For those of you who continue to experience problems renewing your Preparer Tax Identification Numbers (PTINs) on the IRS online system, we received a suggestion from the IRS that might help.
An IRS rep suggested accessing the online system after 5pm or on the weekend. The info line is only available from 8am to 5pm, but the online system is available 24 hours a day. The high demand during regular business hours is causing slowness (and perhaps some glitches) in the online system. The system is so overwhelmed that in some cases online payments are "timing out" before they go through. You might have more success at night than during the day.
Also, apparently the old adage "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again" applies to PTIN renewal. A number of members who have failed in their first attempt to renew (for a variety of reasons) have been successful trying again the next day. There doesn't seem to be any specific reason why that approach is working, but it's worth trying.
I know that these aren't the concrete answers that you're looking for, but unfortunately the problems are so random and sporadic that we can't come up with blanket solution.
We'll continue to reach out to the IRS to let them know about problems. Good luck.
Lastly, just a reminder that the IRS is advising that practitioners not wait until Oct. 31 to file returns that were eligible for the Hurricane Irene extension. Why? The system might get overwhelmed. Are you sensing a pattern here?