The earned income tax credit benefits working individuals and families with low to moderate incomes. EITC can lower a taxpayer’s taxes, and even result in a refund. To take advantage of this credit, taxpayers must file a tax return and claim the credit. They should do so even if they don’t owe tax and aren’t [...]
The Internal Revenue Service successfully opened the 2020 tax filing season today as the agency begins accepting and processing federal tax returns for tax year 2019. The deadline to file a 2019 tax return and pay any tax owed is Wednesday, April 15, 2020. More than 150 million individual tax returns for the 2019 tax [...]
Rufus is a free utility that can be used to create bootable USB pen drives by burning ISO image to an external drive. It is touted as one of the fastest applications around when creating a USB drive for a Windows or Linux installation. The tool can also be used for running low-level utilities, as [...]
With the start of the 2020 tax filing season near, the Internal Revenue Service is reminding taxpayers to avoid unethical “ghost” tax return preparers. According to the IRS, a ghost preparer does not sign a tax return they prepare. Unscrupulous ghost preparers will print the return and tell the taxpayer to sign and mail it [...]
The tax filing season is upon us, and many people will be looking for someone to help them file a tax return. These taxpayers should choose their tax return preparer wisely. This is because it’s ultimately the taxpayer who is responsible for all the information on their income tax return. It’s important for people to [...]
Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it [...]
In a recent seminar, Kathy Reyes, IRS supervisor, explains that when filing an Offer in Compromise, the taxpayer must have all tax returns filed, in compliance with current filings, and current with tax payments such as payroll tax deposits and estimated tax payments in order to qualify for an Offer. Compliance check is the first [...]
The Taxpayer Bill of Rights protects all taxpayers working with the IRS. In fact, they lay out the framework to make sure the IRS fairly and impartially carries out tax administration. These rights are explained on IRS.gov and in Publication 1, Your Rights As A Taxpayer. They describe what taxpayers can expect if they need to [...]
Legal professionals do a lot of research. Many times clients will call with questions that we can answer with certainty, but find ourselves always doing the research to confirm the results since laws are ever changing. Most people do the same; they need a question answered and will Google to find the answers. Often enough, [...]
While many people are required to file a tax return, it’s a good idea for everyone to determine if they should file. Some people with low income are not required to file, but will need to do so if they can get a tax refund. Here are five tips for taxpayers who are deciding whether [...]