Dropdown menu on all 1099 forms!

[etaxbiz]

There should be a dropdown menu on all 1099 forms, so that we can link each one to a particular Schedule... instead of having to input the numbers twice

[sjrcpa]

You don't have to input twice. Most of the time skip the 1099 entry point and just enter where it belongs - like Sch C Gross 

[etaxbiz]

Yes... it is necessary.

I have a few clients who have received an "Underreporter Notice", simply because I did not input the original 1099 details (as you've suggested)

[BobKamman]

That doesn't make any sense because nothing is reported but amounts on paper returns, and those taxpayers don't receive CP-2000 notices.  

[etaxbiz]

@BobKamman... Your comment doesn't make any sense. Have you ever looked at a 1099-misc form? Are you aware of the information contained on that form? Are you aware that the Payor sends copies to the Federal, State & Local tax departments? By inputting the details of the 1099 form, you are proving that amount has been included within the Gross income of a Schedule C,E... etc. (Per the IRS agent we spoke to as we confirmed that it was already included within the Gross that was reported).

Personally, I'd prefer to input only into the Schedule... but, if it will stop the inquiry from the IRS, as to whether or not it was included... I will surely do it.

(I've only had this problem happen with a few Schedule C clients... not 1120, 1120S nor 1065 filers)

[BobKamman]

Have you ever read the Internal Revenue Manual about how the Underreporter Program works?  After 50 years of not attaching 1099's to paper returns (unless there is withholding), I have yet to see one receive a CP-2000 because the source of income was not identified.   You can speak with as many GS-4 IRS "agents" as you want, many of them are like the blind men trying to describe an elephant, but it's unlikely that any of them have ever used software with dropdown boxes.  And you have one for 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC anyway, right?  So maybe be more careful about actually using it.  

The IRS Automated Underreporter Program covers 11 million paper-filed returns each year, with no 1099's attached if there is no tax withholding, and its “agents” don’t have any problem working with the computer matching that has already been done before they get the case. If you don’t believe me, here is how the IRM describes the process:

“A computer tape containing Form 4251 (Return Charge-Out) data is printed on a campus printer for paper returns. . . .Returns are pulled by Federal Records Centers (FRC) and forwarded to the Campuses.

“Paper returns are uploaded using scanning software to load them into the AUR system to build systemically.

“Cases with paper returns are received and scanned into the AUR system by the clerical function. As paper cases are scanned and systemically built into Screening Batch Types (BTs) 01 - 26 they are controlled in the AUR system. Screening batches are requested by technical units to be worked.”

[etaxbiz]

@BobKamman ... I think you are completely missing the point here.

First of all, no one is talking about "paper returns" here, except for you.

Secondly, you appear to be a very angry person towards IRS agents and their sometimes unnecessary requests. I hear your 50 years of anger & frustration, but please understand that I am not here to debate with you about your 50 years of filing paper retuns compared to my conversations with an actual IRS agent.

[BobKamman]

If @sjrcpa is not angry about her advice being challenged on how to avoid software turning you into a data entry clerk, I will remain as calm as she when someone can't explain why none of that data is sent to IRS by millions of taxpayers anyway.  The absence of an example of how incomplete information-return data led to a CP2000 is not evidence that maybe someone made a mistake inputting amounts that had nothing to do with dropdown boxes.  It just makes us wonder.   

[sjrcpa]

I'm not angry and I agree with Bob.

[BobKamman]

To those unfamiliar with IRS procedures, everyone who works there might be called an “agent,” the same way that many taxpayers consider anyone who prepares tax returns a “CPA.”  (People do that to me all the time.)  So if you want to demonstrate your lack of familiarity with IRS job titles, call those who work there what you please. But if a revenue agent contacts your client, don’t refer to him/her as a customer service representative. And if you call and talk to a GS-4 temp at an IRS service center about a notice your client has received, don’t promote him/her to “agent,” at least when describing the contact to other tax professionals.  

There are many websites that explain IRS job titles, and AI will offer suggestions also. Here is one that clears up the confusion about “revenue agents” and “revenue officers.”

https://www.bragertaxlaw.com/what-is-the-difference-between-an-irs-revenue-agent-and-a-revenu.html 

“An IRS revenue agent's job is to conduct tax audits of individuals and businesses as well as trusts and non-profit organizations. Revenue agents generally conduct tax audits of the most complicated tax returns ranging from small "Schedule C" businesses to the largest multi-national corporations. . . .

The minimum requirement for a job as a revenue agent generally includes having a bachelor's degree or higher in accounting from an accredited college or university that included at least 30 semester hours in accounting. . . .Internal Revenue Agents are not required to be CPAs although a few are. . . .

Revenue Agents do not collect tax. Instead, that task falls to an IRS Revenue Officer or R.O. Revenue Officers are assigned to the most difficult IRS tax debt cases. Those individuals or businesses who the IRS has been unable to collect from through letters, phone calls and tax levies and garnishments generated by IRS computers. Revenue Officers are not generally accountants and they have little training in substantive law.”