Avoid IRS telephone hold time by going online

Valentine's Day, when thoughts turn to love and taxes

Make sure you got your 1099-K forms, and that they are correct

Avoid IRS telephone hold time by going online

Friday, February 14, 2025

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This weekend is bookended by holidays. Today’s Valentine’s Day gift and card exchanges and Presidents Day sales on Monday, Feb. 17.

It also marks the peak phone traffic at the Internal Revenue Service, with taxpayers taking advantage of a day off, and finally having their tax statements in hand, to work on their returns.

For many callers, however, it also means time on telephone hold.

Avoid bad tax-hold tunes: Instead of listening to music that’s not really your taste, the IRS suggests taxpayers with questions this weekend — and beyond — look online for the answers.

Among the IRS.gov options are —

Interactive Tax Assistant (ITA): This online tool provides answers to several tax questions specific to individual circumstances. Based on input, ITA determines a person’s filing status, whether they should file a tax return, if someone is an eligible dependent, if a type of income is taxable, if a filer is eligible to claim a credit, if an expense is deductible, and more.
Let us help you: This page has dropdown menus for a variety of tax taxes, including filing your return, checking on your refund’s status, how to make a tax payment, and topics of interest to business filers.
Self-service tax tools: Some of the same topics covered on the help you page are found among these tools. You’ll also find links to other IRS sites for individual taxpayers, including taxpayer accounts, payment agreements, some tax credits, how to find a Taxpayer Assistance Center, and a couple of popular tax calculators. And the tax tools aren’t just for individual filers; there are sections for business taxpayers and tax professionals.

Other tax help options: The IRS also notes the other tax help possibilities available to taxpayers.

The IRS offers free online and in-person tax preparation options for eligible taxpayers through IRS Free File, IRS Direct File and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counseling for the Elderly programs.

Free File this year offers eight tax software providers whose products can be used by filers who earned $84,000 or less in 2024. If you used Free File last year, use the guided software page to find that program’s current version, or browse all the 2025 filing season offerings.

If you made too much to use the software, check out Free File’s Fillable Forms. The electronic, downloadable forms also are available at no cost to any filer, regardless of income level. There’s no step-by-step guidance, but if you’re comfortable following the forms’ instructions and filling them out yourself, you then can electronically file them, again for free.

Direct File, the IRS’ own online tax preparation and e-filing software program, is now open in 25 participating states. Direct File also is free, and available in English and Spanish. It works on mobile phones, laptops, tablets, or desktop computers. If you’re a Direct File user in a state that has an income tax, the program will guide you to your state’s tools to complete that tax filing.

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) offer free tax return preparation to eligible taxpayers at community locations nationwide. IRS-certified volunteers provide in-person assistance. VITA services are available to people who generally make $67,000 or less, persons with disabilities, and limited English-speaking taxpayers. TCE volunteers provide free tax help to those age 60 and older, specializing in questions about pensions and retirement-related issues unique to seniors.

MilTax is a Department of Defense program that generally offers free return preparation and electronic filing software for all military members and some veterans, with no income limit. MilTax services cover federal income tax returns, and up to three state income tax returns for eligible service personnel.

You also might find these items of interest:

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Today's Tax Tip

10 too-often overlooked tax breaks — Some filers leave tax savings on the table by missing out on tax breaks. Don’t be one of them. Here are 10 tax deductions and credits, including some that don't require itemizing, that many taxpayers overlook every filing season. (March 12, 2025)
The 2025 Tax Tips offer ways to file your annual return, along with post-filing advice, important tax news and, of course, ways to cut your current tax year bill. You'll find the monthly assemblages on their own respective pages: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December. Remember, tax tasks and tips don't stop after you file your annual return!

All About Kay

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Kay Bell — Native Texan
(the blog title totally makes sense now, right?). Professional journalist. Tax geek.
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Tax Year 2025 Countdown

Happy New Tax Year! Are you ready to file your 2024 tax return? I know, too early to ask. But Tax Day 2025 will be here before we realize it. The Internal Revenue Service deadline to file and pay any tax we owe is the regular April 15 date this year. It’s also Tax Day for most of the states that collect income taxes from their residents, which is most of the states! If that seems too far away right now, don’t worry. As is the case every tax season, the ol' blog’s monthly tips and reminders a little farther down this column should help all of us meet our state and federal responsibilities. Procrastinators also will want to keep an eye on the countdown clock just below. It tracks how much time we have until April's Tax Day, just in case we put off our annual tax task until the absolutely final hours and decide we need to instead get an extension request into the Internal Revenue Service by that date.
Note: I'm in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.

Time for Tax Tasks

☘️ ⏰ 🦁

Marching toward
Tax Day

🐑 ⏰ ☘️

March's arrival means that Tax Day is just six weeks away. And we also lose an hour of tax prep to Daylight Saving Time! So let's not waste any more precious time and, ahem, march right into the March tax tasks.

via GIPHY
March 1: March is the last full month of the tax-filing season, so that's a good reason to come at our taxes in the month's proverbial "in like a lion" mode. The first thing to attack like the feline king is the gathering of all the tax statements you'll need to fill out your 2024 return. This includes the paper ones that you stuck in a drawer when they arrived last month. Find them now, as well as download those that are delivered that way.

March 5: Official tax statements aren't the only things you'll need to help you file. Other documents have information that's relevant to your tax return. So are the answers to some basic life questions. This tax checklist can help guide you as you work on your return. And don't forget about your previous tax return. That prior tax year filing is a good template, especially if your tax life hasn't changed that much.

March 9: How are you feeling today? If you're like me, a bit tired after losing an hour of sleep earlier this morning when we shifted to Daylight Saving Time.

I know you have plenty of fun things to spend the added late-day natural daylight on, but you might want to also work on your tax returns. Yes, plural. In addition to federal returns, most Americans live in states, or the District of Columbia, that also collect personal income tax. The good news is that tax software usually includes state filing, too. If you need to file state taxes separately, most states offer free online state tax filing options.

March 10: If your job is as a server at a restaurant or at any other establishment where gratuities from customers are part of your compensation, I hope you get all the tips you deserve for doing your job well. Remember, though, that those tips are taxable income.

Whether you're dining at your favorite eatery or getting food, groceries and/or prepared meals, delivered to your home, if a tip isn't included on your restaurant or delivery bill, click the image above to calculate how much to tip the person who brought it to you.

And if you got at least $20 in gratuities in February for your extraordinary services as a food server or hair stylist or parking valet or whatever job where tipping is common, you must report that amount by today. Use Form 4070 to let your employer know the total tips you took in last month.

March 17: Erin Go Bragh and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

via GIPHY
Enjoy this day, but don't trust lucky charms to get you through tax filing season. Double check your 1040 to ensure you haven't overlooked any tax breaks or made any common filing mistakes.

March 20: Spring has sprung!

That means it's time for spring cleaning. Your gifts won't help with your current tax return, but they could pay off next year as charitable donation deductions if you itemize.

March 25: If you have a tax-deferred retirement account, such as a traditional IRA or workplace regular 401(k), and are a septuagenarian, you could be facing a required minimum distribution (RMD) due date in just more than a week. If you turned 73 last year and didn't take your initial RMD by Dec. 31, you must do so by April 1. Note that your RMD deferment last year means you'll face another RMD at the end of this year, so start planning now on how you're going to deal with the 2025 taxes on two mandatory withdrawal amounts.

March 31: This is it. March is over, which for taxes means you best shed your out like a lamb attitude and get to work on your Form 1040. The IRS recommends we file electronically, which will speed up processing of returns and issuance of any refunds. And millions of taxpayers can do their taxes and e-file for free.

First, there’s the IRS-Free File Alliance partnership, which again offers no-cost online tax preparation and electronic filing to taxpayers whose adjusted gross income (AGI) is $84,000 or less, regardless of filing status at the official IRS.gov Free File website. The same eight software companies that participated last year are back for the 2025 filing season.

If your income is too high, you still can file for free by using Free File's Fillable Forms option.
You also might want to check out IRS Direct File, the IRS’ own free online tax prep and e-filing program if you live in one of the 25 states where the free online tax preparation and e-filing is offered. In addition, Direct File offers more options that apply to more taxpayers’ situations this year.

Small Business Tax Calendar: Important filing, deposit and record keeping dates throughout the year that your company needs to know. The IRS is updating the online version. Until that link is operational, you can get the full year's important business and individual tax dates in IRS Pub. 509.

State Tax Help

Don't forget your state taxes!
Forty-two states and D.C. collect personal income taxes. But even if you live in of the eight states without any income levy, you still face other state (and local) taxes.

State Tax Departments provides links to your state's Web page. The companion page, Tax Tidbits, is the compilation of blurbs about each state's tax laws. And for more state tax news, check out all our state tax bloggings.

Tax Forms

Thanks to our increased use of tax preparers and computer software, many of us don't see our tax forms until we sign and file them. But knowing what's on these documents, either in paper or digital form, and why the IRS wants it is key to understanding our tax system. And knowledge definitely is power, especially when it comes to tax savings. Find this valuable information in the ol' blog's special Tax Forms 2025 page.

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I am a professional journalist who has been covering tax issues since 1999. I am not a professional tax preparer.

The content on Don't Mess With Taxes is my personal interpretation and opinion based on my study and understanding of tax laws, policies, and regulations. It is provided for your private, noncommercial, educational, and informational purposes only. While I work to ensure each post's accuracy, the items are not recommendations of any specific tax action(s) you should or should not take. Similarly, mentions of commercial tax products or services are not endorsements.

In other words, my ramblings on the ol' tax blog are free advice, and you know what they say about getting what you pay for. That's why when it is time for you to file your own taxes, I urge you to get additional, professional, paid-for guidance from an accountant, Enrolled Agent, or other reputable, qualified tax preparer who is familiar with your individual tax circumstances.

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COVID-19 & Taxes

Coronavirus has wreaked havoc
on the 2020 and 2021 tax seasons.
These five Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Taxes pages have details:
March-July 2020
August-December 2020
January-December 2021
January-December 2022
…and so it continues into 2023
…and, alas, into 2024
It is 2025 and, yes, it's still an issue
You can find medical coronavirus resource links in the next section.

COVID-19 Resources

Need help finding a coronavirus vaccine in the United States?
Call 1-800-232-0233
or TTY 1-888-720-7489.
More information and resources at:
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March 2025

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Tell it to the Hill

While it's easy to rail at the IRS, for the most part we can thank — or blame — Congress and the White House for our tax laws. So if you have an issue with tax legislation or want a tax bill passed, you need to let your federal legislators and the White House occupant know of your concerns. You can find out who in Washington, D.C., to contact (and how), as well as get information on your local lawmakers for matters, tax or otherwise, closer to home, at USA Gov.

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