New features for tax pros - YouTube video text script | Internal Revenue Service

New features for tax pros - YouTube video text script

 

Hello and welcome to today's Webinar, New features for Tax Pros: do business faster and easier with IRS online. I see it's the top of the hour and we're glad you've joined us today.

My name is Stacha Duffy and I am a Stakeholder Liaison with the Internal Revenue Service. I will be your moderator for today's webinar, which is slated for approximately 120 minutes. This webinar offers two IRS Continuing Education credits. Participants earn two IRS CE credits and a related certificate of completion by attending the live broadcast of the webinar for at least 100 minutes after the official top of the hour start time and answering at least four polling questions during the live broadcast. Please note that the polling question example to test your pop-up blocker will count as an attendance check towards the polling questions response requirement.

Now, before we begin, if there is anyone in the audience that is with the media, please send an email to the address on the slide. Be sure to include your contact information and the news publication that you're with. Our Media Public Relations and our Stakeholder Liaison staff will assist you and answer any questions you may have.

And as a reminder, this webinar will be recorded for future posting. And please note, continuing education credit or certificates of completion are not offered if you view any version of our webinars after the live broadcast.

Now, we hope you won't experience any technology issues, but if you do this slide shows helpful tips and reminders, we've posted a technical help document you can download from the Materials section on the left side of your screen. It provides the minimum system requirements for viewing this webinar, along with some best practices and quick solutions. If you completed and passed your system check and are still having problems, try one of the following; first, close the screen where you're viewing the webinar and relaunch it; second, click on Settings on your browser viewing screen and select HLS.

Now, you should have received today's PowerPoint in a reminder email, but if not, no worries you can download it by clicking on the Materials drop down arrow on the left side of your screen as shown on this slide. To receive our survey at the end of the presentation, you need to have your pop-up blocker disabled. We've also included several technical documents that describe how you can allow pop-up blockers based on the browser you are using on the Materials tab.

Closed captioning is available for today's presentation. If you're having trouble hearing the audio through your computer speakers, please click the closed captioning drop down arrow located on the left side of your screen. This feature will be available throughout the webinar.

If you have a topic specific question today, please submit it by clicking the Ask question drop down arrow to reveal the text box. Type your question in the text box and be sure and click send. This is very important; please do not enter any sensitive or taxpayer-specific information.

Now during the presentation we'll take a few breaks to check in and engage with you and at those times a polling style feature will pop-up on your screen with a question and multiple choice answers. Select the response you believe is correct by clicking on the radio button next to your selection and then click Submit. If you do not get the polling question, this may be because you have your pop-up blocker on, so please take a moment to disable your pop-up blocker now so you can answer the questions. We've included several technical documents that describe how you can disable pop-up blockers based on the browser that you are using. We have documents for Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari for you MAC users. You can access them by clicking on the Materials drop down arrow on the left side of your screen.

All right, we're going to take a moment here and test the polling feature. Here is your opportunity to ensure that your pop-up blocker is not on so you can receive the remaining polling questions throughout today's presentation. So audience, this example polling question will count towards the polling question's requirements to earn CE credit. Do you know who your local Stakeholder Liaison is? A, Yes; B, no; or C, what is a Stakeholder Liaison? Take a moment and click the radio button that corresponds to your answer and I'll give you a few more seconds to make your selection.

All right, I see that the majority of you answered yes. That is 60% -- I'm sorry, 80% of you answered yes, so good. I'm glad most of you do know who your local Stakeholder Liaison is, but if you do not, we do have information at the end of the presentation that will help you find out who your local Stakeholder Liaison is. Now, we hope you received the polling question and was able to answer, but if not, now is the time to check your pop-up blocker to make sure that you have it turned off. Again, we've included several technical documents that describe how you can disable pop-up blockers based on the browser that you are using. Just click on the Materials drop down arrow on the left side of your screen to download your browser document.

Again, welcome and we're glad you joined us for today's webinar. Before we move along with our session, let me just make sure that you're in the right place. Today's webinar is on New features for Tax Pros: do business faster and easier with IRS online. This webinar is scheduled for approximately 120 minutes from the top of the hour.

Now let me introduce today's speaker. We are joined by Nicol Collins and Sanjay Patel. Sanjay Patel is the Lead Product Manager for Business Tax Account and the Make a Payment feature within online -- Individual Online Account. Sanjay has been with the IRS for five years, but he has spent 15 plus years working in digital product development and marketing with large media and entertainment companies and technology startups. Sanjay and his family live in Ohio and love to travel, play team sports and spend family time outdoors.

Nicol Collins is a Product Manager and the Outreach Lead for the Office of Online Services. She has been with the IRS for 10 years and Nicol loves traveling around the US with the IRS, sharing our great digital products with taxpayers and tax pros. At home, Nicol loves spending time with her three grands at and her family.

And with that, I'm going to turn over to Nicol to begin the presentation. Nicol, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Stacha. Well, hello everyone and welcome. Again, my name is Nicol Collins and today we're going to be talking about account features that you may not have seen in the news, but we have prioritized to improve your experience with the IRS and they are directly tied to the feedback that you've given us in the past at places like the Nationwide Tax Forum. We have digitized the federal tax experience for tax professionals, individual taxpayers and business owners. Let's get to it.

So here's our agenda for today's lesson or session. I should say. We're going to look at the benefits of IRS Online account and then discuss how to log into the online account. And we're going to talk about three of them today.

We're going to start with Tax Pro Account. Okay, we have been engaging with the tax professional community continuously since 2016 and we've been developing the tools and services that you need. Your input helped US launch Tax Pro Account in 2021 and it continued to guide us to improve and expand the product that you will see today. Tax professionals can save time by using Tax Pro Account. Tax Pro Account makes it easy to link or request a CAF number, to view or withdraw from active authorization, to view your client's tax information, submit powers of attorney or tax information authorization, and make payments or create payment plans on behalf of individual taxpayers, all in real time. Throughout the next few slides we will show you how simple and user friendly it is to do these things on Tax Pro Accounts.

Now on this slide you can see how to view your client's tax information, both for individual and business taxpayers. To view a client's tax information, you first need to link your CAF number. If you need a CAF number, you can now request one directly on Tax Pro Account. We will show you how to do that on the next slide. It's important to remember when you link your CAF number in Tax Pro Account it is associated with your TIN in the CAF database. We mention that because once your CAF number is linked you cannot unlink it. Linking a CAF number is a one-time process.

To link a CAF number you go to your profile, you select Link a CAF number and then you follow the two step process where you request a PIN and then you enter the PIN when you receive it. The PIN is mailed to the address listed on CAF and it takes one to two weeks to arrive. Once the CAF number is linked, you will be able to view your client's taxpayer information. Keep in mind that you will only be able to see the taxpayer details for the tax matters and periods covered under your authorization.

If you don't have a CAF number, you can now request one in real time using Tax Pro Account. To get started you would click Request a CAF Number on the Tax Pro Account home page or go to your profile and click Request a CAF Number. This process is simple with three easy steps. You just need to provide your name, your TIN, your Tax Identification Number, and your address. Once your request is submitted, you can immediately view your recently issued CAF number and any other CAF number linked to your profile from the profile page.

One of the key benefits of using Tax Pro Accounts is the ability to submit POA and TIA online and get it processed in real time as soon as your client approves it. Attorneys, CTAs, enrolled agents, enrolled Actuary and Retirement Plan Agents can initiate a Power of Attorney.

Anyone with a valid CAF number can initiate a Tax Information Authorization, a TIA, request. The process is simple and fully digital. First you request a POA or TIA from your Tax Pro Account home screen. Now you will need your own and your client's information in order to complete this part of the process. If your CAF number has already been linked, then your details will be pre-populated. Once the request is submitted it goes to your client Individual Online Account.

Your client will be notified about the pending authorization request, only if they already have an account and they've opted in to receive email notifications, but it is a good practice to contact the taxpayer and ask them to approve your request through their Individual Online Account, especially if they are a new user or if you're unsure as to whether they've opted in to email notifications. If the taxpayer does not have an Individual Online Account yet, they have 120 days to log in and approve your authorization.

Remember, Tax Pro Account interfaces in real time with the CAF database to validate all entries and because of this validation, you must enter the information exactly as the IRS has on record. Once your CAF number is linked, you can also view Active Authorization. To withdraw an authorization in real time, you would select the authorization, then complete the simple withdrawal process. Once you withdraw, the authorization is immediately removed from the CAF database. How awesome is that?

Now on the Taxpayers tab you can also view Taxpayer details. One of these details is the account balance which will show balance by year and a breakdown of the type of the tax that the taxpayer is liable for. It is important to remember that you will only see the information for the tax matters and periods that you are authorized for.

Another taxpayer detail that's available is the taxpayer's payment activity. As you can see from this screenshot, you can see everything from scheduled payments, process payments, return payments, and more. Payments made in the past five years will show on this screen. Isn't that cool? On the same Taxpayer tab, tax professionals can manage payment options on behalf of individual taxpayers. You have the option of making a one-time payment, creating a short-term payment plan, or creating a long-term payment plan. The payment options are listed in a simple format for you to clearly understand the different options and any fees associated with these options. You will also be able to revise existing payment plans on this screen.

Now, before I discuss some of the other great features, Stacha, I think now is a good time to maybe check in with the audience.

Sure, Nicol. Audience, here we go with our first polling question. True or False. To view a client's tax information, you first need to link your CAF number; A -- select A for true or select B for false. Now take a moment and click the radio button that best answers the question. If you do not receive the polling question, just please enter only the letter A or B that corresponds with your response in the Ask Question text box. Your response is time stamped. And also please remember that you need to answer at least four polling questions and participate in the live broadcast from the official start time for at least 100 minutes to earn two IRS CE credits. The polling question example that we did at the beginning of this presentation does count towards that requirement. I'm going to give you a few more seconds to make your selection and/or submit your answer in the Ask Question feature.

Okay, I think I'm going to stop the polling and we'll share the correct answer on the next slide. And the correct answer is a true. So I see -- let's see here that 97% of you responded correctly. Good job. That's a great correct response rate.

All right, I'll turn it back over to you, Nicol.

Thank you Stacha. That's awesome. Everyone is excited and paying attention. So we've recently released another exciting feature. You can now access an automated chatbot that guides you to relevant knowledge articles and if your client has a balance due, you can now be connected to an IRS representative via chat. This is amazing. We hope to continue to expand this feature so that you can easily get the support you need.

It's important to remember that Tax Pro Account is different from submit forms 2848 and 8821 online. One is easy, one is hard; one is fast, and one is slow; but you can compare the two options on IRS.gov. The main advantage of Tax Pro Account is once your request for authorization is approved by the taxpayer, it's processed to CAF in real time. You don't have to wait like you do when you Submit Forms 2848 and 8821 or when you send the forms by mail or fax. Using submit forms online is the same as faxing a document to the IRS, and it requires manual processing. This option could be helpful if tax professionals have clients that don't have access to their Individual Online Account; it's fine to continue to do that. Otherwise, we recommend that you submit authorization through Tax Pro Account to minimize wait time and get immediate access to taxpayer information.

Now, finally, we'd like to highlight the big expansion in Tax Pro Account capabilities in 2025 and beyond. So what's next? We have heard from you, the tax professional community, and we've heard how important these are for you and we are excited about our plan to deliver. We're expanding more access to tax professionals. 2025 will be all about supporting businesses on the tax professional and on the taxpayer side. Tax professionals that work with the tax professional business for H&R Block, for example, will soon be able to use Tax Pro Accounts to view and manage authorizations and view their client's tax information.

We will enable Tax Pro Account users to request authorizations for their business clients. The taxpayers representing businesses will be able to use their Business Tax Accounts to review and approve pending POA and TIA requests. We also plan in the future to start supporting reporting agents in their ability to request authorizations through Tax Pro Accounts and use it to make payments for their clients.

We are expanding our View and Act on Behalf of Clients feature. Authorized tax professionals will be able to view their clients audit statuses, create pre-assessed payment plans, calculate lien payoffs, and assess eligibility for compromise offers. This is amazing and we're improving user experience by making authorizations easier to find and to manage with a new search capability. We hope that you start or continue to use Tax Pro Account to manage your authorizations and to view your client's information. We will continue to be committed to expand and improve this product as our resources allow.

So now we're going to move on to our second product, which is Individual Online Account. So we've been developing Individual Online Accounts as a one-stop shop for all taxpayer needs. It will also help to make it easier for you to support your clients. Currently, taxpayers are able to securely access comprehensive tax information, pay taxes, resolve issues, and stay tax compliant, authorize tax professionals, understand their tax obligations and track account status and sign up for email alerts. Encourage your clients to use online account for Individuals to make their personal tax management and tax authorizations as secure and easy as possible and the best way to do that is to use it yourself because you are a taxpayer too.

Now here we show the home page of our Individual Online Account along with a summary of key features for taxpayers. If you haven't accessed your online account recently, you'll be happy to learn that several new features that have recently been added. Taxpayers can now view their entire online account in Spanish by using the language selector in the header. The notifications box is where taxpayers can see alerts about things that need their action or attention, including pending Power of Attorney and tax information authorization requests. A virtual assistant in live chat is available for taxpayers with a balance to help them find the information or features that they need. We will cover the various tabs and features in more detail in the following slide.

The Profile page allows taxpayers to view their address on file, go paperless for certain notices, opt in to receive email notifications and request to receive paper notices in Spanish and other foreign languages or in alternate media such as Braille. Taxpayers with an undeliverable address are now alerted and prompted to update their address on file. We are working on enabling address to be updated within Individual Online Account in the future. Soon you'll be able to change your address right in the tool. Now on the Profile page, taxpayers may sign up for an Identity Protection Pin, view their pin, and even opt out of the program if they so choose.

On the Account Balance page, taxpayers can view their detailed account balance with amounts broken down by tax year and tax module and also by showing interest while showing interest and penalties. Taxpayers who owe a balance after filing taxes are shown guidance on how to avoid a future balance due, such as increasing tax withholding or making estimated tax payments. Taxpayers with notices of federal lien can now view their payoff amount and generate an official IRS letter to hand to third parties. The letter is a statement of the total amount owed that the taxpayer needs to pay to get their lien released. Taxpayers can select a future date up to 60 days out and the payoff amount may include additional interest based on the selected payoff date. The purpose of this letter is to hand off to third parties such as mortgage lenders, so that the payoff can be coordinated by them if, for example, the taxpayer is looking to close on the new house.

On the Payment Options page, taxpayers can make current day payment or schedule payments up to 365 days in the future. Taxpayers can also pay off their balance over time by creating a short term or long term payment plan. Taxpayers unable to pay the minimum amount for a monthly payment plan may now request a lower amount via a pending installment agreement. This is amazing. Taxpayers may also set up a payment plan for future balances that have not yet been assessed via a pre-assessed payment plan. And taxpayers can check their eligibility to settle their debt for a lower amount via the Offer and Compromise feature.

On the Payment Activity page, taxpayers can see up to five years of payment history, including processed, scheduled, pending, returned and canceled payments.

Now how about we pause now and do another polling question, Stacha?

Sure, Nicol. Audience, here is our next polling question. Which language can taxpayers view their entire online account in? Is it A, English; B, Chinese; C, Spanish;, D, A and C; or E, all of the above. Now take a moment and click the radio button that best answers the question. If you do not receive the polling question, please enter only the letters A, B, C, D or E that corresponds with your response in the Ask Question text box. Your response is time-stamped. Now I'll give you a few more seconds to make your selection and/or submit your answer in the Ask Question feature.

Okay, we're going to go ahead and stop the polling now and let's share the correct answer on the next slide. Okay, the correct answer is D, A and C, English and Spanish. All right, I see that 64% of you responded correctly. So, Nicol, can you clarify? Could you explain why D is the correct answer?

Yes, Stacha, I can. And I bet what people did is some people selected A for English or maybe C for Spanish, and it's actually both. So you can see your entire online account in either English or Spanish, so it's both. But if you selected English, it's still correct, you can see your entire online account in English and you can see your entire online account now in Spanish. So, that's great, Stacha. Thank you.

Thanks, Nicol. Back to you.

All right, thank you. Okay, so now we're on the Tax Records page. Taxpayers can view key data from their most recently filed tax return, including the adjusted gross income. Taxpayers can access transcripts and a tax compliance report. Taxpayers may also see economic impact payments and advanced clean vehicle credit amounts for tax filing on this page.

Now on the Audit Status page, taxpayers can see the status of certain types of audits that are conducted via mail. This includes the status for both open and closed audits. This is a very new feature.

On the Refund Status page, taxpayers are now able to see the refund amount and the status for the last three tax years. This is also another new feature that we have delivered based on your feedback.

Now on the Notices and Letters page, digital copies of over 200 types of notices can currently be viewed, including any monthly payment reminders. Taxpayers can view the notice title and short description or view and download the full PDF notice. Taxpayers with unread notices are able to see visual indicators for the unread notices. We continually add more notice and letter types and we are working towards making digital copies of all notices and letters available in Individual Online Accounts.

Now on the Forms page, taxpayers can now digitally complete and submit over 30 types of forms that require a signature. Signatures may also be requested and added for forms that also require a spouse signature. This is also a new feature.

The Authorizations page is what we talked about earlier in Tax Pro Account. This is where your clients will go to approve a Power of Attorney or a tax information authorization request from you as their tax professional. Taxpayers may also approve requests for income verification from banks and lenders for mortgage or loan applications; again, another new feature.

We continue to make enhancements to this wonderful Individual Online Account to increase features and security. Coming later this year in online accounts, taxpayers will be able to view digital copies of up to 250 notices and letters including all IMF and CP notices. They will be able to initiate a digital response including document upload to a CP2000 notice via the secure messaging feature. They will be able to access information return documents for tax filings such as W-2, 1098, 1099 or 1095-A. They will be able to view amended return status and sign up for email notifications for changes in refund, audit, return payment and other statuses. Access additional tax compliance features including qualifying and applying for offer and compromise and correcting withholding compliance issues.

We hope that you are encouraged to leverage Individual Online Accounts not only for your personal tax needs, but also that you encourage your clients to better help themselves for their own personal information and education and interactions with the IRS.

And now I'm going to turn it over to my colleague Sanjay Patel to walk us through Business Tax Accounts. Sanjay, are you still on mute?

Thank you, Nicol. Exciting things are really happening on both Individual Online Account and Tax Pro Accounts, so thank you.

Good afternoon all. My name is Sanjay Patel and I am the Lead Product Manager for Business Tax Account. I'm excited to be here and present Business Tax Account. Business Tax Account is the newest IRS hosted online application that offers a suite of digital capabilities for taxpayers, in this case specifically for business taxpayers.

Launched in 2023, Business Tax Account was designed with the objective to empower business taxpayers to self serve in securely managing and fulfilling their federal tax obligations. Business Tax Account is meant to be a one-stop shop for business taxpayer information and self service by, one, providing secure access to business account information, offering product features that help taxpayers fulfill their obligations and encourage voluntary compliance and, third, improving taxpayer experience and driving business value. Currently, Business Tax Account offers a modest set of features including the ability to view select tax records and digital notices, view balance due and make payments as well as view and manage Income Verification Express Service requests or IVES request. It's important to note that not all features will be available to all business taxpayers. Access will vary based on business entity type and that taxpayer's role within the organization.

Now let's take a closer look at Business Tax Accounts. Business Tax Account can be accessed from the sign into your account link on the IRS.gov homepage. Like Individual Online Account and Tax Pro Account, a business taxpayer requires an ID.me account. So once you create that account, our system will match your SSN or ITIN to a corresponding EIN, Employer Identification Number. All the businesses that do match your SSN or ITIN will appear on the account selection page pictured here. From this page you can click into any of your businesses to view and manage business tax information. From this page you can also add entity which you see highlighted in red where you can register to be a Designated Official or DO for a particular business. A designated official is essentially a corporate officer such as CEO or CTO, et cetera of a company, and it's also the person that can legally bind the business. Currently you can only register as a DO for an S Corporation or a C Corporation but DO access for other business types will be available in the near future.

Now let's click on a business to see what that account experience really looks like. Once you select the business you wish to view and manage, you will be brought to the central hub of your business account, the Account Homepage. Let's take a quick tour of what this Account Homepage offers. Again, important to note that not all features are available to every business taxpayer, access to features will vary based on your business role within that organization.

Starting from the top and working clockwise, we see the following. Account Selector, if you have more than one business, this lets you toggle between your various businesses. Profile, viewing basic business information that the IRS has on record for your business. There's also an ability to add business access for employees, currently only available to sole proprietors. Language Preference, similar to IOLA or Individual Online Account, if Spanish is your preferred language, you can view the site in Spanish. More languages will be added in the future.

Authorizations, view and manage IVES or Income Verification Express Service Authorization Requests. Tax Records where you can view tax transcripts and tax compliant reports and certificates. Notices and Letters, currently only select notices are available to view online, but many more to be added in the future. Payments, the ability to make partial and full balance payments as well as federal tax deposit payments and of course view payment history. Account Balance, the ability to view the total tax amount owed or view the amount owed by tax year.

We can now take a look at a few of these features in a little more detail. First is the Profile page. On the left, you'll see what you can view and access in this page. Here you will see the business information and other details that the IRS currently has on file for your business. Business details could include business name, your employer ID number and the entity type, the business mailing address that we have on file and even a physical address if there is one, as well as the email associated with your business. If any of this information is incorrect or needs to be updated, there are also links to assist with changing that. Currently you can't make changes -- updates in Business Account, but we hope in the near future that will also be offered.

Below Business Information in the left, you'll see Manage Business Users. Selecting Manage Business Users will allow users to manage who can access business data and interact with the IRS on behalf of your business. As I mentioned earlier, this feature is only available to sole proprietors currently, but will expand to other business types in the future. Designated employees listed here are essentially individuals that are authorized to interact with the IRS on behalf of the business on tax-related matters. They have limited access based on permissions. For example, they may view account information such as account balance, payment history for designated tax periods, possibly make payments for any tax periods and request a tax compliance check, but they may not sign forms, manage other designated employees, View information on the sole proprietor or other designated employees. Designated employees have various statuses; active, the user has access to the Business Tax Account; expiring soon, the active user whose access requires attention by the expiration date; pending or awaiting action by that added individual; removed, the sole proprietor has removed that designated employee for whatever reason, after one year they're permanently removed from the system; expired, the sole proprietor has failed to confirm or modify the individual's tax period access by the expiration date or the individual has failed to accept their role or tax period access within the required 45 day window; and declined, user declined the sole-proprietor's request to add them as a designated employee for the specific tax period.

Near the bottom of the page you can see information on all designated employees assigned to the business. From here you can also edit or remove an individual should the need arise. The last link in the left is Wallet. But before we look at the Wallet link, how about a quick polling question?

Perfect. Thank you, Sanjay. Now audience, this should be real quick. This is an attendance check. Please select the radio button on the screen. If you do not receive the polling question, add only the letter A as your response in the Ask Question text box to timestamp your response. All right, I'll give you some time to select the radio button or submit in the Ask Question feature.

Okay, we're going to go ahead and stop the polling now and I want to thank you for responding and participating with the polling questions. Sanjay, the floor is yours again.

Thanks Stacha. Similar to what you see on banking or e-commerce site, the Wallet link also offers a place to store bank information, to make tax payments easier and faster. Selecting Wallet will allow you to see a quick overview of current bank accounts and payment methods, add and remove options for managing bank accounts associated with that business, and by selecting Add Bank Account a user can add up to five bank accounts. When selecting Add Bank Account, users will be able to add a personal or business checking or savings account and give each account a nickname for quick reference.

Okay, moving on from Profile page we go to the Account Balance feature. Similar to Account Balance, you can access Make a Payment -- you can access Make a Payment in multiple ways from the Payments tab in the top navigation, from the Payments box on the Account homepage, or from the link on the Account Balance page. As the name implies, Make a Payment lets you make electronic payments directly from your bank account or by a credit or debit card. If you're using a card, you'll be directed to an external site to use one of our card providers. Currently, users can make partial or full balance payments for various forms as well as Federal tax deposits. Forms include, but are not limited to Form 941, Employers Quarterly Federal Tax Return; Form 1042, Annual Withholding Tax Return for US Source Income of Foreign Persons; Form 1120, the US Corporation Income Tax Return. FTDS or Federal Tax Deposits include Form 941, Withholding Taxes for Employees; Form 940, these are taxes paid by the employer to provide for unemployment compensation to workers who have lost their jobs.

Federal tax deposits made here qualify as an electronic payment in accordance with the Rules for Federal Tax Deposits. You can schedule payments for any business day up to a year in advance, and businesses can make up to 12 payments per transaction and 12 transactions per day. In payment history or activity, users can view recently processed payments, including payments made through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, EFTPS, online, wire transfer, checks or money orders, and to see if payments were canceled or returned.

Leaving Payments, we go to Account Balance. You can access the Account Balance feature from the tap navigation as well as from the Account Homepage. Account Balance shows you your total taxes owed. You will see a message if the total balance is unable to be calculated correctly due to certain conditions such as freeze codes, transaction codes, status codes. An example the balance from a specific module will not be added to the total if there is a restricted interest on a module. You can also view taxes owed by year. By selecting a specific year, you will see additional details for each form type as well as breakdowns for that period. Lastly, in case you want to make payments towards taxes owed, you can click on the Make a Payment link tab which we just reviewed.

Now let's move on to Tax Records. You can get tax records again from either the account homepage or through the link in the top nav. As mentioned earlier, the ability to view some or all tax records will depend on your business type and role. In this section you'll see Business Tax Transcripts, Business Tax Compliance Reports, and Tax Certificate for Award Use. Depending on the transcript type, you may access tax records for up to the past 10 years.

Now let's take a quick look at each of these tax record types. Within Tax Transcripts, users may view and download four types of transcripts. Here's an example of what a sole proprietor may see; the Tax Return Transcript, which shows most line items from the original filed tax return along with any forms and schedules. Most transcripts don't show changes made after the return filing date. This is available for the past four years. Tax Account transcripts show changes to your account such as refunds, federal tax deposits, payments, penalties and interest balance due with accruals and return filing date and process date. These are available for the past 10 years. Third is Entity Transcripts. This shows business information and record like about your business including EIN, current name, address and filing requirements; currently available only through Business Tax Account and this is available for the past four years. And last we have Record of Account Transcript. This combines the tax return and tax account transcripts and this is available for the past four years. It's important to note at this time not all tax returns available as a transcript are available as a record of account transcript.

The next set of tax records are related Tax Compliance. So the first tax compliance record type is the ability to get a Tax Certificate for Award Use. If you're preparing to apply for a federal grant or contract, you can download a Tax Certificate for Award Use directly from this page. This certificate affirms that your business is current with all tax liabilities and has no outstanding or delinquent tax debt. The other tax compliant record type is the Business Tax Compliance Report. A Business Tax Compliance Report provide detailed insights into your business's tax compliance status for various reasons such as audits, legal verifications, and maintaining transparency in your business operations.

So now moving on from tax records, we come to Notices and Letters. From your account home, again, you can click on Notices and Letters. Note, again, this does not include all notices and letters, only a select group. More will be added over time. It's important that business taxpayers continue monitoring the physical mailing address and mail for any additional correspondence from the IRS. Current notices and letters that are available are the CP080, which is a reminder that we have not received your return, credits may be on your account; CP136, the Annual Notification of Federal Tax Deposit Requirements; CP216F, Application for Extension of Time to File an Employee Plan Return; CP261, Notice of Acceptance as an S Corporation. Again, these are all available to be viewed and/or downloaded.

Our last feature is Authorizations. Currently in Authorizations, this is only for taxpayers looking to view or manage IVES authorizations from their financial institution or lender. If a user does not have an IVES request -- sorry, if a user does have an IVES request, they can view and manage it from here. You'll see here -- in the Authorizations tab, you can see who has requested to see your tax records, the date that it was requested, what is the status of that request, and the action that needs to be taken or has been taken. In the future we'll be looking to add the ability for a user to view and manage POA and TIA requests as well in a similar fashion as you see here to IVES.

So where is Business Tax Account heading in the future? I'll tell you right after another polling question. Stacha?

Oh, thanks Sanjay. Keep us in suspense and, audience, this polling question is a fill in the blank. Select the answer that best completes this statement. Payments can be scheduled up to in advance, is it A, 90 days; B, 6 months; C, 1 year; or D, 2 years? So take a moment, click the radio button that best answers the question and if you do not receive the polling question, please enter only the letter A, B, C or D that corresponds with your response in the Ask Question text box. Your response is time-stamped. I'll give you some time to make your selection and/or submit your answer in the Ask Question feature.

Okay, we're going to stop the polling and let's share the correct answer on the next slide. All right, the correct answer is C, one year. Payments can be scheduled up to one year in advance. Let's see how everyone did. All right, 62% of you responded correctly. All right, Sanjay, can you clarify, can you explain why the answer is C, 1 /year?

Sure. So we are trying to mirror a lot what the EFTPS system offers in terms of flexibility and right now we are allowing, based on consumer feedback as well as what EFTPS is offering, the ability to schedule payments for one year from the date today. So essentially that allows you to have a lot more flexibility of when you want to be able to view and edit and manage your payments.

Got it. All right, well thank you, Sanjay. Perfect. So I think they're now ready to hear where is Business Tax Account heading in the future. Back to you.

Thanks Stacha. So Business Tax Account has some big plans really over the next few years where we will be looking to really increase self service options. Some of the new capability areas include increased access that's really allowing more business types to access their accounts, profile page enhancements allowing more control over your business information and security of your business account, payments allowing for more payment types beyond just federal tax deposits and full and partial balance payments, and increased digital communications really enabling easier faster communication and dialogue with the IRS.

So I wanted to thank you all and, stay tuned, much more coming in the near future for Business Tax Account.

Well thank you Sanjay. And now that you all have seen the three IRS Online accounts, we want to learn how to navigate to those accounts. How do we find them? You can navigate to any of the three accounts we've shown you today by visiting IRS.gov. On the homepage, front and center, you will see a link that says Sign in to your account. On the landing page you will see the option to access any one of the three accounts that we shared with you today.

Now let's talk about ID.me and how users can authenticate and the importance of it. ID.me currently provides authentication and identity verification services for taxpayers and tax professionals accessing IRS applications. An integral part of IRS Security first focus is ensuring tax professionals and taxpayers have secure methods of accessing their confidential data. Tax professionals are consistently targets of cybercriminals seeking to access client data. Bad actors are constantly adapting their fraud schemes to leverage new technology like artificial intelligence to steal your client's tax data with the goal of obtaining fraudulent tax refunds.

Encourage your client to establish an IRS Online account that will provide with them the protection against identity theft, ultimately saving them from the hassles and the financial effects that come with being an identity theft victim. You only need one ID.me account. If you already have an ID.me account, then you can use it to sign in to access any of the IRS Online services. You can use that same ID.me account to sign into different IRS online services and you will use this same one ID.me account to sign into either individual business or Tax Pro Account. You may already have an ID.me account to access IRS Online Services and you may have gotten it from another federal or state or government agency that uses ID.me for identity verification and authentication and that's fine, you only need that one.

New users must create an account with ID.me. There are two options to verify your identity to access IRS Online services. There is a self-service option or there's the option to verify your identity through a live video call with an ID.me representative. Now before you begin the registration, you must have your Social Security Number or your Individual Tax Identification Number, your email address, a photo id, and it must be a driver's license, a passport, a passport card or a state ID. And you will need a smartphone or a computer with a camera.

Now, ID.me offers 24/7 customer support that provides assistance in a wide variety of languages. There are 22 languages supported for the self-service process and then there are more than 240 languages supported for the video call. ID.me has a very robust IRS help page. It's located at help.id.me to assist users where you can find information related to getting started, troubleshooting, and also who to contact for support. And you can also submit tickets for ID.me support.

And now I pass it back to you, Stacha.

All right, thanks, Nicol. Hello again. Now, we've come to our live Q&A and I will be moderating the Q&A session. But before we start, I want to thank everyone for attending today's presentation, New features for Tax Pros: do business faster and easier with IRS online. Now, earlier I mentioned that we want to know what questions you have for our presenters. Here is your opportunity. If you haven't input your questions, there's still time, go ahead and click on the drop-down arrow next to the ask question field, type in your question and click send.

Sanjay is staying on with us to answer your questions, but we are also joined by tax analyst Heather Brody -- I'm sorry, Heather Brady and Management and Program Analyst, Angela Hicks.

So one more thing before we start, I want to let you know that we may not have time to answer all the questions submitted, but we'll answer as many as time allows. All right, so let's get started so we can get as many questions as possible.

All right, let me see what questions we have here. All right, the first one is regarding Tax Pro. So what must a tax professional have to request authorization for Power of Attorney or Tax Information Authorization. Who would like to take that?

Stacha, I can take that. I can take that.

Thanks.

So the tax professional must have the taxpayer address that appears on the IRS record. They can confirm the taxpayer's address from a recent notice or from the taxpayer's online account. The address must be in the United States or the District of Columbia. Thank you, Stacha.

Perfect. Perfect. Thanks. Thanks. All right, let me go to the next one here. What needs to be completed to get access to the taxpayer account information?

Okay, I think that's for Tax Pro Account. The tax professional must have a POA or a TIA on file in the CAF database. Now, they will have the ability to view the taxpayer's information for the tax matters and periods that they have been authorized for.

All right, perfect. This is Nicol, right?

Yes, this is Nicol. Yes.

Yes, thanks, Nicol. I have another one here, another Tax Pro Account question. It is, what are the available tax years and tax matters available in Tax Pro Account?

Okay, so the tax professional can request authorization for the calendar years for the last 20 years through the current year, and then they can go three years into the future. So the tax matters would include Form 1040, Income Tax or Split Spousal Assessment on Form 8857, or Innocent Spouse Relief or Shared Responsibility Payment. So there's just many different ways that they can do that but the years is you can go back 20 years and then three years -- for the current year and then three years into the future. Hopefully that answered the question.

Yes, perfect. Thank you. I believe it did. All right, let me look here. So we've got, okay, another question here. So will a prior authorization be revoked if a new request for POA or TIA is completed on the Tax Pro Account?

Okay, that's a good question. Yes, a prior authorization on file with the same authorization type, POA or TIA for the same tax matters and tax periods will be revoked. This is how the CAF database works. And the Tax Pro request and paper request are processed at the same time. They are all processed to the same CAF database. So to retain their prior authorization that they submitted the 2848 or an 8821, they have to check the retention or revocation box and attach a copy of the authorization that they want to retain. So that was a great question. Thank you.

Yes, Perfect. Thank you. All right, I have another one here on Tax Pro. So can a tax professional obtain or request a CAF number within Tax Pro Account? And if you don't know your previously assigned CAF number, where can you locate it? And the third part of this question is, can I link my previously assigned CAF number to my taxpayer account?

Okay, all excellent questions. Yes, you can obtain or request a CAF number within Tax Pro Account by applying to get a CAF number within Tax Pro Account. And then a Tax Pro can locate their previously assigned CAF number on IRS Letter 1727C. This letter is mailed when you apply for your first POA or TIA, and normally you would have done that through submitting a 2848 or an 8821. And then if the tax professional can't locate their CAF number, they can contact us on the Priority Practitioner hotline and then you can link your CAF number within Tax Pro Account. This allows the tax professional to view all authorized tax matters and tax periods in the taxpayer's account. So if they've already had a CAF number, they can link it so that they can now view that online. Did that help?

Okay, yes, I think that's. Yes. That was kind of a triple question there, but that's good. It was a good question. So the next one -- the next question that I have is, can the tax professional view their submitted approved request for POA or TIA?

So, yes, the tax professional can view their request history within Tax Pro Account. The approved authorization request will display within Tax Pro Account immediately after the taxpayer approves their request. But they might remember they have to let their taxpayer know to approve it so that they'll be able to see it. Tax Pro Account will not display a status if the taxpayer rejected the authorization, so then they won't know. They would have to contact their taxpayer to find out.

Okay, got it. So how about can a previously approved authorization for a POA or TIA be removed?

Yes, you can withdraw an authorization in real time in Tax Pro Account, and once you withdraw the authorization, it's immediately removed from the CAF database.

Got it. Okay. What if I need to correct it? Can a previous authorization request for POA or TIA be corrected?

No, not in Tax Pro Account. If you need to correct an authorization that the taxpayer already approved, a new authorization request must be submitted. And now, if the correction is for the same tax form and tax period, the taxpayer must wait to approve the request.

Okay, thank you. Okay, see here another question. How about -- can a taxpayer have multiple representatives or designees for the same tax matter or tax period?

That is a really good question. Yes, each representative or designee must sign into their Tax Pro Account and submit the request. Only two representatives may receive copies of taxpayer's IRS notices and communications, though, and the taxpayer must authorize all representatives on the same day. And then if the requests are completed on a different day, it will remove the one from the previous day. So you got to talk to your taxpayer.

Okay, good point. Good point. All right, how about this one? This one -- can we send Form 2848 electronically?

Yes, you can. That's the only way to do it. Well, you can mail it or you can fax it, but yes, you can.

Okay, okay, good, good. How about -- let's see here. Can an individual taxpayer receive a tax transcript using the Individual Online Account?

I can take that one. Stacha, this is Heather. Yes, an individual can retrieve their transcripts through Individual Online Accounts. Once they sign into their account, if they go to the records and status tab, they'll see tax records. Once they bring that up, they'll have a little blue button that says view your transcripts and they'll have the option of retrieving a tax return, tax account, record of account, or wage and income transcript.

Okay, perfect. Great. Thank you. How about this one? So I recall this was discussed in the presentation, but what if I already have a PTIN, do I need another one? I already have a PTIN, do I need another one. I wonder if they meant a IPTIN.

I think they do mean PTIN because you can have a PTIN. I would say, no, you only need one.

Okay, perfect. All right, thank you. All right, here's another one. Can a CAF be issued to an individual or to a business or both? Can a CAF be issued to an individual SSN or to a business EIN or both?

So you have to -- in order to get a CAF Number through Tax Pro account, you have to -- I don't know if you can be a -- you have to be -- let me -- I'm actually -- I need to go back up and look at my own notes here just so that I'm giving you the correct answer.

Okay.

Actually, yeah, you would have to -- oh, I'm sorry.

Do you want me to go -- so you can go to another one?

Anybody can apply for a CAF number through Tax Pro Account. And then I think I was thinking about submitting a TIA request because you can't submit that unless you have a valid CAF number, but there might be some validation that may not pass when you go to request it for some reason. So I would say you can submit for it and then if it's approved, then you can submit a TIA request.

Okay, got it. Okay, how about this one? Will you need a CAF Number per client or one number is enough for more than one client?

Well, that's a really good question. You only need one CAF number. Now, it's possible you might have more than one because for some reason people have submitted 2848s and 8821s and have been assigned more than one CAF number. I've seen that a lot. So if you have more than one, you can link more than one CAF number in Tax Pro Account so that you can see all of the tax matters and periods for which you're authorized for, but you really only need one CAF number for all your needs.

Okay, perfect. Okay, so this one, okay, how do I establish a Tax Pro Account?

Oh, that's a great question. You just go to IRS.gov and you click on View My Account and you log in with your ID.me and there you go, you're in. It's just a matter of logging into it. The thing is though, you have to request a CAF number, if you don't already have one, to be able to get started with submitting a POA or a TIA. So it's easy-peasy.

Perfect. That goes to our next question was how do we link our CAF number if we have one already?

Oh, that's a great question. That's a great question. So there are some easy steps to do it. You can do it from the home page. You'll see a nice button there that says link your CAF number or you can go to your profile. If you go up in the top and click on Profile, you'll see a link that says link your CAF number and it'll be some easy steps to do it and it will walk you right through it, very easy.

Okay, great, great. So how about this one? Can a business open an account online with the IRS just like individuals?

That would be you, Sanjay.

Sanjay, anyone?

Yes, hi. Sorry, I was getting off mute. In terms of opening, if you have a business already, if that's the question, yes, you can access it as long as you have an EIN, you can access Business Tax Account.

Okay. Could you -- so can you set one up just like an individual or would you have to go through your Individual Online Account to access your business accounts?

Well, if you have a business that is tied to your SSN or ITIN, when you get through ID.me through Business Tax Account, link through Business Tax Account, you will automatically see your businesses listed. So you're not setting up a Business Tax Account for per se, you are accessing that information.

Okay, perfect. Thank you, Sanjay. Let's see. Let me find another one here. How do clients get a taxpayer info account?

How to create online account for individuals, maybe? Yes, I think it is for Heather.

So it's easy. I think we've gone over it earlier. But when you go to IRS.gov, right on that landing page there, there'll be access to Individual Online Accounts, you click into that, go through ID.me, and then your account will be there ready for you.

Okay, perfect. So individual taxpayers, they need to do the ID.me steps to get to set up a personal online account, correct?

That is correct. That is correct. They do need to go through ID.me to make sure that their person -- their identity is verified and then they'll be able to access all of their information.

Okay, thank you. All right, this next one here. Let's see. Do sole proprietors or Single Member LLCs need to set up a business online account?

Currently, sole proprietors do have access to Business Tax Accounts, SM-LLCs currently do not. They are, along with some other entity types, on our list to be granted access. So that is probably going to happen in the near future, but right now it is -- access is granted to sole proprietors, individual partners, individual shareholders, C Corporations, and then those designated officials that I mentioned earlier at both S Corporations and C Corporations.

Okay. All right, let's see. Thank you, Sanjay. Let's see here. Regarding the Individual Online Account, one of the features is sign up for email alerts. I thought IRS only contacts taxpayers by mail. Given online email scams with people purporting to be the IRS, how can this feature be secure and trusted by taxpayers?

Good question. That is a valid question. The emails that are sent from the online account are very generic in nature. They don't give away any tax information. They simply say that there was an action on the account and they direct the user to go sign into their account. There is no link given so that the taxpayer isn't worried about clicking on a link. They would just need to venture over to their IRS.gov landing page and sign into their online account.

Perfect. Thank you. Thank you. All right, here's another one. Letters and notices sent to taxpayers, is this information available under Notices, et cetera? If so, how long does it take for the copy of letters and notices to be available on the online account?

Great question. Letters and notices that are sent to taxpayers are also under the notice and letters tab. Within the account they are available as the date of the letter. So if a letter was dated with today's date 1/23, it would also be available in notices and letters for today.

Okay, thank you. Perfect. How about -- did the presenter say taxpayers can opt out of an IP PIN? So can taxpayers opt out?

You can. You can do it right in Tax Pro Account. Yep. Oh, actually, yeah -- did I -- I don't know, Heather, now I'm confused. Did I say Tax Pro Account? I thought you can do it in, I don't know where you can do it now.

Online account can do it. I can answer for online account. There is a new feature that we've just put forward where users can opt out of IP PIN if they rather not have to file with that each year.

Okay. Well, what if I want to get a new IP PIN, can I do that too?

You sure can. In the Profile section of online account, if you scroll down a bit, there's the IP PIN section where you can do any of what we've discussed. You can opt in, you can opt out, or you can view. If you received the notice in the mail with your IP PIN and misplaced it and you're ready to file, you can sign into your online account and view the PIN that was established for you there.

Okay, perfect. Thank you. All right, let's see. How can I update my email and mailing address? Can you do that online, update my email and mailing address?

You can update your email online under the Profile page. We do not at this time have anywhere for you to update your address. You would have to submit the form by mail for address changes or call a representative.

Okay, got it. All right, perfect. How about, can an IRS customer service representative access my online account?

No, they cannot access your account. The only account they'd be able to access are accounts that we can see within the IRS, but they cannot access your online account.

Okay. All right, thank you. Here's a good one. Is chat assistance available?

Currently, only taxpayers with a balance due will have access to the chat function. It will be expanded to additional users at a later date.

Okay, thanks. Perfect. Thank you. Here we go. Does online account exist for business taxpayers yet?

Yes, so we do have online Business Tax Accounts. That was in the presentation. So let's go to the next one.

Is online account available to international taxpayers?

Yes, it is. This service can be used also by individual taxpayers who have an international address.

Okay, great. Perfect. Can I authorize someone else to access my online account?

No, you would not be able to authorize anybody else to access your account, and credentials should not be shared with others.

Perfect. Perfect. Thanks. Let's see here. Here's a good one. Why am I getting a message saying that the service is not available after I log into my online account?

That's a good question. You may get messages saying that the service is unavailable because of a system failure within our application or an error retrieving data. You may still see that there're other options available even if you encounter this situation, such as the Get Transcript button or Payment Activity tab. The Payment Activity tab currently links to sites like Direct Pay, Pay by Card, or OPA or Online Payment Agreement, which aren't affected by our unavailable system.

Okay, thanks. All right, good answer. Let's see here. So, besides income taxes, what other tax liabilities does my online account show?

Online account shows details for any federal tax liability associated with your individual account, such as income tax owed on your Form 1040, additional tax owed on your Form 5329, which is Additional Taxes on Qualified Plans, including IRAs and other tax favored accounts, also shared responsibility payment for tax years 2014 to 2018, which applies if an applicable individual in a tax household lacked minimum essential coverage for any month, and also trust fund recovery penalty.

Okay, perfect. Thank you. And what if I have a payment plan? Can I see the details of my payment plan?

You can see your payment plan details on the home page of your account and also the payment plan options. Information displayed. Includes the type of plan you have, due dates and payment amounts.

Good to know. Good to know. How about if my online account shows that I owe a zero dollar amount, does this mean I don't owe at all?

Well, that depends. The information we provide is based on the data we have at the time you log into your online account. If the amount shown is zero, then that is correct as of the time you logged in, but it can change later if the data changes. Such if there's an adjustment made to your account or your tax return has not posted showing the amount that you owed on that return.

Good. Good to know. Thank you. Let's see, what type of payments can I make through my online account? I think you mentioned that, but --

Yeah, we can go over that again. You can make a payment towards amount you owe, a quarterly estimated tax payment, a payment on a recently filed amended return, or 1040-X, a proposed tax assessment which might be from a CP2000, a notice of deficiency, or a payment for an extension to file your income tax. Those are only available January through April, but also an offer and compromise application fee or other OIC related payments.

Okay. And just another one here. Are there any limits to the amount and number of payments I'm allowed to make through my online account?

Yes. You can make up to three times a day -- make payments up to three times a day, up to five transactions per time.

Okay. Okay, let me see here. I've got another one. All right. In regards to the Business Tax Accounts, I am confused. Is the tax professional registering as a designated official on the IRS website? In regards to the Business Tax Account, I am confused, is the tax professional registering as a designated official on the IRS website as the DO? Mr. Sanjay?

Yes. Hi. So no -- so a Designated Official is the actual corporate officer of that business, so a CEO, CIO, CTO, those individuals that can legally bind the business. It wouldn't necessarily be for, let's say a tax professional to access the business. In the future we will be expanding, as I mentioned, this designated employee to designated users, which broadens who can have access or granted access. So it's possible that access could be granted to other individuals that aren't employees of the business. So, you know, the short answer is no, not right now. In the future, it is possible if you're granted that access as a designated user.

Okay, thank you. Thank you, Sanjay. How about -- here's one. Can you access Business Tax Account from the Tax Pro Account?

No, you can’t.

Okay, here we go. For a business account, does a sole proprietor use their EIN or their Social Security Number?

So you use your Social Security number. If you file your taxes using an EIN, you can access Business Tax Account. Business Tax Account does not show information related to Schedule C, E or F that is within the Individual Online Account. So, yes, so if your Social Security number or ITIN is associated with an EIN, we will do that match on our side once you go through ID.me, and if there is a match from that individual to that business, that those businesses will then appear for you to be able to access.

Okay. All right, so we've got an individual question here. So does individual tax information include that of one's spouse when filing jointly? This would be for an Individual Online Account.

I can take that one? Yeah.

Okay, thanks.

Sure. So when you have a spouse account or a married filing joint account, each person also has their own Individual Online Account, even if they don't sign up for it. There will be information that would be shared and would be presented on both sides, but there would also be information that could be specific to one taxpayer. So we generally would advise for both the primary and the secondary to access their own account if they're looking for specific information.

Okay. All right. And let's see here. Where is the Individual Online Account entry point on IRS website?

That would be right on the home page. You'll see something that says, Access My Online Account. And you go over there and it'll bring you to the platform where you can enter through ID.me.

Okay, so let's see here. If my business is a sole proprietorship, is that considered an individual or a business?

Yes. So if you file using your EIN, you can access that through Business Tax Account. If you don't, then you would not have access to Business Tax Account and any information then related to your sole proprietorship or yours would be within your individual account, so.

Okay. All right. I think we might have answered this one, but it says, will foreign Canadian corporations be able to create a Business Tax Account if none of the officers or shareholders are US persons?

That, I think, is still to be determined. We're still working through some of that as it comes to foreign corporations, foreign individuals, so not at this time.

Okay. All right. And this might be a simple one, but what does the acronym IVES stand for?

The income Verification Express Service, that essentially is, let's say, a financial institution or a mortgage -- right, mortgage lender. They're requesting your tax records and those IVES participants, then what they do is they request those tax records and those tax records are then sent to them and that's what IVES stand for.

Okay, thank you. All right, so let's see here. Does Business Tax Account payments -- does tax -- Business Tax Account payment use ACH, so corporations can skip EFTPS?

Yes, but again, payments at this time are limited to, right, full balance payments, partial balance payments by tax year, as well as federal tax deposits. So yes, we do ACH payments, but the tax types that you can actually pay towards are limited. But having said that, we will be expanding the payment types to be fully comprehensive in the near future, so, yes, so you can -- you'll be able to make all those tax type payments, ACH withdrawals through Business Tax Account.

Okay, thank you. All right, let's see here. Will partnerships be available through Business Tax Account?

So partnerships are currently, as I mentioned, if you're an individual partner or you're registering as a corporate officer, a designated official, you can access Business Tax Account. Actually, I misspoke there, designated officials for partnerships are not available, it will be available this year. Right now individual partners have access and then designated officials for both S Corps and C Corps have access, so. Yes, so to answer your question, later this year we should have access for designated officials for partnerships.

Okay, thanks. Perfect. Good answer. So let's see here, the next one. This is -- let me find a good question here. Let's see. Can an accountant add companies they service that are not corporations to their business? Can accountants add companies they service that are not corporations to their business account? Does that --

Can you say that one more time?

Yeah, sure. So can an accountant add companies that they service that are not corporations to their business account?

Okay, so with Business Tax Account, you know, the product and the application itself is for businesses, business entities. Anything that is done as far as access for businesses for tax professionals in the future would be through Tax Pro. For Business Tax Account, if you are, as I said, either a sole proprietor, you know, it's more for business owners or members of a business that can access it, like partners, shareholders, or if you're a corporation. So that's who you know -- it's for business taxpayers, those are the individuals that would have access to that Business Tax Account.

As I mentioned, in the future, you know, if a business taxpayer wants to allow or give access to other users to access their tax account that will come along in the future. So an individual could be your spouse, it could be your tax professional, it could be someone else, but that will come in the future. But right now it's primarily for business owners or business taxpayers.

Okay, perfect. Thanks, Sanjay. This is the last question. Let's see. This is the very last one. It says when you say things are limited to sole proprietors, is that Schedule C, business only or also Schedules E and F?

Right. So a couple things here. So when I said, I think if I remember correctly, for sole proprietors, they all have certain types of access as business owners that, let's say, an employee might not have or an individual partner of a partnership might not have. So it's going to vary based on entity type.

As it relates to what they can access, again, a sole proprietor will not have access to things like schedule C, E or F within Business Tax Account; that is within Individual Online Account. They will, though, if they do file their taxes using their EIN, will have access to BTA there. That's where that information would then be, if that sort of makes sense. So there is sort of a separation between what you can see within Individual Online Account and what you would see within Business Tax Account and that really depends on how you file. So again, if you file using an EIN, you will see that information within Business Tax Account, but at no time ever will you see information regarding -- or sole proprietor, things like schedule C, E or F within Business Tax Account that will only be available within your Individual Online Account.

All right, thank you, Sanjay. All right, audience, that's all the time we have for our questions. And I do want to thank the Q&A team for answering your questions. So thank you so much, Nicol and Sanjay, for sharing your knowledge and your expertise.

And audience, we can't leave without our final polling question, so this is our last attendance check. Please select the radio button on the screen if you do not receive the polling question. Add only the letter A as your response in the Ask Question text box to timestamp your response. Audience, please remember that you need to answer at least four polling questions and participate in the live broadcast from the official start time for at least 100 minutes to earn two IRS CE credits. The polling question example that we did at the beginning of this presentation does count towards this requirement. All right, I'll just give you a few more seconds to select the radio button or to submit in the Ask Question feature.

All right, so we're going to stop the polling now. And I want to thank you for responding and participating with the polling questions. Before we close out today's session, Sanjay, what key points do you want the attendees to remember from today's webinar?

Yes. No, thank you. Thank you all.

No, go ahead, Sanjay.

No, I was just going to say thank you. Thank you to everybody who attended. Business Tax Account is only a year, barely a year and a half old. We have a lot of big plans, all centered around access. We want to make sure that we can allow as many business entities to access business account as possible. Secondarily, our goal is to expand on features as well.

So we do have a slate of features, like I mentioned, expanding payment types, offering more communication, direct communication channels. So there's a lot going on there. Important thing to remember again is that this, you know, Business Tax Account is specifically for business taxpayers. Although there is some sort of, if you want to say, cross pollination between Individual Online Account and Tax Pro Account, that sort of overlap is rather limited at this point. I think it'll expand in the future but right now, Business Tax Account is for those business taxpayers and our primary goal is to make sure that we're allowing as many businesses and entities to access business account safely and securely as possible. So, like I said, a lot more coming up in the near future. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, Sanjay. All right, audience. We are planning seminars -- I'm sorry, webinars throughout the year and to register for these upcoming webinars, please visit IRS.gov, keyword search webinars and select the Webinars for Tax Practitioners or Webinars for Small Businesses. And when appropriate, we will offer certificates and CE credit for upcoming webinars.

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So, another big thank you to our presenters for a great webinar and I also want to thank you, our attendees, for attending today's webinar, New features for Tax Pros: do business faster and easier with IRS online.

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