The Internal Revenue Service says it has made progress this summer in reducing its COVID-created paperwork backlog. In fact, it has caught up on last year's stacked up filings that didn't have issues. "The IRS is opening mail within normal timeframes and all paper and electronic individual returns received prior to January 2022 have been processed if the return had no errors or did not require further review," according to an update today, Sept. 2, on the agency's webpage that tracks its operations during the pandemic. Making progress on 2022, too: As for returns filed this year, the IRS says... Read more →
Refund
Taxes and COVID-19 have been inextricably linked since the coronavirus reached the United States in 2020. Several federal relief packages were enacted, with the Internal Revenue Service given the task of distributing the payments. The agency had mixed success with this added responsibility. Then there was the backlog of filings that resulted from COVID-related IRS office closures. This was, by all accounts, an unmitigated disaster. The agency is still digging out of its coronavirus paperwork accumulation, and taxpayers are still dealing with problems created when automatic nonpayment penalty notices were issued. Now the IRS is trying to make that somewhat... Read more →
Slow and steady is finally paying off for the Internal Revenue Service and taxpayers who've been waiting for their returns to be processed and associated refunds issued. The IRS announced today (June 21) that by the end of this week, it should be finished with original 1040 forms filed in 2021. That will take care of the remaining 8 million tax returns that were filed last year, but which had stacked up behind earlier COVID created office closure protocols. More importantly to individual taxpayers awaiting refunds, that long-awaited money should soon be in their hands. At it will include some... Read more →
The Internal Revenue Service says that it is "opening mail within normal timeframes and all paper and electronic individual refund returns received prior to April 2021 have been processed if the return had no errors or did not require further review." That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that as of May 14, the IRS also reports on its mission-critical web page that "we had 9.8 million unprocessed individual returns which include returns received before 2022." But the agency also has a bit more good news if you're still waiting on a refund based on your tax year 2021... Read more →
Photo by Karolina Grabowska Interest payments are a part of almost every person's life. If you carry a credit card balance, you pay interest on it. If you have a mortgage, interest is probably the largest (but, for now, still tax-deductible) part of your monthly payment. And if you don't pay all the federal tax you owe on time, interest adds to you total U.S. Treasury bill. But with taxes, the reverse also is true. When the Internal Revenue Service is slow in getting your overpayment processed, your refund will include interest payments to you. And right now, due to... Read more →
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels It's been a week since Tax Day 2022. Those who submitted tax returns have been enjoying being done with the Internal Revenue Service for another year. But maybe it's time to give Uncle Sam's tax collector a little more thought. Here are 5 tax matters to consider so that you can completely clear your 2021 tax year decks. 1. Review your payroll withholding: The IRS reminds us every year that most taxpayers get refunds. That's because a lot of filers plan it that way. They overwithhold taxes from their paychecks as a forced savings account.... Read more →
Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels Millions of taxpayers and buckling down to complete their 2021 tax returns by April 18. Some, however, might want to also mark April 9 on their calendars. It's the third Saturday in this filing season where certain Internal Revenue Service Taxpayer Assistance Centers will be open. That day, 40 IRS TACs in 24 states, as well as offices in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, will be open for in-person guidance. Normally, TACs are only open by appointment on weekdays. But on Saturday, April 9, taxpayers don't have to make an appointment. TAC... Read more →
Don't be an April Fool, or gullible person who's an easily caught fish when it comes to fakes floating around today. And never get caught in a tax myth net, on April 1 or any day. How's your April Fools' Day going? I hope you haven't been tricked into believing some outrageous claims. There even are a few April 1 tax pranks out there on social media. Don't fall for them. If you read or hear something tax-related that sounds a bit sketchy, take the time to check it out with reputable tax sources. To help in this area, here... Read more →
It's that time of filing season again. The Internal Revenue Service is reminding millions of people that they've left collective billions of dollars unrefunded. Yep, for a variety of reasons, every year people who are due tax refunds don't file the necessary tax paperwork to get their money. The U.S. Treasury holds on to it, but just for three years. If the due tax refunds aren't claimed within that time frame, Uncle Sam gets to keep the money. Forever. That means the claiming clock is ticking down for an estimated 1.5 million individuals who didn't file 2018 tax year returns... Read more →
One of the big selling points of taking your taxes electronic is that the Internal Revenue Service's turnaround is quicker. The tax agency has long touted that when taxpayers e-file and have their refunds direct deposited, the tax cash usually shows up within 21 days. Usually. The only thing certain about taxes is that they'll find a way to frustrate you. That's the case when e-filed refunds take longer. Here are six reasons, from the IRS and tax community, as to why your refund may be delayed. 1. Math errors: Yes, taxes are complicated. That's why most of us use... Read more →
Tax Day 2022 is a month away. That means lot of us are finally getting serious about filling out our 2021 tax returns. A lot of us also are making a disturbing discovery. Our refunds aren't as big as we expected. Even worse, in some cases we owe tax. There are several reasons your refund could be smaller or you must send Uncle Sam a check. You can check them out in my previous post, 5 reasons your tax refund this year might be smaller. But here's a preview of one of the reasons. You didn't have enough withheld. Or,... Read more →
Photo by Kevin Bidwell from Pexels Need in-person help with a tax issue? Then mark your calendar for Saturday, March 12. That day, 36 Internal Revenue Service Taxpayer Assistance Centers in 24 states and the District of Columbia will be open for in-person guidance. You don't have to make an appointment. TAC staff will welcome walk-in taxpayers between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on March 12. Not for filling out 1040s: Before you head out, though, note that the Saturday session is not to help taxpayers fill out their tax returns. Rather, IRS agents will help with such matters as... Read more →
The 2022 tax filing season is off to a strong start. In its first two weeks, from Jan. 24 to Feb. 4, the Internal Revenue Service received almost 16.7 million returns, and processed almost 13 million of them. The most important statistic for these millions of early filers is the refund numbers. Drum roll, please. So far, the IRS distributed more than 4.3 million refunds. The average refund very early this tax season is $2,201. That's the early average. Yours might be more. Or it might be less. In fact, many folks this filing season might find their refunds are... Read more →
Every payer of $10 or more in interest earnings, even the Internal Revenue Service, should issue recipients a Form 1099-INT. Some taxpayers who had to wait extra long last year for their 2020 tax year refunds got a bit more than they expected. Where it took the Internal Revenue Service more than 45 days from the return's due date — which was May 17, 2021 — to issue the refund, the agency had to add interest to the amount it eventually delivered. This filing season, however, the IRS is looking to get some of those interest payments back. The agency... Read more →
UPDATE, March 6, 2022: The IRS has announced the TACs that will be open on March 12. The link to the post with that information is in the "Special in-person Saturday hours" section below. As the April and May TAC Saturdays near, I'll add those follow-up post links there, too. The Internal Revenue Service is starting to emerge from the crush of COVID-19. No, it hasn't caught up with the pandemic-produced paperwork backlog. Sorry. However, the tax agency is resuming some face-to-face public outreach that was common in the before times. The IRS is opening some Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs)... Read more →
Today is EITC Awareness Day! OK, Jan. 28 isn't an official holiday to celebrate the Earned Income Tax Credit, usually referred to (at least in the tax world) by its acronym EITC. But it is an annual event promoted by the Internal Revenue Service. Every year in late January, the tax agency focuses on getting the word out about the EITC. The reason is simple. Millions of individuals regularly overlook the EITC and surrendering thousands of dollars they could use. The EITC itself, however, is not so easy to claim. That's why a lot of folks ignore it. The IRS... Read more →
Princess Bride impatience via Giphy.com The tax filing season just opened yesterday, Monday, Jan. 24. But lots of folks have already filed the 2021 taxes, most of them because they are expecting refunds. And they're already wondering when those refunds will arrive. It's a valid question, especially since millions of taxpayers are still awaiting refunds from their 2020 returns. The Internal Revenue Service said that as of as of Dec. 4, 2021, it still had nearly 7 million unprocessed individual returns from the 2020 tax year. What does that mean to this year's filing? The IRS says it will work... Read more →
If the IRS letter about your third COVID economic impact payment or advance Child Tax Credit has the wrong amount, the agency says to file anyway, using your "best information." (Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels) Did the letter you got from the Internal Revenue Service about last year's economic impact payment (EIP) or advance Child Tax Credit money have your amount(s) wrong? The Internal Revenue Service says don't let that dissuade you from filing your 2021 tax return. In fact, IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig, during a conference call with reporters to discuss today's start of the annual tax filing... Read more →
You checked out my post on who has to file a tax return (thank you!) and confirmed that you're one of the select lucky few who doesn't have to file a 1040. But you still might want to send the Internal Revenue Service a tax return. Here are 10 such should-file situations, starting with the ones that could get you a tax refund. 1. Too much tax was withheld. Most of us have income tax amounts taken from our regular paychecks. Other sources of income also sometimes take some tax amounts off the top. When too much is withheld, you're... Read more →
Photo by Kay Bell The 2022 filing season is already underway for many taxpayers even though the Internal Revenue Service won't start processing their returns until Jan. 24. But these early bird filers are on to something. Here are eight reasons you might want to consider completing your Form 1040 soon. 1. To get the rest of your Child Tax Credit. Around 36 million families last year got an early tax benefit. The IRS delivered half of their 2021 tax year Child Tax Credit (CTC) in advance as monthly payments from last July through December. The maximum advance amounts were... Read more →