Ever wonder why some people say they “cut” checks? Whatever happened to writing checks, or printing checks, or sending checks? And then why do some people refer to cutting checks when what they obviously mean is direct deposits? Anyway, the client is clearly confused and I would ask if she has a family member who can help her with financial matters, including following up on whether this money eventually reaches her. I wouldn’t ask for separate deposits of the 2018 and 2019 amounts, I would just combine them into one.

Filing a Form 5329 for 2018? I feel sorry for the people at IRS who risk their lives to process something like that. The Washington Post has a long article this morning about IRS that everyone here should read – here’s the link, it might be behind a paywall.

https://tinyurl.com/y7xnjb4x

“The Internal Revenue Service had barely begun bringing its lowest-paid workers back to the office in late April when someone in the Philadelphia call center came down with a fever, forcing the third-floor staff to head home. Within two days, an employee in the processing center in Kansas City, Mo., who routes paper checks for deposit was sick with coronavirus symptoms, too. Then the husband of a woman in accounts management in the Covington, Ky., office tested positive, leading managers to presume that she was infected. The three service centers, among 10 campuses nationwide where the IRS is trying to reinstate 11,000 employees, had to partially close for a week for deep cleaning.”