There may be errors in spelling, grammar, and accuracy in this machine-generated transcript.

Roger Harris: Hello everyone! It's time for another federal Updates podcast. This is Roger Harris and I am actually in the same room as Annie for a change. We're at the IRS Tax Forum in New Orleans and this is a pleasure. We normally you're in Dallas. I'm in Georgia.

Annie Schwab: Yeah, this is very nice. It's hard to think about us being in the same room and doing a podcast, but I'm happy to be [00:00:30] here. And the forum in New Orleans is going great.

Roger Harris: Yeah. And if you guys don't know about the tax forums, uh, this is the second of five there. Uh, we were in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. From here, the IRS will go to Orlando, Baltimore and San Diego. Great place to get education, see credits. Uh, we're sitting in the expo hall. A lot of vendors that you will deal with. So if you're still looking for some C, consider the IRS forums. I don't know, some of them may be sold out.

Annie Schwab: Some of them are sold out. But I think the [00:01:00] San Diego still got room. Yeah. Orlando too, I believe.

Roger Harris: And because we're here, we get to recruit some special guests. So not only are Arnie and I together, we are just really excited to have Maggie Romanello from Stakeholder Liaison joining us for today's podcast. Maggie, it's good to see you. I see you a lot in Washington, but it's good to see you in a different role here in New Orleans.

Maggie Romaniello: Thank you. Nice to be here.

Roger Harris: Yeah. Um, Maggie is the workhorse at stakeholder liaison.

Annie Schwab: Oh, she.

Maggie Romaniello: I like that.

Roger Harris: She comes to all [00:01:30] of our meetings that I attend to, and she's the one who, uh, listens to us and then responds to our questions, complaints. And she's very honest and very forthcoming. And that's something that I know I appreciate.

Annie Schwab: Absolutely.

Roger Harris: And we are thank you for for taking time out.

Maggie Romaniello: I really appreciate the opportunity to be here today. I can't say that my forthright personality is always appreciated. I can think of a.

Roger Harris: Well, it is by.

Annie Schwab: Me.

Roger Harris: I will. [00:02:00] I'll speak for myself.

Maggie Romaniello: I will keep that as a quote. Thank you. Roger.

Roger Harris: You can use that against me anytime. All right.

Annie Schwab: No. It's a pleasure to have you here. And thank you so much for taking time out to do that. I know you've got a table here and you've got a group of people with you. Um, for those of you who are not familiar with the stakeholder. Stakeholder liaison? Um, it's not something new. This is not something new this year or even last year. It's been around for quite some time doing really important work for the community. Um, and so [00:02:30] do you want to tell us a little bit about, uh, how it came about?

Maggie Romaniello: Sure, absolutely. So you and I talked about it briefly when I first met you in the hall this morning. Stakeholder liaison really began its journey as something called taxpayer education and communication. So back in 1998, the revenue and Reconciliation Act was signed into law. And [00:03:00] of course, we call it RA 98. And because we have an acronym for.

Annie Schwab: Everything, of course. Yes.

Maggie Romaniello: And the organization that came out of that for tax professional education was called Taxpayer Education and Communication. And at that time, our primary customers were small business owners and the tax professional community. And so as tech tax for education and communication, [00:03:30] we started out we were pretty new in terms of I mean, we did have outreach individuals within the IRS, but there wasn't like a fully dedicated department. So it was established as a result of RA 98. Okay. And we would do a lot of continuing professional education Events. A lot of interaction with both small business community based organizations [00:04:00] like Chambers of Commerce, for instance, as well as the tax pro community. And then about and and Cliff notes. It evolved over time. About ten or so years ago, they decided to change our names from taxpayer education and communication to stakeholder liaison. And everything else pretty much stayed the same. Just our name changed. And then about five or [00:04:30] so years ago, we were under the umbrella of the Small Business Self-employed Business Division, which is the division of IRS where compliance lives collection and exam. We left that division and came under the overall communications and liaison organization, and at the time that was led by Terry Lemons, Elements has since retired, but he had been attempting, it's my understanding for several years to get us [00:05:00] to come over to his shop, and he eventually was successful.

Maggie Romaniello: And since that time we have evolved somewhat. Um, we still do continuing education for tax professionals, for example, but we're much more these are my words. We're much more of an advocate than I would say we used to be. And so I'm going to talk a little bit more about that later in this podcast. But I'm going to [00:05:30] talk a little bit more about how we advocate for our customers to effect change within the IRS. And lest anyone think it's just me sending a quick email to someone, it's a lot more involved than that. I have to really tell a story. I have to put on my salesperson hat, I have to maybe come up with statistics. I really have and I have to have friends, right? You know, it's not just a matter of picking up the phone and [00:06:00] being done. It's not. It's there's a lot behind it. You have to really demonstrate the value. And of course, anytime you want to affect a change, it's going to cost money. And that's a big factor particularly now.

Annie Schwab: So right now I can't even imagine the stress related to the cuts.

Maggie Romaniello: And it is it is a little tricky. Um, we're hoping that, um, we won't see any more cuts. I don't have any thing that says one way or the [00:06:30] other what's going to happen? I don't, um, have any direct knowledge, but I do hope that we can at least maintain the status that we're at right now. It is going to require that we sort of do business differently in stakeholder liaison, because used to be sort of a geographic based organization where an individual cell might be assigned one state, and they did all their work within that state for the most [00:07:00] part. Well, we don't have enough cells now. Well, we never had one in each state. That was an ultimate goal. But that has since changed. So we did lose a lot of people in the past six months. So we probably I think I heard the statistic that we have 36 stakeholder liaison employees, not managers. So that doesn't include me.

Roger Harris: What did you have before?

Maggie Romaniello: I think before we had I want to say we had about double [00:07:30] that.

Roger Harris: Oh, it's about a 50% cut.

Maggie Romaniello: So I think we that's approximate. Um, I don't want to be quoted on that number because it might not be accurate.

Annie Schwab: But that's.

Maggie Romaniello: Fine. We've definitely lost quite a few people. Definitely. Because, I mean, even the area that I used to cover, I know for a fact we've lost at least a half dozen.

Annie Schwab: So understand?

Maggie Romaniello: Anyway, suffice it to say, um, we're going to evolve. And we've been challenged before. It's not [00:08:00] the first time. It probably isn't going to be the last. And, you know, there are some things that the tax professional community is going to see as different. Um, for example, we likely won't be able to attend, you know, some of the larger states tax pro organizations have smaller chapters, right? California. There's many, many states. Thank you. There's many chapters in California of the tax pro organizations. Um, we're likely not going to be able to do all [00:08:30] of the chapter type smaller meetings. We're going to probably have to be using what we call a leveraged model, where we're dealing with larger organizations, maybe statewide, and just ask them to be more proactive in sharing. Our messages are ideas, our thoughts and vice versa. We want to hear what you all they all have to say as well. That's a really I think that's when we came to C and L, that really became a [00:09:00] much larger part of what our job is.

Annie Schwab: So that's going to be the priority. The focus is going to have to be getting that community to be proactive with you instead of you reaching out to them.

Maggie Romaniello: Um, well, hopefully, I, I'd like to say that we were trying to do that already. It's just going to be that much more important.

Roger Harris: You're going to rely on us to kind of get down to the ground level. In some instances, you're going to have to keep it at a higher level, and the practitioner community is going [00:09:30] to have to kind of pitch in.

Maggie Romaniello: We we hope if you're willing, we know you all have day jobs too, right? Yes.

Annie Schwab: So how does it work? Like the management part of it? Like how the resolution part of it. They could give us an example. Like someone has X issue and they come to you.

Maggie Romaniello: So I will try to think of an example to make it resonate a little more. So very recently we've been hearing from tax professionals [00:10:00] that they have clients that they put on extension. Okay. And the extensions were accepted. And now those very clients are getting letters from us asking them for that tax return. And at least in the past, the IRS would not send that letter out if there was an extension in place. So these people have extensions and they're getting a letter. And the letter implies that [00:10:30] they're late.

Annie Schwab: Right.

Maggie Romaniello: And so we reached out to the business unit, and basically they came back to us and said, I'm going to really just like put this down to a few words. They basically said, we are aware of those letters and you don't need to worry about it provided that you have a valid extension.

Annie Schwab: Yeah, but as a taxpayer, if I got that letter I would worry about [00:11:00] it.

Maggie Romaniello: I agree.

Annie Schwab: So, you know, I'd be calling my tax preparer wondering what happened here.

Maggie Romaniello: So that is one of the challenges that and really the responsibilities for stakeholder liaison. We are your and your clients advocates. So I will call this circumstance progress. Okay. It's progress in that we got the business unit to come back and say okay. Yep. We see what happened and just tell [00:11:30] them to disregard it. So now. So believe it or not, that's a fee. I live with the IRS for 34 years and those things didn't always. So now our next challenge is to go back to those business units. And and it's very nuanced. You have to have some political savvy. You can't go in and attack someone. Right. So I you and I, I feel like are representing [00:12:00] the same people. And I might be sitting with you at happy hour and say, can you believe? But I can't go back and say that. So what I'm going to say to the bot is thank you. Um, but next time, could we, I don't know, put out a press release.

Annie Schwab: Communicate to the public so that we're not getting.

Maggie Romaniello: So right now the mode of communication is on. This topic is just informal. Me talking to you, our local cells, talking to our partners. But [00:12:30] I don't have an official press release to share. So again, what we're trying to do is just in IRS other bodies in their defense. Um, it's difficult to be in a position where every single word you say is going to be picked apart and potentially used against you. We at the IRS make a great villain. I really.

Annie Schwab: Do.

Maggie Romaniello: Doesn't [00:13:00] everybody love to hate us?

Roger Harris: Oh, yes. You're just easy target, right? So easy.

Maggie Romaniello: Target. We have to be so mindful every time a press release goes out. Every time something is recorded, every time someone says something, we have to be prepared. That someone could take that and use it against. Use it against us later. So what I would say to you is, I totally agree. If I was the average taxpayer and I didn't [00:13:30] see a press release, but the IRS is just verbally saying to me, don't worry about it. It can be unsettling.

Annie Schwab: Sure.

Maggie Romaniello: And and I understand that. And so my goal is to continue to work with those bonds and just say we need to be a little more, not only proactive but explicit in terms of not just to say, have [00:14:00] us out there talking about don't worry about it, you're fine. But maybe we need to put something in writing. People like to have something in writing that they can hang their hat on, but at the end of the day, the fact remains they have valid extensions, and as such, they should be.

Annie Schwab: Professional communities getting flak for that too. I mean, your clients get upset with you when they.

Maggie Romaniello: Say we.

Annie Schwab: Didn't do something right. I filed your extension. Well, the IRS doesn't have it. I don't think you filed it. No, I did, you know, [00:14:30] I filed it. I have the proof of the.

Maggie Romaniello: You have a I, I get it, I really do get it.

Roger Harris: Yeah. They want you to. They hear it from us, but they want to hear it from you.

Maggie Romaniello: From the IRS. I totally understand. So maybe we can show them this video. Yeah, we'll.

Roger Harris: Just say, hey, listen to this. Now you're.

Maggie Romaniello: Here. An extension. You are?

Roger Harris: Yes. Are you? I know you guys are here. You're soaking an individual practitioner walk up to you here and say, I've got this issue. Is that kind of why you're here?

Maggie Romaniello: As a matter of fact, yes. So we've [00:15:00] been collecting issues since yesterday. I did the same in Chicago. Yeah. And some of them I can almost instantly resolve. Sometimes it's just a matter of a question slash issue. In other instances, it's something that's going to require additional research. And when that happens, I'll either give them my card or I'll take their name down and either I or someone on my team will call them and follow up and get some of the individual [00:15:30] details of what it is that they want addressed. Dressed.

Roger Harris: So if a practitioner is not here and has an issue, how do they get it to SNL? So I guess they could come through an association or organization like us, but if they're.

Maggie Romaniello: They can go to a CMC event where there's going to be a stakeholder liaison present. And then the easiest way is to go on the IRS website, irs.gov. And in the search box, search [00:16:00] the term stakeholder space liaison. And I tested it this morning to make sure it still works. And it actually did.

Roger Harris: It did. That's good.

Maggie Romaniello: And you click on the link for you get a bunch of hits. You click on the link for stakeholder liaison local contacts. And then you are going to use the phone number or email address for the area that covers the state that the tax professional is located. So if they're from Connecticut, which just happens to be where I'm from, they would reach out to [00:16:30] the phone number next to Connecticut. And it's the that's the area to mailbox and they'll use the area to. Email address.

Annie Schwab: And how quickly do they usually get a response.

Maggie Romaniello: So I mean it should be.

Annie Schwab: Should be a few days.

Maggie Romaniello: Yeah. It should be within a few days.

Annie Schwab: It's not like calling the IRS and sitting on hold. And then you get the call back option.

Maggie Romaniello: No. And you have an email address too. So yeah, it should be pretty. It should be within a couple of days at most. Okay. And we [00:17:00] even often at these events I'll give the direct phone number of a stakeholder liaison out. Those aren't things that are a secret. We don't necessarily publish all SL.

Annie Schwab: Direct line.

Maggie Romaniello: Numbers on the IRS website, because what ends up happening is people call them for account related questions and we do not.

Annie Schwab: Have access.

Maggie Romaniello: I see we don't have a that's an important point. Yeah. Stakeholder liaisons do not have taxpayer account access. So if a tax pro comes up to me and [00:17:30] says, can you tell me the status of my client. Refund. I can't, I don't. You only have access to those databases that you need to do your job, and I don't.

Roger Harris: You don't need.

Maggie Romaniello: That deal with taxpayers individually. I deal with sort.

Annie Schwab: Of bigger.

Maggie Romaniello: Problems. Right. But generically. And there are times when I'll go back to a tax pro and say, can you give me a list of tax ID numbers where this issue affected these taxpayers? [00:18:00] So that and then I passed that along to the business unit. But other than that we generally aren't involved in individual taxpayer information.

Roger Harris: But the good news is an individual tax pro out in the middle of nowhere not associated with anybody has access to SNL.

Maggie Romaniello: Yes.

Roger Harris: Just like anybody else. Yep.

Maggie Romaniello: So absolutely do.

Roger Harris: Everybody that's listening. This is a good point of contact.

Maggie Romaniello: Yes it is. Yes it is. And it's just amazing to me. I mean, [00:18:30] we've been in existence in one form or another since the year 2000. And just before I came here, there was a gentleman that came up to me and said he had never heard of stakeholder liaison. So there's still more work for us to do to get that memo out. There's still a lot to do. And I you know, I joke around a lot about my family because, um, you have to repeat something over and over for people to listen and to, to fully absorb it. And I joke [00:19:00] around with my husband about that all the time because I will repeat something for him, or I'll be very specific to make sure he gets it. And yet. You know, falls by the wayside. So.

Annie Schwab: Well, it's an important organization. You are doing great work and getting it out to the public that you are available and willing, um, to be proactive and help. That's that's what we're trying to do here today.

Roger Harris: So hopefully this is helping.

Annie Schwab: Yeah.

Roger Harris: You're probably known in [00:19:30] large part because of the help with data breaches. I know we did a podcast. We had Glenn Geczy from your agency come talk about we can never talk about that enough, even though we dedicated a whole podcast to that topic. But talk about the role that you guys play, because, I mean, literally, if someone thinks they've been subject to a data breach, you probably the first person they should reach out to.

Maggie Romaniello: I would say so, yes. Um, so I want to make sure that the [00:20:00] audience understands the way the IRS defines data breach is that client information has been compromised. Okay. So I'm not talking about if the tax professional as an individual is a victim of tax related identity theft. Let's say he or she goes to a specific doctor who's medical practice was somehow compromised. And it affects this one tax pro. That's not what I'm talking [00:20:30] about.

Roger Harris: You're not personally subject to the breach, right?

Maggie Romaniello: We're talking about when a tax professionals e-file software has been compromised either virtually or physically, like physical files have been taken. Got it. So it has to be client information that is compromised. So what we were talking about was just to make sure that the tax professional community understands that they should contact [00:21:00] their local stakeholder liaison if client information has been compromised, if for some reason it's their individual credential or credentials plural, like their PTEN or their Ethan, then they can, you know, if it's their Ethan, they can call the help desk. If it's their PTEN, they can contact the return preparer office.

Annie Schwab: Okay.

Maggie Romaniello: We only get involved when its client information that has been compromised and when that happens. [00:21:30] We have an intake process where we basically have a software program where we input all of the information for their tax preparation firm, and we input all of the affected PTEN numbers. And from there, from this database, um, notifications get sent to the various IRS business units that play individual different [00:22:00] roles in protecting these taxpayers and honestly, protecting the Treasury from eventually having a tax return filed that is fraudulent and having a fraudulent refund go out the door. So each of these different business units has a role in that, but we are the first stop where the actual Incident gets recorded and received by the IRS. We also and in addition to [00:22:30] sharing that information with the various boards, um, we also kind of hold the tax pros hand for the rest, if not for the rest of the filing for the rest of the calendar year, rather for at least the rest of the filing season, we explain to them what their life is going to look like. Right. Um, and we try to give them advice in terms of how they can mitigate the damage as much as possible. And we also advise them about who else needs a notification. [00:23:00] So we have a publication that we give to victims. And there's a ton of resource information on the IRS website. But we tell them they have to notify the estate attorney general for any state that they prepare a tax return.

Annie Schwab: Wow.

Maggie Romaniello: Okay. In writing, they have to notify all state revenue departments where they prepare and.

Roger Harris: Nobody.

Annie Schwab: Knows, right? Right. I wouldn't know that. I mean, I'd go to the I'd go to the IRS website and I'd say like cybersecurity or fraudulent, you know, something like that. And then but I [00:23:30] understand that they're going to be steps and a lot of steps.

Maggie Romaniello: We advise them to notify their insurance company, because a lot of times the insurance company has people on their payroll that will help, including sometimes attorneys. That's um, and then of course, they have to notify their individual clients by letter, which I cannot imagine having to do that. And then depending on the state where the client is located, there may be state requirements. [00:24:00] So for instance, in the state of Connecticut, if you are a victim of a data breach, you have to provide your client credit monitoring. And I want to say it's for at least a year. That may have changed, but each state has its own rules. So if you do tax returns in 20 states, you have to figure out what each of those 20 states requirements are and then offer that service or whatever the requirement [00:24:30] is to the individual clients within that state. So it's a very, very arduous.

Roger Harris: And we probably all gotten those letters when we've been hacked, you know, and they offered credit monitoring services. But we probably never thought that if it happened to us as a tax preparer, that we have to do the same thing.

Maggie Romaniello: You absolutely do. And, um, it's funny because, you know, one of the things that we in stakeholder liaison do is retail outreach on a variety of topics. Data breach happens [00:25:00] to be a priority topic. And not that long ago, um, I did a presentation and I used my own experience in the PowerPoint slides I had received in my household between my husband and myself, something like 4 or 5 letters within maybe a three month period. It was, um, a couple of medical companies. Um, I think it was like a concert ticket organization. [00:25:30] I'm forgetting what the other one was, but I just kept getting.

Roger Harris: I.

Annie Schwab: Mean, yeah, it's.

Maggie Romaniello: Like. Right. So, you know, it's almost like the first time you get one, you're horrified. But if you get enough, it's almost like white noise. Yeah. And, you know, not only do the tax professionals have to be mindful of protecting their clients, but clients have to be mindful of protecting themselves. Um, because, yes, tax pros, when they are a victim of a data [00:26:00] breach, the the criminals have the ability to prepare a tax return that looks so legitimate. Sometimes the IRS can't tell what's legitimate and what isn't.

Annie Schwab: I feel like they're getting smarter and smarter, faster than our technology, and all of our systems can be upgraded to combat with their actions.

Maggie Romaniello: Totally agree. Totally agree. And so one of the, um, big pushes that we've made in stakeholder liaison just in [00:26:30] general, but particularly the tax pros that have been victims of a data breach, is to tell them to tell their clients to get an identity protection pin.

Roger Harris: Right now that everybody can.

Annie Schwab: Have. Yep.

Roger Harris: Right. Yep.

Maggie Romaniello: And if they don't like it, they can opt out for the you know, if they voluntarily opt in, they can.

Annie Schwab: Opt.

Maggie Romaniello: Out. But you know those change every single year. So even if a criminal gets your tax information for 2023, even if they had your 2023 identity protection pin, [00:27:00] it changes every year. And so.

Annie Schwab: And it's free.

Maggie Romaniello: And it.

Annie Schwab: Is free. Send it to you in the mail. Um, so if you have clients that are using that, tell them to hold on to that.

Maggie Romaniello: Absolutely.

Annie Schwab: That communication.

Maggie Romaniello: So some people get it in the mail. And that's particularly those that the IRS mandates, they come into the program. And that usually happens when the IRS has actually verified that they've been a victim of tax related ID theft. If you want to voluntarily [00:27:30] opt in, the way to do that generally is to sign up for an online account using Id.me. And then you go into your online account profile and you click on profile. You scroll down and at the bottom it says IP pin. And you click on a number and they give you your IP pin.

Annie Schwab: So it's super easy.

Maggie Romaniello: It is very easy. Um, those when you volunteer you don't get those in the mail though. Those you have to go into your online account and get it. [00:28:00] There are some instances where you can request an IP pin by filling out a form. Um, I will just say, in the cases where people are unable to get an online account, maybe they don't have reliable internet. Maybe they just don't like technology. I we hear a lot of practitioners tell us that some of their older clients don't want to do it. Then they can do it by form. But just keep in mind, as a general [00:28:30] rule, and I've said this before, I feel that paper is IRS is Kryptonite. We don't want paper. No. It's just I mean, even sitting here, I dropped the paper, right? And it could have been lost. Online is the way to go. It's the quickest, most efficient way to do business with us. And if you were just to collect all the errors that can potentially be made with paper, they're virtually none [00:29:00] when there's an electronic interaction. Yeah, it's it's very close to perfect now. Now I know someone's going to be listening and say, well, I had an experience. Yes. Sometimes software upgrades happen, mistakes can be made, and generally those can be fixed. But when it's paper.

Annie Schwab: It's a lot harder.

Maggie Romaniello: Yes, yes it's. And with the losses of our employees, we have fewer people to process the paper. So it just takes longer.

Annie Schwab: Yeah.

Roger Harris: What [00:29:30] I find interesting is when you mention online accounts, a lot of these people who we say won't do an IRS account have probably ten other online accounts that deal with every day that they don't.

Annie Schwab: Their bank, everything else. Right.

Roger Harris: So it's I find it humorous that they won't use the IRS, because that's really the best way to solve a lot of these issues.

Maggie Romaniello: I agree. And what I have also heard is that a lot of people don't want an IRS online account because the individual taxpayer thinks that by having an IRS account [00:30:00] online that somehow IRS has access to more of their information. Mhm. Um, I disagree with that. I have a collection Background and we do not get election information from IRS accounts. We get collection information from the wage and income documents that we already have.

Annie Schwab: Right, right.

Maggie Romaniello: So we have that whether or not you have an online account [00:30:30] and then, you know, if you're a revenue officer going out in the field to try to collect some balance due past due balance. We ask people where they do their banking and they generally tell us, and that's how we find out.

Roger Harris: We find out if they mail you a check. They tell you every time they mail you a check. That's correct. They buy.

Maggie Romaniello: It. So it's it's not it's not a source for the IRS to use to levy. And not only that, if you don't owe money, we're not going to come after [00:31:00] you for money if you don't owe.

Annie Schwab: Right?

Maggie Romaniello: Right.

Roger Harris: So it kind of goes back to what we said earlier about you guys are the bad guys, the whipping boys. So there's a hesitation and a concern that somehow this online account is some secret way to know more about people. But really, once you get them and we can spend a little more time talking about it, because now you have business accounts, you have tax pros accounts, and there's all these actual ways to do business that makes our lives simpler.

Maggie Romaniello: I agree. And I'm glad that you brought that up. So individual [00:31:30] taxpayers can establish an account using Id.me. And the individual online account allows you to do things like make payments, look at transcripts. Um, one thing that I had come across in for, probably because I didn't have a need for it, didn't fully realize it, but you can sign up for an installment agreement online. Yeah. So not having to get on the phone, wait on hold to request an installment agreement. So, you know, there [00:32:00] are obviously instances when particularly if it's like a one off year, like maybe someone I don't know was at a casino and they won some money and and now they. Oh, for whatever reason, you go into your online account, request a payment plan, and you will get instant notification of whether or not it's approved. And they they provide you with all of the guidelines, like, you know, is what you're proposing sufficient? Will it pay off the liability in full within the ten year collection [00:32:30] statute? Et cetera. Et cetera. And they instead of having a call and be scared, you just go into your account and you set it up. So it's really nice. And we now have business online accounts. So businesses are going to start to be able to do more and more with the online account system. Um, I wish I knew a little bit more about it. I, I my information with the individual online account, a lot of it is that I learned it by setting up my own account. And I play in there. [00:33:00]

Roger Harris: And you don't have a business.

Maggie Romaniello: Right? But I don't have my own business, so I don't really have a way to set up an individual online Uh, business online account. But what I will say is that, um, you can get some transcripts off of it, and I know that they're working on trying to get more.

Annie Schwab: Okay.

Maggie Romaniello: Um, I've also been told. But to my knowledge, it hasn't happened yet, that if you have a business and you want to make an S corporation election, you will eventually [00:33:30] be able to do that online.

Annie Schwab: Wonderful.

Maggie Romaniello: And not having to send in that piece of paper.

Annie Schwab: Right. Right.

Maggie Romaniello: So we have been waiting for that one to happen. And we're hoping that that ends up being sort of a carrot for the business taxpayer to actually set up an account.

Annie Schwab: And to use the system to.

Maggie Romaniello: Use our electronic system.

Roger Harris: The business system will get better. You know, the issue with a business is who's authorized what business to do things, whereas an individual that's pretty cut and dried. But when you get into business, you've got to make sure who's authorized. But it's getting better. [00:34:00] It is. And it'll continue to get better. And look, it's just the way of the world, everybody.

Maggie Romaniello: It absolutely is. It absolutely is. I mean, I don't really write checks anymore.

Annie Schwab: Oh I don't. Yeah. Very rare. I rarely go to the bank.

Roger Harris: I'm going to insult a lot of people, but the only people that I'm convinced cannot use online accounts are the people who still use a checkbook at the grocery store.

Maggie Romaniello: Okay.

Annie Schwab: And. Right, right, right.

Roger Harris: When you get behind them in line.

Maggie Romaniello: Right. Who do I make it out to?

Roger Harris: Yeah. And first of all, the checkbook. They don't even take out until they know [00:34:30] how much it is, you know? You know what grocery store you're in. You know, you're going to have to write the check. Can't you start that process sooner? But those are the people I'm convinced will never be use online accounts, but everybody else in the world should be using. I agree.

Maggie Romaniello: I agree. It's it's it's just the best and it's it's nice to for me, I like to pay a bill or whatever that looks like and have it come out quickly. There's nothing worse than someone holding your check for months. Nothing worse.

Annie Schwab: So quick question. When we were talking about the extensions, would those [00:35:00] taxpayers been able to log into their online account and see that they did have a valid extension.

Maggie Romaniello: They should they should be able to look at an a record of account, a record of account. I want to make sure I give them the right transaction. So yes, if they have an online account, there's different types of transcripts. Um, so I misspoke. It's not a record of an account. It's an account transcript. So there's account transcripts, record of account tax return transcripts and wage and income transcripts. [00:35:30] Okay. They would look at the record of an account and for the for the year. So it would be 2024 and they would pull up. And it should have at least part of their name. I think it would. Some of it would be redacted. But then about halfway down it should I have a transaction code? I think it's 460, but it would say extension request received and it would show probably yes.

Annie Schwab: Okay. So that would have been where had they those individuals had they.

Maggie Romaniello: Have an online [00:36:00] account. It will show you.

Roger Harris: Could have told them go look at your.

Annie Schwab: Online account and.

Roger Harris: Verify that they received it and it's not a problem. So again, that helps the practitioners because that's how you answer the question.

Maggie Romaniello: Right. Right. And then the other kind of account that we've been trying to promote is the Tax Pro account. Right. And so with the Tax Pro account we're trying to facilitate the representation work that tax professionals do for their clients.

Annie Schwab: Okay.

Maggie Romaniello: So a [00:36:30] really big feature that we've been trying to get tax professionals on board with is the power of attorney submissions. So as you know you can mail us a power of attorney. You can fax it.

Annie Schwab: You who uses fax I'm just going to say that. What's that? Who uses fax machines?

Maggie Romaniello: Well, I'm my understanding that people call PPS, and if their Po form is not in our system, then [00:37:00] they fax it to the.

Roger Harris: You still have to fax them to the.

Maggie Romaniello: Irs.

Roger Harris: If you have a machine.

Maggie Romaniello: So um, so again mailing faxing. Um, but another way to do it is within the Tax Pro account, there is a tool that allows you to upload a PDF. The reason that I'm not a huge fan of that tool is because all that is doing is expediting the arrival to IRS. Someone still has to. [00:37:30]

Annie Schwab: Take that PDF with.

Maggie Romaniello: It and manually input that information. And that's not what we want. So the force which I think is the best way is the tax pro will go into their Tax Pro account initiate that process. So basically you're filling out a form for all intents and purposes online. And then you send it to your client. And then the client will go into their account and approve [00:38:00] of the power of attorney. And it's almost my understanding is it's almost in real time.

Annie Schwab: I was about to say, it's so much faster. It's got to be faster than you can resolve the issue than it's on file.

Maggie Romaniello: And not only that, if for some reason you still need to call PPS, now it's in the caf, it's already there, they can look you up and find you. So again, we really are pushing the online systems. And um, I'm hoping that little by little people are getting that memo and are [00:38:30] going to start use them to the fullest extent, because right now, again, we do have some people that are starting to dip their toes in the water, but we really want them used to their fullest.

Roger Harris: We really need an all in approach where the taxpayers are getting accounts the tax professionals are getting.

Maggie Romaniello: It would be great.

Roger Harris: You guys are developing them and continuing to improve the accounts.

Maggie Romaniello: Would be great.

Roger Harris: It will make all of our lives much simpler. And I.

Maggie Romaniello: Agree. And I will tell you. Um, so again we try to resolve [00:39:00] problems. We also take suggestions. We call it our feedback process. So as an example, I was on the airplane, um, coming here from Connecticut. I had a layover in Philly, and it just so happened that I sat next to a tax professional who was coming here, and it was nice because we ended up talking the whole ride about taxes. Two, two nerds. And the ride went.

Annie Schwab: I feel really bad for the people sitting next to you, right?

Maggie Romaniello: Um, but anyway, [00:39:30] he saw me yesterday in the afternoon and he said, tell the IRS that if we have a power of attorney, we would like the ability to opt our clients into the IP pin program and retrieve that IP pin. I said, okay, I will put that up there.

Roger Harris: Good idea.

Annie Schwab: Yeah.

Maggie Romaniello: It's an enhancement. And why not? Right. I mean, we're we want the IP. And that way the client, if they lose theirs [00:40:00] from the mail or whatever. Exactly.

Annie Schwab: Complete the tax return. Right.

Roger Harris: Yeah. That seems so simple because that that power of attorney gives us so much power to do things much more.

Maggie Romaniello: Absolutely.

Annie Schwab: That and its benefit to the client, too. Like, okay, you got me an IP pin. Okay. You know where it is. Thanks. Yeah. You know.

Maggie Romaniello: Yeah, I the longer I work here, the more I realized how much handholding you all do for your clients.

Roger Harris: It's sometimes maybe too much.

Annie Schwab: Yeah. [00:40:30]

Maggie Romaniello: And, you know, it's like it's, frankly, it's a business decision, right? Like so. And that's, you know, I wouldn't even attempt to advise someone on, on business decisions, but it just it is really.

Annie Schwab: Amazing.

Maggie Romaniello: To me.

Roger Harris: There's so much of it, it actually makes our lives easier.

Maggie Romaniello: I agree.

Roger Harris: And we should adapt. Everything that makes our lives easier makes the client's life better. Sure. And allows us to communicate with you guys in a more effective way. I agree. And and we have to be, I think, a little more forceful [00:41:00] at times with these clients that are kind of saying, I don't want to do it. Well, you know what? You do it for everybody else. Do it. Do it for us and do it for the IRS. One other thing, because it's so I don't think people realize we have so many disasters around. It seems like every day there's a flood or a hurricane or a tornado. Talk about what your role is in that, because I don't think people associate stakeholder liaison with disaster.

Maggie Romaniello: Sure. So we do outreach [00:41:30] on the topic. We try to help our partners to prepare for a disaster. How you know, if a disaster and this is more than just we're going to have a storm in two days. We're talking about long term planning in advance, sort of rainy day planning, pun intended. So we do a lot of outreach on how to to make sure that if there were a disaster.

Annie Schwab: So the preparation, the preparing for disaster, not just the what [00:42:00] happens after. Right.

Maggie Romaniello: Absolutely. And when there is a when a disaster does take place and a disaster declaration is made and it offers individual assistance, meaning the IRS maybe is extending certain deadlines for taxpayers.

Annie Schwab: That a lot.

Maggie Romaniello: Areas. Right. When a disaster is declared, a lot of times you'll see local stakeholder liaisons at the FEMA sites. And we staff those sites. We advise [00:42:30] people what some of the help is that is available to them. And at those FEMA sites, a lot of times there will be other federal agencies and state as well, offering whatever their services are. And I just know that recently in Southern California, the SBA would have been there. And if you are looking for some type of loan from them, a lot of times they want a copy of your tax return. Well, how are you going to get that? So what we were doing was we [00:43:00] had people coming over to us. We were helping them set up an online account, and we would print a copy of their tax return, and then they would walk it over to SBA and get their loan started. So we do try to to literally help people one by one on.

Annie Schwab: The ground at the right at.

Maggie Romaniello: These. And in fact, people in California were staffing those sites seven days a week, including nights for 2 or 3 months. It just just I think it ended at the end of May. So we [00:43:30] had people really putting on a lot of their own time just to help. And um, and it was great. It was really they they loved the experience and they, they really seemed the people that I am aware of that are, were a part of my group at the time, were really happy to do it, so I was really proud of them.

Roger Harris: Is that an area that's going to suffer because of the cutbacks, or is that an area that, I mean, hopefully the disaster.

Maggie Romaniello: In general.

Roger Harris: Hopefully disasters will slow down.

Maggie Romaniello: But [00:44:00] so, you know, what I say is I guess we're going to have to see, um, you know, sometimes what happens is we're sort of trying to balance, we're juggling balls at the same time. And if we were, God forbid, to get a disaster in a state where we don't have a local stakeholder liaison present and they needed someone there, then we would have to, you know, fly someone in. But we have to get permission. We have to get the [00:44:30] money to do that. So so there are going to be steps that have to be taken and we're going to get to have those permissions. So all I can the best we'll do is we're going to ask, we're going to really try and we'll do our best. But even if we can't physically be there, we will, at minimum, provide contact information for those people and we will talk to them. We'll call them, we'll provide them publications. We'll answer.

Annie Schwab: Questions for.

Maggie Romaniello: At least over the phone. Even if and I'm not [00:45:00] talking about a toll free number, I'm talking about a stakeholder liaison. We'll help those people that are involved in a disaster. But, I mean, I have no reason to anticipate that we're not going to be allowed to go. It's just going to be a little trickier because like in California, the people that were helping were all local to the California area. Gotcha. We don't have an SLE in every state. Again, though, you know, I think we're up to the challenge, and I don't anticipate us figuring out a way to make it happen.

Roger Harris: Yeah, it's [00:45:30] just one of those things. I mean, nobody asked for a disaster. Nobody plans for it. And it's one of those areas where you hope that when people are needed that you'll be able to to get there to deliver, but what they need. Um, what else do you want to say to the tax prep community? I mean, the tax practitioner community. What what else is the message you want to make sure they get about your organization? Because like I said, I think it's a great organization. But as we said before we started, there's [00:46:00] just still a lack of understanding of what you do and how to reach you. And what have we missed so far?

Maggie Romaniello: So I would, um, I would encourage people, if they don't know who their local SL is, and, and they are a member of an organization of a, you know, a formal tax organization to talk to their organization, leadership and request that they have ourselves invited to some of their meetings to speak. Yeah. You know, we we this is what we love to do. [00:46:30]

Roger Harris: Yeah. And I think that's something people don't realize. You guys will come to meetings.

Maggie Romaniello: Yes, we will.

Roger Harris: And do what you're doing here if you're at.

Maggie Romaniello: We absolutely will. And we love that. That's.

Annie Schwab: Yeah. You've got several people here for this forum and I'm guessing you go to all of the forums.

Maggie Romaniello: Arms. Yes, I, I and my boss, as well as my colleague Mark Zion. We are going to be at all the forums and we've been coming to the forums for quite some time, although I think I want to say maybe the first year or face to face. I can't remember right after Covid if we were [00:47:00] at those, but suffice it to say, we are here at the forums and um, but we're at all kinds of tax pro.

Annie Schwab: Right events.

Maggie Romaniello: National um, events. Again, we've done more local in the past that I think we're going to have the ability to do in the future.

Annie Schwab: And you'll come for free. Or is there a fee associated?

Maggie Romaniello: No, we come for free. We come for free.

Annie Schwab: That's amazing.

Maggie Romaniello: Yeah, we we come and we give and and a lot of times too, we're able to bring other subject matter experts so we can talk about a lot of topics. And we know about a lot [00:47:30] of the inner workings of the IRS. But if you were to need a a really technical presentation on, I don't know, maybe an international topic or something, we could very likely get a speaker for that. And sometimes, too, we'll do a national webinar. That's another program that we oversee is the IRS's national Webinar program. So a couple times a month we put on national webinars for free continuing education. You get 1 or [00:48:00] 2 credits depending on how long it is. And we have subject matter experts that come on and talk about a given topic. And sometimes they're very technical, sometimes they're more general. Um, but again, we we've had a really big success with those. It's not uncommon for us to have attendance in the thousands at these.

Annie Schwab: And that's a great way to get, you know, to assimilate information resources. Yeah.

Maggie Romaniello: And [00:48:30] it's right at your desk.

Annie Schwab: You don't have to go anywhere. Right.

Roger Harris: Well, I mean, again, it's an organization that is under utilized, I think, by us because we don't understand what you will do and can do.

Maggie Romaniello: Understood. Hopefully the understood.

Roger Harris: The budget cuts won't cut back.

Maggie Romaniello: I think my boss Derek at the helm, he's going to make sure that we are better than ever.

Roger Harris: Going to be creative.

Maggie Romaniello: Yes. And and we can be. And that is one thing that he is is is creative. Um, [00:49:00] again, it's going to be a challenge. Um, we're going to be leaning on our partners more, but I, I think we're up to the task, especially, um, if we continue to get feedback and suggestions on ways that the IRS can make improvements, because every time we make an improvement, it's potentially fewer phone calls that are being made to the IRS. Fewer pieces of paper that we're having to process. Right. Like the S Corp [00:49:30] election I was talking to you about a little while ago. Fewer problems that need to be resolved. The more we increase and improve our technological capabilities.

Annie Schwab: So between the two forums, have you gotten the same issue presented to you?

Maggie Romaniello: So I've had I'll put it this way. I will say the short answer is yes, but I don't I don't necessarily think they are. I've I've heard some of the same I'll say complaints. [00:50:00]

Annie Schwab: Okay.

Maggie Romaniello: Um, I haven't heard some of the all of the same suggestions or issues. Um, so as an example, I've heard people say our phone services are getting bad again.

Annie Schwab: Right.

Maggie Romaniello: Um, so I that is feedback that I do share. Um, but it's not like an issue management resolution system or the IMS program where I can work with a Bod to try [00:50:30] to implement an improvement. Um, a reprograming of a computer isn't going to fix that. But however, um, we've had suggestions. I can't say I got it at this one. I think I may have gotten it in Chicago that we're working on that says, can you expand your callback feature when you call the toll free number? Can you expand it to all telephone lines? So very specific suggestions [00:51:00] that are involve some kind of a change as opposed to the phone lines are long and that would potentially involve hiring more people. And we just lost a lot. So I don't know what the chances are of hiring more telephone assistants right now. Um, again, I'm more interested in solving or getting people to go online and and find the solution or the [00:51:30] answers to their problems online, maybe getting a transcript as opposed to calling us for one. Gotcha. I want them to focus more on the self-serve stuff than just getting on the telephone and waiting on hold. So that is my goal.

Roger Harris: I've got to pay a compliment to Maggie. You started by saying you're an advocate. And yet I think sometimes we want you to be a miracle worker.

Maggie Romaniello: I like.

Roger Harris: That.

Maggie Romaniello: And I'll take that.

Roger Harris: Because I know it's got to be frustrating for you, because I know in [00:52:00] our meeting, the practitioner community will come to you and say, you need to fix this, this, this and this. Then you'll go back to the boss or whoever. You'll give them the suggestion. Sometimes you'll get a solution. Sometimes you'll have to come back and say, we can't do that. And so you're kind of caught in the middle.

Maggie Romaniello: We sometimes are and we sometimes are.

Roger Harris: I just want to say we appreciate your efforts and you're being our advocate.

Maggie Romaniello: For saying.

Roger Harris: That, but we know that you aren't a miracle worker.

Maggie Romaniello: Well, you know, sometimes what happens is being in the center, [00:52:30] the IRS business units that I deal with don't always understand your perspective. And so it's my job to present your perspective to them. And why it is that when a client gets any letter where the return address is from the IRS, there's a decent chance that they're not going to even open it right from fear. Yes. So I [00:53:00] have to present that perspective to them. But then I need to present their perspective to you. Maybe it is. Well, if I make this one change that you're asking for down the line, it's going to cause a million other problems that you not only wouldn't consider, but you would have had no way of even being aware of. It's a very difficult task. Task when you are when [00:53:30] you have tens of millions of customers.

Roger Harris: Yeah. I mean, everybody sees everything from their perspective.

Maggie Romaniello: Exactly.

Roger Harris: And so it seems simple to me, right? It may seem a little more complicated to you and then a lot more complicated. Exactly right. And and we have to all be willing to accept, you know, we do the best we can. And as long as we're working together to make it better, we should not be satisfied, but at least know we're heading in the right direction.

Maggie Romaniello: I, I totally agree. Um, it's just funny, [00:54:00] though. When you were making those comments, I, I if I had a dime for the number of times I've heard someone say, why can't the IRS just fill in the blank? Well, because there's 900 whatever, millions of other clients that it's going to affect negatively. We just can't make one small change because it's only.

Annie Schwab: Going to.

Maggie Romaniello: Affect you. Right. Any change we make has the potential to affect millions of people, and we just can't always do it. Well. [00:54:30]

Annie Schwab: Well, well, I've learned some stuff today. Yeah, I mean, you do more than I thought y'all were doing. And so this is eye opening and this is fantastic. And thank you for all the hard work that you and your team put into this.

Maggie Romaniello: It's been my pleasure. I, I'm really enjoying this recent gig. And again, I do just want to remind people that if they want to know who their local stakeholder liaison is, you go to the IRS website. In the search box you click on, you enter the search term [00:55:00] stakeholder liaison. And I'm going to read from my notes. Again. You click on the link for stakeholder liaison local contacts. And then you use the email address or phone number for the area that covers the state that you're located in.

Roger Harris: Maggie. Thanks. This has been fun.

Maggie Romaniello: Yeah, it has been.

Roger Harris: It's good to do it in a different I mean, I see you in DC and we're across tables and but to have you for an hour, I guess, to just talk. It's been great. Yeah. And thank you for all you do. And thank you for joining [00:55:30] us.

Maggie Romaniello: My pleasure.

Roger Harris: You have an open invitation anytime you want to come back. You got something new you want to say? Just let us know.

Maggie Romaniello: All right, I appreciate that.

Roger Harris: Thank you. Thanks. Any final thoughts, Anne?

Annie Schwab: No. I was going to say what's up next for our podcast? I'm trying to think what we have coming down the line, but we've got OB three for sure. We know we're going to be talking about that. And we've got some other guests joining groups.

Roger Harris: Got a couple more messages they want us to help get out on.

Maggie Romaniello: Yes.

Roger Harris: So we'll we'll we'll.

Annie Schwab: Hear more.

Roger Harris: From stakeholder liaison.

Annie Schwab: Continue to listen [00:56:00] and chime in and we'll be back.

Maggie Romaniello: Sounds good.

Roger Harris: And I'll see you in Orlando.

Maggie Romaniello: All right. You certainly.

Roger Harris: Will. All right. Thanks, everybody. Thanks for listening. Another federal tax update podcast. Tell your friends join us again. Thanks to Maggie. Thanks for listening. Bye, everybody.