Rev. Proc. 2008-35 Disclosure and Use Consents

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Subject Author Date Rev. Proc. 2008-35 Disclosure and Use Consents Tom Healy CPA 03-20-2009  Re: Rev. Proc. 2008-35 Disclosure and Use Consents Arthur Kamlet 03-20-2009  Re: Rev. Proc. 2008-35 Disclosure and Use Consents Tom Healy CPA 03-23-2009
Posted by Tom Healy CPA on March 20, 2009, 8:19 pm Please log in for more thread options It's been a long time since I've written to the group (pre-Google!). As I'm getting in the thick of tax return preparation, I'm finding an awful lot of circumstances where it appears I need to apply this Rev. Proc. Here are some: (1) A child over age 18 needs tax return information of the parent to properly complete Form 8615. Do the parents need to consent to the use and disclosure of this information to the child? (2) The parents of the child want to receive the child's tax return on her behalf. Does the child need to consent to the use and disclosure of this to the parents? (3) An elderly client has given me a copy of a financial power of attorney that names a child to do all financial dealings on behalf of the client. Do I nonetheless need to get the client to sign use and disclosure consents to be able to discuss/release tax information to the child? (4) A gay couple want me to do their tax returns; one of them does most of the financial dealings for the couple. I believe that if I hand their tax returns back together, each of them will need to sign consents to permit me to disclose one's tax return information to the other, even when both are in the same conference room with me. (4) From my knowledge of clients, I think that two of them would benefit from meeting each other. Do I need to obtain use and disclosure consents from each of them allowing release of contact information to the other? How is that accomplished, since I can't disclose the contact information of the other until I've received his use and disclosure consents (and vice versa)? What is the impact of having networking mixers for clients? (5) It appears that a business client would benefit from setting up a qualified retirement plan. Do I need to obtain a use consent to use her tax return information to figure out the best retirement plan options? And use and disclosure consents to introduce the client to a vendor? And another set of consents to discuss the specifics (Roth vs traditional 401(k), for example) with the vendor after the client has established a relationship? This Rev. Proc. reminds me of the FTC gyrations we had to go through a few years ago when CPAs were labeled "financial" professionals. Tom Healy -- << ------------------------------------------------------- >> << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >> << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >> << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >> << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >> << are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >> << ------------------------------------------------------- >> Posted by Arthur Kamlet on March 20, 2009, 8:37 pm Please log in for more thread options >It's been a long time since I've written to the group (pre-Google!). Welcome back, Tom. >As I'm getting in the thick of tax return preparation, I'm finding an >awful lot of circumstances where it appears I need to apply this Rev. >Proc. Here are some: >(1) A child over age 18 needs tax return information of the parent to >properly complete Form 8615. Do the parents need to consent to the use >and disclosure of this information to the child? No, but the child would then request the IRS to send the necessary parent information,. See the procedure described at page 11 third column of http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p929.pdf >(2) The parents of the child want to receive the child's tax return on >her behalf. Does the child need to consent to the use and disclosure >of this to the parents? See page 4 of Pub 929 >(3) An elderly client has given me a copy of a financial power of >attorney that names a child to do all financial dealings on behalf of >the client. Do I nonetheless need to get the client to sign use and >disclosure consents to be able to discuss/release tax information to >the child? I would think yes. >(4) A gay couple want me to do their tax returns; one of them does >most of the financial dealings for the couple. I believe that if I >hand their tax returns back together, each of them will need to sign >consents to permit me to disclose one's tax return information to the >other, even when both are in the same conference room with me. Yes, but applies to any unmarried couple. >(4) From my knowledge of clients, I think that two of them would >benefit from meeting each other. Do I need to obtain use and >disclosure consents from each of them allowing release of contact >information to the other? How is that accomplished, since I can't >disclose the contact information of the other until I've received his >use and disclosure consents (and vice versa)? What is the impact of >having networking mixers for clients? Makes me nervous. >(5) It appears that a business client would benefit from setting up a >qualified retirement plan. Do I need to obtain a use consent to use >her tax return information to figure out the best retirement plan >options? And use and disclosure consents to introduce the client to a >vendor? And another set of consents to discuss the specifics (Roth vs >traditional 401(k), for example) with the vendor after the client has >established a relationship? Why not just give client a business card of a financial advisor, attorney, etc? -- ArtKamlet at a o l dot c o m Columbus OH K2PZH -- << ------------------------------------------------------- >> << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >> << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >> << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >> << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >> << are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >> << ------------------------------------------------------- >> Posted by Tom Healy CPA on March 23, 2009, 3:49 pm Please log in for more thread options I've got another issue regarding the disclosure and use consents. This is a circumstance in which information the client provided needs to be clarified or corrected with a third party (a 1099 from a brokerage firm appears to be incorrect). The Rev.Proc. states that we can't obtain consent to disclose and use after receiving tax return information and using it to prepare the return. But I didn't know about the problem until I looked over the 1099 and I was well into preparation. The client doesn't want to try to explain the problem directly with the brokerage firm and wants me to do it. It seems that I can't call up the broker to discuss the problem even with the client's consent, because a consent I obtain now is prohibited by the Rev Proc. and I can't disclose information in my possession to the broker, even the name of the mutual client. so am I limited to preparing the return based on the information provided with no clarification or correction permitted? That could result in unnecessary communication between the client and IRS. Grrr. I hate this Rev. Proc. I think the author didn't consider all these problems when writing it. Tom Healy CPA, CSA Boulder, CO -- << ------------------------------------------------------- >> << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >> << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >> << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >> << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >> << are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >> << ------------------------------------------------------- >> Similar Threads Posted Revoking an 83(b) election - Rev Proc 2006-31 June 16, 2006, 3:19 am