Internal Revenue Service

The Government Can Take Your Tax Refund

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Take Your Tax Refund
Take Your Tax Refund
stevepb / Pixabay

Taxpayers are filing their taxes early this year to avoid having an identity thief file their return before they do. But what is surprising some is that the government keeps their tax refund and uses it to pay down their student loan debt when they are in default. Called the Treasury Offset Program, the Department of Education is able to take Social Security payments and tax refunds and apply them to outstanding debt that you have not been paying.

Experts in the field say the Department of Education is required to notify you ahead of time if they intend to apply this offset program to your funds. Within this notification are rules and what you can do to avoid this happening to your tax refund at tax time.

You can request a hearing if your loan was not in default when the funds were taken and … Read the rest about Filing Taxes

Health Insurance And Your Taxes

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Health Insurance And Your Taxes

Tax filing season will be here before you know it, and there is a big change on the tax forms that almost 50 percent of Americans aren’t aware of. Tax filers will be required to verify that they have health insurance when they file their 2014 taxes, or face a penalty.

An Intuit TurboTax survey carried out by Harris Poll among over 2,000 people aged 18 or over found that around 48 percent of Americans are still unaware of this new Obamacare rule.

Health Insurance and 2014 Taxes
Tumisu / Pixabay Health Insurance And Your Taxes

The deadline to avoid having to pay a penalty for the 2014 tax season has already been and gone, although 87 percent don’t actually realize that. However, about 62 percent of Americans without health insurance do realize that they will have to pay some sort of penalty for not having current and valid health insurance.

Sacha Adam, the TurboTax… Read the rest about Filing Taxes

New Baby Tax Filing Tips

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The first thing to consider when filing your taxes with a new baby is your tax status. If you were single before and now support the household, you should file Head of Household instead. The tax brackets are better and the standard deduction is increased for this tax filing status. Here are some additional tax filing tips:

An old Social Security card with the "not... Tax Filing Tips
An old Social Security card with the “not for identification” message (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Tax Filing Tips

Consider informing your rich relative about the gift tax if they are thinking about gifting you over $14,000 for your new born. Normal gifts are not taxable, which is the good news.

Any uncovered medical expenses can be deducted once a 10% floor is applied to the deduction amount based on your adjusted gross income (AGI). To claim your medical expenses, use the long form 1040 and file a Schedule A Itemized Deductions form.

Claiming your … Read the rest about Filing Taxes

Get Caught Up On Your Expat Taxes

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Did you know that there are over 7.6 million American people living or working overseas? Half of these people are only filing their US tax returns, despite still being citizens. It is clear that many expats do not realize that they still have an obligation to the US Federal Tax. This means that they are in fact targets for the IRS. Luckily, there are ways to get rid of this worry and move on.

The Streamlined Filing Procedures

This is probably the best way to deal with filing taxes if a person was not aware of them. This is a great program that was designed to be able to fix tax problems without seeming like you were hiding amounts of money, or knowingly evading taxes. Most people fall into this category if they live overseas. This means that they have to only provide the last 3 years of … Read the rest about Filing Taxes

Should you give back to your school?

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Graduating from college is a wonderful achievement, and you may have spent an appreciable amount of money to make it happen.

Ironically, graduation may tie you to your school even more, and the interaction may last for years to come.

Money Concerns of College Alumni

College is beneficial for the student and the school. The learning institution provides opportunities for your future success, and your successful endeavors after graduation serve as a testament to the school.

Newsflash: Your success is gauged by your income!

Your healthy income is a tangible way for your college to verify their skill in preparing students for their future success.

Many graduates give back to their schools when filing taxes or as part of other financial activities. Reputable publications such as U.S. News and World Report use the percentage of alumni who donate as an important ranking factor, and this is why many colleges begin … Read the rest about Filing Taxes

Maintain Security When Filing Taxes Electronically

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How to maintain security when filing taxes electronically

Millions of U.S. taxpayers have used electronic software applications like TuboTax.com to e-file their taxes, many doing so from the home desktops. Roughly six percent more consumers are using this method of submitting tax forms, than the numbers who did so in 2012.

Though e-filing is convenient and easy, it can create a risk to the taxpayer, with the filing of fraudulent tax forms and and identity theft. These undetected thieves were able to get away with over three and a half billion dollars in 2011, according to the Inspector General.

The following tips for protecting your information and identity are offered by experts in internet security

Don’t assume all emails genuinely originated from the Internal Revenue Service!

One method of committing fraud is to send an email to the taxpayer, pretending to be the IRS. This form of gaining access, … Read the rest about Filing Taxes

Turbo Tax Released to Solve Your Tax Return Troubles

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TurboTax 2014 will enable you to get a tax refund that will make you a richer man. It is of significant advantage to you, because it has the capability to find loopholes in the contemporary tax code.

Additionally, TurboTax can also track any changes in the tax code for you only, over several years.

The tax return software guides you through any bureaucratic obstacles in the process of filing the relevant forms. It takes you systematically through each step, while offering you value for your tax return.

This software comes with an instruction manual, that originates straight from the IRS. The process is very straightforward and simple to follow, with no stone left unturned. In regards to the filing taxes, these tax programmers are more advanced that most laymen.

Most persons procrastinate when it comes to the filing of their taxes, but TurboTax ensures that you get the … Read the rest about Filing Taxes