Top Facts Filers Should Know for IRS Opening Day
Opening Day for the IRS is Today February 12, 2021. The Internal Revenue Service has set the opening day for the 2021 tax filing season for Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. That’s the day the IRS…
Important Tax Changes In 2021: Individuals And Businesses
Every year, it’s a sure bet that there will be changes to current tax law and this year is no different. From standard deductions to health savings accounts and tax rate schedules, here’s a checklist…
Your Guide For Tax Audits-IRS Notice Description
This Guide covers the many notices that the Internal Revenue Service sends to individual taxpayers regarding tax audits. IRS NOTICE NUMBER DESCRIPTION CP11–Audits This notice states that your return has been changed because the IRS…
Unemployment Compensation Is Taxable; Have Tax Withheld Now And Avoid A Tax-Time Surprise
With millions of Americans now receiving taxable unemployment compensation, many of them for the first time, the Internal Revenue Service today reminded people receiving unemployment compensation that they can have tax withheld from their benefits…
Self-Employed Individuals Tax Obligations
Who is Self-Employed? Generally, you are self-employed if any of the following apply to you. You carry on a trade or business as a sole proprietor or an independent contractor. You are a member of a partnership that carries on…
Earning Side Income: Is it A Hobby Or A Business?
Whether it’s something they’ve been doing for years or something they just started to make extra money, taxpayers must report income earned from hobbies in 2020 on next year’s tax return. What the difference between…
Why Do I Owe A Penalty And What Can I Do About It?
I sent a payment to the IRS. Why did I get a bill? If you mailed a payment to the IRS on or before July 15, it may still be unopened in the backlog of…
Here’s what to know about getting a Tax Refund
Even though the IRS issues most refunds in less than 21 days, it’s possible a taxpayer’s refund may take longer. Several factors can affect the timing of a taxpayer’s refund after the IRS receives their…
What To Do If You Owe Taxes and You Can Not Pay By The Deadline
Are you unable to pay your taxes before the fast-approaching filing deadline? Are your tax bills amounting to an outrageous sum that you cannot be able to clear in time? Whatever the case, pending bills,…
The Difference Between Deductions And Credits
When filing your personal income tax return, there are primarily two ways to reduce your tax liability: deductions and credits. Although any way to pay Uncle Sam less is greatly appreciated, there are advantages to…
Most Commonly Missed Deductions And Credits
In all the complexity of tax preparation, it is easy to miss a deduction or credit. This is a particular advantage to utilizing a professional tax service because they ask all the questions you may…
Tax Benefits for Members of the Military
Military members benefit from a variety of special tax benefits. These include certain nontaxable allowances, non-taxable combat pay, and a variety of other special tax provisions. Here is a rundown on the most prominent of…
Check withholding, make estimated payments now
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…
Unpostable Tax Return
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
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…
2018 Tax Transcript Cycle Code Chart
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.…
IRS Transcript Transaction Codes
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…
What Should You Do If Someone Claims Your Children On Their Tax Return?
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…
Tax Transcripts Don’t Order Them View Them
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…
How many people received and update in the first batch of 2018 updates!
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…
How many have received emails that tax returns are being accepted!
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.…
How Long Can the IRS Delay Your Tax Refund?
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…
How Much Money Do You Have to Make to File Taxes?
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…
Avoiding Tax Offsets Due to Student Loan Debt
If your student loans are in default, you’re probably worried about your tax refund. Will the student loan lenders take it? First, let’s set the record straight on private loans. Private student loan companies can’t take…
Should You Apply for an Advance on Your Tax Refund?
Understanding Refund Advances, Costs, and Whether They Make Sense Every tax season, millions of taxpayers consider applying for a refund advance — a short-term loan offered by tax preparation companies that allows you to receive…
Reasons You Should File Your Taxes Early
Taxpayers receiving a refund tend to file taxes right away If you are an early season tax filer (i.e. you file your tax return in January and/or early February) you are simply looking to get…
How much should you pay to file your taxes?
One of the biggest decisions taxpayers face each year is how to file their tax returns. Last year, 86%, nearly 132 million, of tax returns were filed with tax software. But out of those computer-prepared…
How to Read an IRS Account Transcript
Here’s a breakdown of what everything on your Account Transcripts means. Request and Response Dates The Request date shows the date you requested your transcripts and the response date shows when they actually responded to…
Tax Software to E-File your Tax Return
Now that tax season is here, consumers are looking for a reliable, easy way to file their taxes. Why not use an online tax service? These services allow you to easily and safely file your…
IRS Announces when Tax Filing Season will start in 2018!
The Internal Revenue Service announced today that the nation’s tax season will begin Monday, Jan. 29, 2018 and reminded taxpayers claiming certain tax credits that refunds won’t be available before late February. The IRS will…
2018 Tax Transcript Cycle Code Chart
Again this year, the IRS Tax Refund Site, Where’s my Refund? is often overloaded. When you e-file, your tax return is usually accepted within 24 hours of filing by the IRS. Then your seemingly endless…
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is the most sweeping update to the U.S. tax code in more than 30 years. The reforms will simplify taxpaying for many individual Americans, lower taxes on individuals and…
National Tax Security Awareness Week: Victims of Data Breaches Should Consider These Steps
The number of data breaches was already on a record pace for 2017 before the reported theft of nearly 145 million Americans’ names, addresses and Social Security numbers brought the issue to the forefront. Every…
Plan Ahead for 2018 Filing Season to Avoid Refund Delays
The Internal Revenue Service today advised taxpayers about steps they can take now to ensure smooth processing of their 2017 tax return and avoid a delay in getting their refund next year. This is the…
Tax Filing Extension Expires Oct. 16 for Millions of Taxpayers; Check Eligibility for Overlooked Tax Benefits
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today urged taxpayers who have a filing extension through Oct. 16 to check their returns for often-overlooked tax benefits. When they are ready to file, the IRS recommends they…
Here’s Why Tax Day Is April 18 This Year
When it comes to taxes, not much is simple, including knowing the day your individual tax return is due. For the second of three consecutive years, tax day is abandoning its traditional April 15 deadline…
IRS letter announcing latest private tax debt collection effort going out to affected taxpayers
Remember that assurance from the Internal Revenue Service that its agents never call you about an overdue tax bill. That’s changing. The IRS is about to turn over some delinquent tax accounts to private debt…
Amended Returns
Amended Tax Returns: When and How to Correct Your Filed Taxes If you discover an error after filing a tax return, the IRS allows you to correct it by filing an amended tax return. Some…
Direct Deposit Is Fast and Convenient, Though Mistakes Can Cost Your Refund
Why Direct Deposit Is the Best Option — and How to Avoid Costly Errors Direct deposit is the fastest, safest, and most reliable way to receive your IRS tax refund. Millions of taxpayers choose it…
IRS Investigated 3,400 Cases of Tax ID Theft, Laundering, Cybercrime and Terrorism in 2016
In 2016, the Criminal Investigation (CI) division of the Internal Revenue Service initiated 3,395 cases in the fiscal year 2016 that focused on tax-related identity theft, money laundering, public corruption, cybercrime, and terrorist financing. That’s according to…
Did you e-file a tax return before February 18, 2017
If you E-filed your Tax Return prior to February 18, 2017, Please take part in this Poll. We are trying to determine how many people have still not received a tax refund or direct deposit…
Tax Refund Offsets
Your tax return may show that you’re due a refund from the IRS. However, if you owe a federal tax debt from a prior tax year, or a debt to another federal agency, or certain…
Full List of IRS Tax Topics
Full List of IRS Tax Topics | Refund Talk IRS Tax Topics Directory Browse the full list of IRS “Tax Topics” by number and title. Each topic in this directory links directly to the official…
Please Participate if You Filed Taxes Before Feb. 5
So I woke up this morning and my inbox is full of people that did not get their money in last night’s updates. We are not IRS officials so Please don’t YELL at us. We…
Avoid the Rush; Use IRS.gov for Quick Answers to Questions
The Internal Revenue Service today reminded taxpayers that the next couple of weeks, especially around Presidents’ Day, marks the busiest time of year for IRS toll-free phone services. Taxpayers can avoid the rush by getting…
What does it mean to have your tax refund offset?
Understanding Why the IRS Takes Refunds and Where Your Money Goes If you were expecting a tax refund and suddenly received less money than expected—or no refund at all—you may have had your tax refund…
Top Facts Filers Should Know for Opening Day
Opening Day for the IRS is Today January 27, 2020. The Internal Revenue Service has set the opening day for the 2020 tax filing season for Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. That’s the day the IRS…
Can You Claim a Baby Who Was Just Born on Your Taxes?
Understanding Dependent Rules for Newborns and Refundable Credits If your baby was born during the current tax year, you may be able to claim your child as a dependent on your tax return, even if…
If the IRS rejects your tax return, these codes will explain what went wrong
Understanding IRS Reject Codes, E-File Errors, and What to Do Next A rejected tax return can feel alarming, but rejection does not mean you are under audit or that the IRS has denied your refund.…
Identity Theft and Refund Fraud Overview
Understanding the Problem and What the IRS Is Doing About It Identity theft and refund fraud continue to be among the fastest-growing threats facing taxpayers every filing season. Criminals use stolen Social Security numbers, W-2…