have their own IRS digital tax IDs. Is there a more streamlined way to update profile info (like the authorized signer or company details) in the Settings? I was hoping selecting the right certificate would auto-fill everything, but it looks like I'm stuck re-typing the data manually for every single one...

Thanks in advance.

Dana Moore6