You may be surprised at how many people wait until close to the tax deadline to finish and file their taxes. This may have nothing to do with pure procrastination and everything to do with feeling overwhelmed about the process.
Many people may be focused on the prospect of dealing with penalties for improper filing, but following the good advice from TurboTax can eliminate these types of fears.
File Electronically
Electronic filing is safe and straightforward with TurboTax, and your return will be received much faster than if you mail a paper income tax return. The Internal Revenue Service will inform you within 48 hours whether or not your income tax submission has been accepted.
No Income Tax! (Photo credit: sjrankin)
You can receive a tax refund by a traditional paper check, but selecting direct deposit is quicker and safer as well. Electronic filing and direct deposit eliminates the potential for lost documents, lost checks, and longer waiting due to document delivery time. TurboTax even has free Federal tax filing options for qualifying income tax filers.
File Now, Pay Later
You should file your taxes as soon as possible even if you end up owing the government. The IRS will let you submit your income taxes and set up a payment for a later date, and you may set up an automatic withdrawal. You can pay through your bank account, debit card, or credit card without penalty as long as you make your payment by the April 15th deadline.
Americans might be willing to wait longer for their tax refunds (60% responded) and would like to see stronger requirements for tax preparers to help reduce tax fraud. H&R Block ran a survey of tax payers this year related to tax fraud and ways to reduce it. 70% of those responding to the survey wouldn’t mind answering additional questions on their returns if it would help out. Here’s what they found about Eliminating Tax Fraud.
H&R Block Business Center (Photo credit: EVRT Studio)
An H&R Block executive explained that tax preparers do not have any requirements or licensing in 48 or the 50 states. He made comparisons to hair barbers who need to be licensed everywhere. But he doesn’t stand with the courts which decided against making tax professionals get training and pass tests before they could work in the field.
Those against preparer requirements of testing and training think the certification should be optional so that it benefits young tax preparers without placing a new burden on seasoned professionals that are already trusted in the community. The lawyers fighting the IRS in court also argued that certification would benefit the big players in the field that could absorb the costs while putting smaller operators out of business. Return to our site for additional information on Eliminating Tax Fraud.
Get Your Refund Early by Filing Your Returns Early: E-filing with TurboTax 2014 to Start on Jan. 2
Now that the IRS has set January 31, 2014 as the commencement date for processing tax returns, taxpayers are urged to start filing early. You can now get free TurboTax 2014 version from www.turbotax.com and start filing your returns from the 2nd day of January, 2014. The sooner you file your taxes, the sooner you will get your tax refund.
Tax Refund Ballerz (Photo credit: bornazombie)
The average American taxpayer claims around 3,000 dollars in tax refunds. Furthermore, 8 in every 10 taxpayers in the country claim a refund every tax season. Intuit is encouraging taxpayers to start filing their returns at the soonest possible time to avoid delays in processing their tax refund.
Since TurboTax will start accepting e-files earlier than the IRS, the company will hold the information safely and forward them to the revenue service in a first-in, first out basis. This will go a long way in ensuring that taxpayer’s refunds are processed and sent back without delays, and it is important to note that the IRS does not anticipate any delays in doing this. The agency expects to perform as it did in the 2013 tax season; where 90 percent of all refunds were made in less than 21 days.
You never know when problems can occur, and this year people have experienced their fair share of unexpected problems. This summer alone people across the country are dealing with blazing wildfires, destructive storms with dangerous winds, and other natural disasters. Some people are lucky and come out of the damage relatively unscathed, but others aren’t as fortunate. Some people have had significant damage done to their property, and they’re trying to find a way to rebuild. There are also some people that aren’t dealing with disasters caused by nature, they’re dealing with problems caused by other people. Theft of expensive objects, damage done by vandals, blackmail, and other problems happen to people every day.
Internal Revenue Service (Photo credit: LendingMemo)
Many people don’t know what to do when disaster occurs. People with insurance may be able to get some help from their policy, but some policies don’t have enough coverage to completely compensate the policy holder for their loss. Luckily for tax paying American citizens, Uncle Sam has measures in place to help people in their hour of need. Financial losses incurred because of casualty, disaster, and theft losses may be tax-deductible. Tax payers can report casualty and theft can be reported on Form 4684 and Form 1040 Schedule A.
Casualty Losses
A casualty is defined as the loss, significant damage, or destruction of property because of a sudden event. In order to claim property as a casualty cost, the event that caused it must be easily identifiable and unexpected. Natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, storms, and wildfires fit the criteria, but Mother Nature doesn’t have to be the only cause of your loss. Losses due to car accidents, terrorist attacks, and vandalism can all be claimed as a casualty loss.
Theft Losses
The IRS’ definition of theft isn’t too different from what law enforcement officials view as theft of property. The IRS defines theft as “the taking and removing of money or property with the intent to deprive the owner of it. The taking of property must be illegal under the law of the state where it occurred and it must have been done with criminal intent.” According to the IRS embezzlement, robbery, blackmail, burglary, extortion, larceny, and even kidnapping for ransom all full under the umbrella of theft losses.
Losses You Can’t Claim
The government offers IRS tax help to taxpayers that have experienced hardship, but there are some situations where you won’t be able to claim the property and finances you lost over the year. Property that was misplaced cannot be claimed as a loss, nor can property that was accidentally broken. Tax payers may also not claim any property that has gone through progressive deterioration. In order to be tax-deductible the damage must be cause by a sudden and unexpected event. As an example, if your home was significantly damaged in a storm you would be able to claim that. If your home was damaged because of termite infestation or mold over a period of time, you would not be allowed to claim that.
Legal research (Photo credit: gwilmore (I HATE THE NEW LAYOUT!))
Between January 1 and the end of the first month of the year, most people will find themselves with a variety of tax forms showing up in the mail. From W-2s to financial aid documents for school, just keeping track of all of the information can be a difficult task in and of itself. It isn’t difficult to understand why people often put off filing their taxes until the very last minute, but the job does not have to be as frustrating as most of us let it become. In fact, a lot of people would probably be pleasantly surprised to find out just how easy and convenient filing taxes can be if they follow a few simple guidelines.
Tips For Filing Taxes
Filing taxes isn’t a fun time for many people. Accountants and people who love numbers might have fun with it at first, but even they get bored with it after awhile. It can be hard to stay focused and file your taxes correctly if you aren’t sure of what you are doing. No one wants to pay someone a fortune to help them with their tax paperwork, either, so it can be hard to figure out where to go. Here are some helpful tips that can get you through this tax season and help you into next season, as well.
-Make sure that you pay all of your back taxes or anything that you owe. It might seem like you can just wait until the money comes around again, but the more returns you file with an outstanding balance, the higher your penalties and interest will go.
-If you use online programs, check and double check them for yourself. If your taxes are too complicated to do manually, use two programs to ensure that they both arrive at the same refund or amount owed. It’s important to make sure that the forms are accurate.
-Don’t file online if you haven’t filed other years of taxes. Your return will get flagged in the system and the IRS actually won’t let you file it if you have outstanding returns. Just print it out, mail it in, and wait.
-Use free file programs when you can. Choose companies that are reputable and that actually have free e-filing. They shouldn’t come up with hidden charges or wait until the end to tell you that it’s only free if you do this or that. Just find what’s free. That’s it.
-If you need tax help, ask now instead of later. Getting ahead of the game can make it easier for you to get back on track. Ask for the help that you need with filing so that you can get your taxes in order and get more out of your returns. There’s no shame in asking for help.
Importance Of Taxes
Make sure that you put these tips to work for filing your taxes this year, no matter what you are dealing with. It’s important to stay on top of things and get the help that you need out of your tax services, no matter what you have in mind. Use the resources that are available because they make taxes much less intimidating and can be helpful in keeping you on track. That’s the least that you deserve when it comes to your taxes, no matter what your situation might be.
The Community Manager of www.MyReviewsNow.net website, Stephanie Frasco, wrote this post about filing taxes.
What do you do when there is an invalid charged-off debt?
It’s nothing new to hear or see a dispute between the tax payers and the IRS. Of course, there are quite a few reasons behind the disputes, but most commonly these disputes involve examination and/or collection issues and also the different interpretations of tax law. The IRS reporting a charged-off account on the credit report also proves to be a great hassle for more reasons than one. Now, if you happen to be one of those whose credit report shows charged-off tax accounts and that too having been reported by the IRS, then it’s definitely worth disputing. In fact, if you sit on it without taking heed, then this’ll definitely have a negative impact on your credit rating and that can be far worse than not having accrued debt, yet souring your credit.
What’s a charge-off debt actually?
Before you get into surmises about what exactly charged-off debt is all about, it’s important for you to understand the concept behind a charged-off debt in the first place. A charge-off debt actually happens to be that debt which has been determined uncollectible by the original creditor and that’s usually done after the debtor is seriously delinquent. Now, it’s only after 6 months that charge-offs are known to occur. Moreover, creditors still have the right to collect on the charge-offs because the debt still remains valid. Charge-offs are also known to appear on your credit report at least for 7 years since the debt appears.
Hence, it’s obvious that you’d like to validate your debts before coming to any conclusion about whether or not you should dispute the charge-offs. Debt validation is necessary like you do when going for the programs aimed to solve your financial problems. In this case too, debt validation programs serve the purpose of telling you for sure whether or not you can dispute the charged-off account with the IRS.
How’ll you dispute a charged-off debt with the IRS?
As a taxpayer who’s looking to dispute a charged-off debt, it’s rather important that you evaluate all possible options before taking any conclusive steps. Have a look at the steps discussed below and you should know how you can dispute a charged-off debt with the IRS.
Write out a formal protest: The very first thing you should do is write out a formal protest and request a review with the IRS Appeals Office. If an issue arises, then the IRS is bound to issue a Notice of Proposed Adjustment (NOPA), Form 5701 which details the position of the IRS regarding particular financial matters. You might as well reply to this by citing tax laws and other substantial evidences to support your position.
Review alternative dispute methods: You should also try and review alternative dispute methods that might be available. Generally there are 4 alternate dispute resolution tools available at the IRS Appeals Office – early referral to appeals, fast track settlement, post appeals mediation and delegation orders. You can request the tax office for early referral to the Appeals Office.
Look for the best method: It’s always advisable that you peruse for the best method when it comes to your particular case of disputing charged-off accounts. Advisably since it’s a dispute, hence you might as well take the assistance of a tax professional. The ultimate option of course remains litigation in a tax court or federal district court.
Keep in mind the above instances and steps when looking to dispute your charged-off debts with the IRS for unless you’re sure about what you’re doing, things can get even messier ultimately. Take heed now and conclude things smoothly.
