The IRS will begin accepting tax returns on January 28, with nearly 155 million individual tax returns expected to be filed in 2019. The nation’s tax deadline will be April 15 this year. Many software companies…
A cycle code is an 8 digit code found on your account transcripts. The cycle code indicates the day your account posted to the IRS Master File. This date indicates the 4 digits of the…
The IRS Modernized e-file, the system that processes electronically-filed business returns, will shut down after December 27, 2018, so the agency can perform annual maintenance and to enable the IRS to reprogram the system for…
Funding for many government agencies expired at midnight on Friday, which triggered a partial shutdown of the federal government. The IRS is affected by the shutdown because it is not already funded through September 2019.…
What are tax preparation options? There are multiple tax preparation options you can choose from. Once you’ve gathered all the tax documents needed, you can now decide if you want to file your taxes by…
The IRS faces a particularly challenging rollout to the 2019 filing season, best summarized in four words: more work, fewer employees. President Donald Trump signed the latest tax reform law in December 2017, but the…
Yes, the ACA’s individual mandate penalty is still in effect, and will continue to be in effect in 2018. If you’re uninsured in 2018 and not eligible for an exemption, you’ll owe a penalty when…
Integrity & Verification Operation (IVO) department provides leadership and direction to employees responsible for fraud detection and prevention, revenue protection, and account correction. Integrity and Verification Operation (IVO) is the department designated to screen individual…
When you’re doing your income taxes, you will require a number of forms and probably the most significant one is the W2 form. Every business that you were employed at in the course of the…
Taxpayers generally want to avoid filing errors because they lead to tax problems and inconveniences. There are times when a taxpayer might experience tax filing mistakes due to complicated and sometimes confusing forms, calculations, and filing…
Are you wondering who can qualify as a dependent on your tax return? This is your guide to assessing whether one of your family members may be able to be classified as a qualifying dependent…
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have announced a redesign of the 1040 individual income tax return form that is being touted as one that will fit on a single postcard. The new,…
Everybody knows the old saying about death and taxes, yet a surprising number of people fail to file an income tax return. If you’re one of those people and you think you’ll be able to…
If you’re married, you have the option to file one or two tax returns every year. While most people file together on one return due to the increased standard deduction, in some situations, it makes…
After months of intense negotiations, the President signed the $1.5 trillion tax reform legislation known as the “Tax Cuts And Jobs Act Of 2017” (the “New Law”) on December 22, 2017 – the most significant tax…
The Most Common Tax Question: Which Deduction Should You Take? Every taxpayer has the same decision to make when filing a federal return:Do you take the standard deduction or do you itemize? The right choice…
Where’s My Refund? is an IRS online tool you can use to check the status of your tax return within 24 hours after the Internal Revenue Service has received your e-filed tax return or four…
Many taxpayers, at risk for having too little tax withheld from their pay, can avoid a surprise year-end tax bill by quickly updating the withholding form they give to their employer, according to the Internal…
Every year, the IRS works a large batch of ”unpostable” tax returns. An Unpostable tax return happens when your tax return is unable to be posted to the master file. An unpostable condition occurs if…
More families will be able to get more money under the newly revised Child Tax Credit, according to the Internal Revenue Service. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the tax reform legislation passed in…
Before you start your search, you might be wondering about all the different kinds of tax pros out there or who can do your taxes. Basically, anyone can call himself a tax preparer and file…
Systemic verification is one element of the IRS’s Return Review Program (RRP), its primary system to detect fraud and noncompliance. The Return Review Program is a platform that runs individual tax returns through a set…
What Is an IRS Tax Transcript? An IRS tax transcript serves as a record of an individual’s tax-related information. This document contains details about one’s previous tax returns, with information such as the type of…
Need Help with Your Tax Troubles? Dealing with tax issues can be frustrating, confusing, and frightening. The IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service is made up of individuals who are knowledgeable about the inner workings of the IRS…
The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is an organization within the Internal Revenue Service that is designed to help taxpayers resolve problems with the IRS. HOW IT WORKS The TAS was first formed in 1978. Over time, it gained more…
The Department of Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) issues IRS tax refunds and Congress authorizes BFS to conduct the Treasury Offset Program (TOP). Through the TOP program, BFS may reduce your refund (overpayment) and offset…
The IRS’s Failure to Establish Goals to Reduce High False Positive Rates for Its Fraud Detection Programs Increases Taxpayer Burden and Compromises Taxpayer Rights Over the past decade, the IRS has been significantly impacted by…
A system the IRS uses to identify potentially fraudulent electronically filed tax returns. It enhances the IRS’s capabilities to detect, resolve, and prevent criminal and civil noncompliance and reduces issuance of fraudulent tax refunds. The…
There are two different being processed messages. One is “still being processed” and the other is “being processed” and they both have different meanings. What does “Your tax return is still being processed” mean? The…
There are two different being processed messages. One is “still being processed” and the other is “being processed” and they both have different meanings. What does “Your tax return is still being processed” mean? The…
When tax season rolls around, everyone wants one thing — that refund in their account as fast as possible. While the IRS sets the refund release date, how quickly your money actually shows up depends on where it’s deposited.…
The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (the PATH Act), was enacted on December 18, 2015. The PATH Act contains several changes to the tax law that affect individuals, families, and businesses, and…
With millions of tax refunds being processed, the Internal Revenue Service reminds taxpayers they can get fast answers about their refund by using the “Where’s My Refund?” tool available on IRS.gov and through the IRS2Go app. …
Even without a government shutdown, taxpayers are having trouble getting through to the IRS at the start of the 2018 tax filing season. Busy signals and long hold times are leading to frustration. We’ve even…
The Internal Revenue Service today announced steep declines in tax-related identity theft in 2017, attributing the success to the Security Summit initiatives that help safeguard the nation’s taxpayers. Key indicators of identity theft dropped for…
With the surge of tax returns expected during the upcoming Presidents Day weekend, the Internal Revenue Service is offering taxpayers several tips and various time-saving resources to get them the help they need from the…
The IRS mails millions of letters to taxpayers every year for many reasons. Here are seven simple suggestions on how individuals can handle a letter or notice from the IRS: 1. Don’t panic. Simply responding…
If your Where’s My Refund? Status Bars Have Disappeared PLEASE READ! One way to determine what is going on with your tax return is to go to the IRS website and request an Account Transcript.…
Transaction Codes (TC) consist of three digits. They are used to identify a transaction being processed and to maintain a history of actions posted to a taxpayer’s account on the Master File. Every transaction processed by the IRS…
No matter how hard you try to safeguard personal information, there is still a chance that someone could steal or otherwise misuse your dependent’s Social Security number. Often, the use of another taxpayer’s Social Security…
Millions of taxpayers are going transcript crazy right now and wasting the IRS time that they could be processing our returns. We all need to slow down if you order your transcripts by mail the…
Congratulations, Wednesday, January 24 marks the First day for movement on some taxpayers accounts in the 2018 tax filing season. Many taxpayers woke up this morning with a change to their refund status. If your…
Congratulations! Accepted means your e-filed tax return has passed the initial inspection (Social Security numbers are correct, dependents haven’t already been claimed, etc.) and the government has your tax return. Consider acceptance as your official government delivery receipt.…
It turns out that there is no set time schedule for when refunds have to be given to people who file taxes (and who qualify). This is probably not the answer that you wanted and is…
When filing tax returns, the second question everyone asks is “How long does it take to get my tax refund back?” Of course, the first question everyone asks is “How much is my refund?” Tax…
How much money do you have to make to file taxes? What is the minimum income to file taxes? Let’s take a look at the requirements for the minimum income to file taxes in 2017…
Which States Still Charge a Penalty? As of the most recent filing year, these states have their own individual mandate penalties: These penalties are collected through your state tax return, not the federal return. How…
The government shut down early Saturday, January 20th after Congress failed to agree on a funding bill. That triggered automatic furloughs for government employees deemed “non-essential.” That means only a portion of each federal agency’s…
If a taxpayer receives a refund that is less than the amount that was submitted with the tax return, the refund may have been offset for a past due obligation. A refund offset is when an IRS…
The IRS begins updating its systems for acceptance of electronic returns in the fall before tax season opens. The final changes usually happen around late December. They plan ahead to allow adequate time to program…