All taxpayers should review their withholding annually. They can use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator to check and make sure they’re not having too little or too much federal tax withheld. This tool offers workers, retirees and self-employed individuals a step-by-step method to help figure out if they should adjust their withholding. Those who need [...]
Victims of the California wildfires that began Aug. 14 now have until Dec. 15, 2020 to file various individual and business tax returns and make tax payments, the Internal Revenue Service announced today. The IRS is offering this relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as qualifying for individual assistance. [...]
Information a taxpayer gives the IRS won’t be shared with outside parties, unless allowed by the taxpayer or by law. This is the right to confidentiality; one of ten rights known collectively as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. The right to confidentiality means: The IRS won’t give any information to a third party without permission from [...]
Now is a good time for people to begin thinking about next year’s tax return. While it may seem early to be preparing for 2021, reviewing your recordkeeping now will pay off when it comes time to file again. Here are some suggestions to help taxpayers keep good records.Taxpayers should [...]
This is the second of two tips exploring the IRS Dirty Dozen tax scam list. Tax scams tend to rise during tax season or during times of crisis. Scam artists are using the COVID-19 pandemic to try to steal money and information from taxpayers. Taxpayers should watch out for these scams. Scammers targeting individuals with [...]
All tax scams put taxpayers at risk. This is the first of two tips taking a closer look at the IRS Dirty Dozen tax scam list. This year, taxpayers should be especially, watchful for aggressive schemes related to COVID-19 relief, including Economic Impact Payments. Here is a recap of the first six scams in this [...]
Members of the military may qualify for special tax benefits. For instance, they don’t have to pay taxes on some types of income. Special rules could lower the tax they owe or allow them more time to file and pay their federal taxes. Here are some of these special tax benefits: Combat pay exclusion: If [...]
The Internal Revenue Service issued a temporary regulation and a proposed regulation to reconcile advance payments of refundable employment tax credits and recapture the benefit of these credits when necessary. The regulations authorize the assessment of erroneous refunds of the credits paid under both the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Families First Act) and Coronavirus [...]
The IRS announced it started sending letters to taxpayers who experienced a delay in the processing of their Form 7200, Advance Payment of Employer Credits Due To COVID-19. Reasons for delay include: Rejected form Change to requested amount Address verification Delay due to address verification: If a Form 7200 shows a different address from the [...]
While the federal income tax-filing deadline has passed for most people, some taxpayers haven’t filed their 2019 tax returns yet. If a taxpayer is entitled to a refund, there’s no penalty for filing late. Penalties and interest will begin to accrue on any remaining unpaid tax due as of July 16, 2020. Anyone who didn’t [...]