Filing TAXES while escaping abuse

[cava]

Someone had asked a question at our church:
"In cases where women are escaping abusive marriages - while in shelters, away from their regular address (without access to their regular address) staying with friends,
what happens In terms of Filing their Taxes?"
Some are trying very discretely to break away from the matrimonial address -
and any mail they would receive would be intercepted, so they are afraid of undesirable reactions
from their abuser.
If and What Other address might be used when Filing, or when Requesting the Prior years Tax Accounts Transcripts (filings).
Does the same rules apply for the "Estranged" category?
How/What about the Homeless?

 

[Taxing Matters]

They may file their future returns as married filing separately, single, or head of household depending on their situation. See IRS Publication 501. That does not require any cooperation from their spouse. The filing of a separate return with a new address on it or the filing a change of address with the IRS will update their address in the system so that any notices, etc., are sent to them at the new address. They may request copies of any return they filed or transcripts of accounts for those returns. If they filed jointly with their spouse for a particular year they can get transcripts of those accounts without their spouse's account, but the IRS should redact from that the spouse's SSN and any other confidential information about the spouse.

 

[LdiJ]

They may file their future returns as married filing separately, single, or head of household depending on their situation. See IRS Publication 501. That does not require any cooperation from their spouse. The filing of a separate return with a new address on it or the filing a change of address with the IRS will update their address in the system so that any notices, etc., are sent to them at the new address. They may request copies of any return they filed or transcripts of accounts for those returns. If they filed jointly with their spouse for a particular year they can get transcripts of those accounts without their spouse's account, but the IRS should redact from that the spouse's SSN and any other confidential information about the spouse.

I have never seen a tax return transcript or account transcript with any redacted information. The IRS is giving redacted wage and income transcripts now (so much so that they are almost unusable). They redact everything to the point that the payors cannot even be identified by name.

 

[Taxing Matters]

I have never seen a tax return transcript or account transcript with any redacted information.

I assume that you mean that you have never (at least recently) seen an unredacted transcript. I don't disagree with you that the IRS as a general tends to redact TINs and other information as a safeguard against improper disclosure. But the OP may not know that, so I was pointing out that while the abused spouse may request joint return transcripts she should not expect to see things like her spouse's SSN on there, in case that was one reason why she wanted it.

 

[LdiJ]

I assume that you mean that you have never (at least recently) seen an unredacted transcript. I don't disagree with you that the IRS as a general tends to redact TINs and other information as a safeguard against improper disclosure. But the OP may not know that, so I was pointing out that while the abused spouse may request joint return transcripts she should not expect to see things like her spouse's SSN on there, in case that was one reason why she wanted it.

Honestly no, that isn't what I meant. I am seeing many redacted Wage and Income Transcripts but I cannot remember ever seeing a redacted tax return or account transcript. Now admittedly, I have only seen a handful of those in the last six months or so, but I don't remember ever seeing a redacted one of those.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Honestly no, that isn't what I meant. I am seeing many redacted Wage and Income Transcripts but I cannot remember ever seeing a redacted tax return or account transcript. Now admittedly, I have only seen a handful of those in the last six months or so, but I don't remember ever seeing a redacted one of those.

Have you got one where only an ex-spouse got a transcript of a joint return? As I said, the IRS is supposed to redact the other spouse's TIN in that situation.

 

[not2cleverRed]

Someone had asked a question at our church:
"In cases where women are escaping abusive marriages - while in shelters, away from their regular address (without access to their regular address) staying with friends,
what happens In terms of Filing their Taxes?"
Some are trying very discretely to break away from the matrimonial address -
and any mail they would receive would be intercepted, so they are afraid of undesirable reactions
from their abuser.
If and What Other address might be used when Filing, or when Requesting the Prior years Tax Accounts Transcripts (filings).
Does the same rules apply for the "Estranged" category?
How/What about the Homeless?

Why can't they get a P.O. Box?

Preferably one outside of their immediate neighborhood.

 

[LdiJ]

Have you got one where only an ex-spouse got a transcript of a joint return? As I said, the IRS is supposed to redact the other spouse's TIN in that situation.

A lot of them are getting them online. However, I also assist many customers in getting them over the phone, and I have never had the IRS ask anything about that. Generally either only one spouse has given me an 8821 or only one spouse is in the office with me to verbally authorize me to speak to the IRS, so I would think that they would bring that up.

 

[Ohiogal]

A lot of them are getting them online. However, I also assist many customers in getting them over the phone, and I have never had the IRS ask anything about that. Generally either only one spouse has given me an 8821 or only one spouse is in the office with me to verbally authorize me to speak to the IRS, so I would think that they would bring that up.

They can tell you things over the phone but you are not getting a transcript over the phone.

 

[LdiJ]

They can tell you things over the phone but you are not getting a transcript over the phone.

I unblocked this one post since you posted on a tax thread. You are incorrect. When a tax professional calls for a tax transcript, the tax professional either has the client who is present authorize it, or faxes a power of attorney to the IRS agent while on the phone. In both scenarios the IRS agent initiates a fax of the transcript to the tax professional's office while on the phone. So yes, its getting a transcript over the phone.

 

[Ohiogal]

I unblocked this one post since you posted on a tax thread. You are incorrect. When a tax professional calls for a tax transcript, the tax professional either has the client who is present authorize it, or faxes a power of attorney to the IRS agent while on the phone. In both scenarios the IRS agent initiates a fax of the transcript to the tax professional's office while on the phone. So yes, its getting a transcript over the phone.

You are so full of crap. You didn't unblock this one post. You wouldn't know if I posted on a tax thread if I was blocked at all. So basically you are just a freaking liar. Which means your credibility is nil. And a fax is different is from getting the information over the phone during a phone call. That is fact.

 

[Taxing Matters]

In both scenarios the IRS agent initiates a fax of the transcript to the tax professional's office while on the phone.

I'll not get into the semantics fight here. But I'll note that at my rates few clients would stand for me billing for sitting on the phone to wait for a fax of a transcript.

 

[LdiJ]

I'll not get into the semantics fight here. But I'll note that at my rates few clients would stand for me billing for sitting on the phone to wait for a fax of a transcript.

So you never do that? Do you normally delay the resolution of an issue until you can get a transcript via a 4506? I have found that if you call right about 9AM you can sometimes get through without any wait time at all.

 

[Taxing Matters]

So you never do that?

I have not needed in recent years to get a transcript faxed to me. Indeed, it appears that as of February of this year the IRS will no longer fax at least certain kinds of transcripts to either taxpayers or tax professionals. I either use electronic access to obtain transcripts myself directly from the IRS system, use the Form 4506 or 4506-T, or have the agent/officer with whom I am working mail me the transcripts or, if they are willing, e-mail me encrypted PDF documents of the transcripts. Fax is an old technology that I use as little as possible. They are actually not terribly secure; fax technology is approaching 40 years old and fax data is not encrypted or secured in any way. It is true that a fax is a bit more secure than sending an unencrypted/unsecured e-mail, however. Fax images often have some image degradation, again due to the old technology involved. I no longer own a stand alone fax machine. My firm has just one, which sees very little use these days. I understand that law enforcement and medical professionals faxes are still widely used. Perhaps a few other professions use them frequently, too. But for the most part, faxing is dying out, hopefully before long it will be as dead as 8-track tape and analog TV.

 

[davew9128]

So you never do that? Do you normally delay the resolution of an issue until you can get a transcript via a 4506? I have found that if you call right about 9AM you can sometimes get through without any wait time at all.

Who uses a 4506? I use an 8821 or 2848 as the case may require, submit it, wait until its in the system and use a third party provider to download all authorized transcripts. I don't subscribe to the "it's a client emergency so its my emergency" method of tax resolution. I'm not calling in to PPS for transcripts with POA in hand to fax to them on the line, knowing full well its not getting forwarded to CAF for entry into the system.