Serbinski Accounting Firms

Hi zad - that sounds like good news. I have a similar report; I spoke with the agent I had worked with previously, who went through every account for every year - noting some had penalties assessed, but all had been abated, with a final balance of zero. The agent noted that other letters of penalty ...

THe last time I spoke with an agent who was unfamiliar with the case, it was probably 25 minutes. If you could be on the phone first thing in the monring (8 AM Eastern time, or yikes 5 AM Pacific) that woudl probably be enough.

Good luck!

Hi zad - Try the regular number for the INternational office which is probably on your letter. Call during business hours in the Eastern time zone - my limited experience has been that I get better results then. (There is sometimes a delay, but most of the time they answer pretty quickly.) Then ...

Hi zad - I had some more news on my situation but wanted to wait until I had a final resolution before posting again. Again, I received 4 (now 5) letters indicating that there would be a $10k penalty assessed. I called the IRS and spoke with a helpful person who said she'd investigate it; the next ...

OH, and prayer helps as well. Absolutely.

Well, maybe I can put this matter to rest. I spoke again with the IRS agent I spoke to on Thursday, and in fact the penalties have been reversed. Whew! I'm not sure what to take away from this story; perhaps the moral is that the letters should be taken seriously but also with a grain of salt ...

THanks everyone for your replies!

Graubart - Yes, that was where I initially sent the forms, as well as the first revision. It seems that after that revision the forms were transferred to the Philadephia office, and then the requests for explanations were lost in the transfer.

Mach7 - Yes, I ...

Hi all - I submitted Forms 3520/3520A last summer prior to the September deadline. I sent in forms for prior years, after learning that they were required. I made the September deadline, and did not owe any taxes from these Forms - I simply didn't know they existed, and I filed them late. There were ...

Just an update - I phoned the IRS today and spoke with a very reasonable agent who said that the letters may be related to information that was sent in by me but not yet processed. It was heartening speaking with someone who provided good solid assistance, and to help make sense of the letters. She ...

Primo - that is good news indeed about the resolution of those 3520/3520A's! I have a different problem. I have received numerous letters requesting explanations for my late forms. I have sent these in; however, I am now getting letters again requesting explanations - which I sent in early June ...

Hi MGeorge - I believe I counted mine as a dividend which I claimed on my US 1040. I know that what the Canadians call a distribution is different from what the Americans call a distribution; I think your situation is more like a dividend. I'm curious what others say too ..

There are also comments in different manual places about penalties which seem to indicate that in any event, the maximum penalty would never exceed the value of the trust. This is helpful for an account with a very small amount of money, and brings the fear factor down just a little bit.

So, it seems that there is a group of us in more or less the same situation. Perhaps it's worth taking a step back; as far as I know, I have not seen a single person with a penalty for late filing of these - and I think that's been consistent with the guidance on this board. While these letters are ...

I'm not sure, but I think you would file a 1040x if you had not previously claimed all your income from your 3520-A. I'm not sure what the 'promise to pay' statement involves, though. Maybe they are talking about income you didn't claim from the 3520-A which you are now supposed to pay tax on? Just ...

Well, the main help I got came from a specific agent they gave to me in my letter. What I took away from the call was along the lines of 'describe the situation in your letter and don't worry too much about it'. This was heartening though I will stop worrying when I get a letter saying I am OK! The ...