Sharrett Bookkeeping & Tax

07/21/2026

So I just can't get away from Cal Fire folks. I came home for a week to celebrate 37 years married to the best lady in the world and went swimming tonight woth the Grandkids. Before swimming we stopped at a burger joint you all know and there were 10 CalFire members and then another group of 20 came in. Thank you CalFire for supporting our Utah firefighting teams. We love you.

07/19/2026

IRS Announced a great change late last week.

Many of you have heard of and benefited from a "First Time Abatement" or FTA. This is the process wherein you have been assessed Penalties (Failure to Pay or Failure to File for most people and for businesses Failure to Deposit). This was a process that a taxpayer had to REQUEST relief, either via a form or on the phone.

IRS Announced a new program, phasing in now, called "Automatic Exemption from Penalty" or AEP. With this program neither you, the taxpayer, nor the tax preparer has to do anything. The AEP is being phased in and applies to Individual (1040s) filed in 2025 and will be used for Businesses in the 2026 calendar year.

This new program is supposed to be in place completely for the 2026 filings (due in 2027). Here is a link to the IRS press release.

For those that have submitted an FTA (843) let it process but know that this program will allow for easier processing (our hope - wink wink).

https://www.irs.gov/payments/administrative-penalty-relief

As with the FTA there are conditions that apply.

Individuals have to have filed a timely return for the same type of return (for example, a 1040 form), if required to do so

and

either no IRS penalties were assessed against you (other than an estimated tax penalty), or any penalties against you were waived for reasonable cause or an IRS mistake.

For Businesses facing a failure-to-deposit penalty, AEP relief will only be granted if the:

IRS's didn't waive a failure-to-deposit penalty four or more times during the previous three years (or 12 consecutive quarters) or

penalty being waived wasn't for Electronic Federal Tax Payment System avoidance.

Have a great rest of the Month!!!

Learn about penalty relief and if you qualify for relief from a penalty by administrative waiver.

07/16/2026

Thank you CalFire for fast action. Nice bomber drop after teo passes.

07/16/2026

For years our family has participated in a program called "Scarves in the Park" in the Salt Lake area. One of our wonderful clients has a great talent and donated a whole box of homemade love (beanies and scarves) for the cause. Thank you KH for donating time and materials for this cause. I am thankful to take a suitcase full (see the big box) of items back with me.

Note: I am not a professional model. ;)

https://www.ksl.com/article/news/utah/high-5-keeping-homeless-utahns-warm---one-scarf-at-a-time/51540871

07/16/2026

It's taken 18 months but they are blooming and nice. Thanks to Cindy Dawson @ Deja Vu Nursery!!

07/15/2026

Please note Comcast has an outage in the area and our phone lines are affected. Sorry about the inconvenience

07/11/2026

Awesome News!!! No longer will there be a need for a FTA. The IRS will, starting this Summer phase out the FTA and be able to process penalty abatements without a request from the taxpayer.

IR-2026-83, July 8, 2026 — The Internal Revenue Service today announced a new automatic process to provide penalty relief for taxpayers with a history of filing and paying on time, reducing the need for them to request assistance.

06/01/2026

In the last week we have had various clients receive letters of apology from the IRS after we responded to their notices asking for more forms or such explaining the Amended returns for the fire. Here is one example.

We first wrote to the IRS in Feb of 2025 in response to the amended return.

Be patient. We sent in more than 300 letters (about 1.5%) of our clients got letters from the IRS about the amended. Most of them have been resolved. Down to a very small handful.

It will work out.

05/12/2026

A PSA.

The office of former House member Doug LaMalfa will continue working those IRS issues brought to their attention already but by law have to go silent here in about 10 days because of the Special Election in June. The staff can't take on more items than they can handoff to their IRS liaison.

Once the Special Election is held and staff is decided then they will again be able to work on items brought forward to them. If your IRS issue can't wait, then contacting Senator Padilla is your next step, if you don't reach out to an advocate directly.

04/16/2026

A big shout out to our wonderful clients! We appreciate each of you and your loyalty and support.

Operational items for the next week or so...

No preparers are in the office until Monday 27th of April.

We have everyone who turned in after 13th March that DID NOT get called on Extensions as indicated at the time of dropping off.

If monies were to be pulled out directly - DO NOT PANIC if they have not been pulled. The IRS and States started pulling but not all transactions get done at once, especially those just filed (since the 10th or so).

Have a great Week