May 19, 2013

Five Important, but Often Overlooked, Tax Deductions & Credits

When filing taxes, 99.9% of taxpayers closely pay attention to deductions lest they let an opportunity to ease their tax burden slip through their fingers. However, compared to tax credits, deductions are less attractive, since tax credits actually cut your tax liability. Deductions and credits or any other tax breaks available will go a long way in trimming your tax bill, but there are several tax breaks that are overlooked by most taxpayers when filing. Discussed below are the top four tax such credits and deductions:

1. Job Search Deductions: Job searching is a job in its own right and incurs expenses that range from transport to interview sites, résumé consultations, preparing your résumé and even mailing it to potential employers, long distance telephone calls, amongst other. The IRS accepts deductions of job search costs on Schedule A as miscellaneous expenses. Go ahead and search for that job claim a deduction, so long as it is in the same line of work as your former job.

2. Work-Related Relocation: Assuming that you have secured a job and have to relocate, go ahead and pack your up your things and move. Moving expenses are deductable and the beauty of it is that you actually don’t have to itemize to deduct. Just be sure that the move passes the IRS test before you deduct.

3. Charitable Donations: As some hunt for jobs, there are some taxpayers who had an amazing financial year, and earned more than enough or they just feel philanthropic and ready, to share the little or much they have earned with the less fortunate. Charitable donations, be it cash, a car, some items, etc., are deductable.

4. Aging Parents and Medical Expenses: Baby boomers have a lot of responsibilities, especially in ensuring that their aging parents are taken good care of. Sometimes, your parents can be claimed as a dependent resulting in some additional exemptions during filing. Your folks don’t necessarily have to qualify as your tax dependents, but if you spend money on medicine and healthcare, then you can write these expenses off your own Schedule A.

You might be losing lots of tax savings if you keep claiming the same tax breaks every year without researching on other tax breaks you might be eligible for. Just ensure that you are not missing out on valuable tax deductions and credits that could help you save an extra dollar. However, to avoid any IRS problems, understand the requirements of all deductions and credits before claiming them on your return.

Get Free IRS Tax Information by Connecting with the IRS on Social Media

Are you connected with Uncle Sam on social media? Well, some taxpayers are uncomfortable with the idea of following or liking the IRS’s Facebook and Twitter pages or even watching their YouTube videos. Some compare this to granting a stalker an express pass to your bedroom and uncover some personal secrets within the walls of your house. Are these fears justified? The answer is no; you really don’t have to shy away from being “social” with the IRS on social networking sites.

The IRS uses a number of technological solutions to enable taxpayers find access to significant tax information like changes in the tax code, new initiatives, services, and products. It has gone ahead and even developed very effective tax apps that have made acquisition of tax information a breeze.

IRS2Go: Most Americans own smart phones, some have more than one. As a result, there has been swelling demand for solution-driven apps that can simplify the otherwise complicated things in life. In the same spirit, the IRS designed the IRS2Go, a smartphone app that lets you get tax updates on the go, check your refund status with just a click and follow the IRS on Twitter. You can find the app in the Apple App store for use on iPhone or iPod device and GooglePlay store for use on Android devices.

YouTube Videos: The IRS posts short but very enlightening videos on its YouTube channel on an array of tax-related topics. Other than English, these videos are also available in Spanish and American Sign Language.

Twitter: Get tax-related announcements, news for tax pros, and job seekers’ updates by following the IRS on Twitter. The Twitter username is @IRSnews.

Facebook: You can also access tax-related information for individuals, tax pros and other tax issues by liking their Facebook pages. Furthermore, get some general tax information on these pages, but ensure that you don’t post personal details on social media.

Audios and Podcasts: The audio recordings are typically short on specific tax-related topics. They can be found on iTunes or Multimedia Center on the IRS website.

Widgets: These tools can be placed on blogs, websites or social networking sites to direct people to the IRS website.

CAUTION: The IRS mainly uses the discussed tools to better their service delivery. Therefore, you must not at any point, divulge personal data, like your Social Security Number, on social media. Personal tax or account-related questions cannot be answered on these platforms. Instead, channel them directly to the IRS officers or visit their website.

IRS Tax Deduction for Long Term Care Expenses

Long term medical care is any assistance given to an individual towards performing common daily activities for an extended amount of time due to health reasons. It includes activities that seek to prevent, diagnose, cure, improve, or maintain the health of an individual with chronic illness. The IRS defines chronic illness as any illness that requires substantial and consistent help to maintain the health of the individual. For an illness to qualify as a chronic illness, a licensed medical practitioner must have diagnosed in the past 12 months that the individual could not perform at least 2 of the basic functions of life, such as eating, use of toilet, bathing, and dressing without considerable help.
The IRS estimates that 70% of senior citizens will require long term medical care at some point in their lives. The IRS provides relief for long term medical care expenses in two ways – By allowing the deduction of qualifying long term medical expenses, and by providing relief for premiums paid towards long term medical care insurance.

Actual Costs
For long term medical care expenses to qualify for a tax deduction, the services must be provided through a care plan that is prescribed by a licensed practitioner. The cost will also qualify if it is generally required by an individual suffering from a given chronic disease.
The qualifying costs can only be deducted if the taxpayer opts for itemized deductions. The expenses must be in excess of 7.5% of the Adjusted Gross Income to qualify for deduction. The expenses are to be included in the Schedule A of the tax return form. Other rules that apply to itemized deductions will also apply to the long term medical care relief.

Long Term Care Insurance Premium
The IRS also provides tax relief for individuals who have a long term medical care insurance policy. However, there are various rules that apply to the qualification of the tax deductions. These rules include:
• The policy must have a guaranteed renewal.
• The policy should not include any cash surrender or allow the policy holder to borrow funds against a cash value from the insurance policy.
• Any refunds or dividends due to this policy should only be used towards reducing future premiums and should not be cashed or benefit the policyholder in any other way.
• The insurance policy should not reimburse any expenses that are covered under general medical care policies.
Besides qualifying under the above rules, the tax deduction also comes with a limit of the amount deductible. This limit is depended on the taxpayer’s age. The limits are as follows:

• $340 for those below 40 years of age
• $640 for those between 40 and 50 years
• $1,270 for those between 51 and 60 years
• $3,390 for those between 61 and 70 years of age
• $4,240 for those above the age of 70

Where to Get Help When Filling Tax Returns

The IRS helps taxpayers find solutions to their various tax problems, support could be online, a telephone conversation or a one on one discussion with the affected individual. The IRS also helps to locate free tax planning sites for those who are eligible. Listed below are four easy ways you can secure vital information to file your tax returns:

The IRS Website: This is an online source for all tax-related information. It is one of the worlds largest resource point for finding solutions to tax issues. On the IRS website, it is possible to file a Federal tax return free of charge. This service is provided by the IRS and its affiliates who make free tax preparation and free e-filling accessible to all. But anyone seeking to fill this form can only find it on the IRS website. If you also have an inquiry to make, you can make it online by accessing 1040 Central for the latest news page. Also you can monitor your refund with the “Where is My Refund?” application.

Taxpayers Assistance Center: this was created for people who find it difficult to resolve their tax issues online or over the telephone and they feel there is need to have a one on one chat with an IRS official at a community IRS Taxpayer Assistance center. Locations, opening hours, and a list of services offered can be viewed at the IRS website. Once you locate the individual tab, and follow the link that says Contact My Local Office in the left tool bar section under IRS resources.

Community Resources: Free tax help can be obtained from the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counselling for Elderly programs, available in many and different localities. This program is organized by the IRS and its collaborators, established to give free help in creating simple tax refunds for middle class to lower class income tax payers. For a list of VITA locations, you can visit the IRS or the AARP websites for more tax aide solutions.

4 Telephone Calls: Placing a phone call to the IRS is another means of airing out your problems and having your questions answered to clear your qualms. There are pre-recorded instructions on various tax issues or check on the status of your tax refund.

More information on how you can solve your tax problems can be accessed from the IRS website at any time.

IRS Help: What to do when contacted by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division

The IRS implements a meticulous system that seeks to identify all tax offenders. The IRS categorizes tax offenses in two categories. Negligence is when a taxpayer makes an error either by having erroneous figures or mathematical calculations in their tax returns or erroneously misses various entries while filing. Negligence is seen as not being willful in the discrepancies in figures and the IRS only seeks civil charges against those who are negligent. On the other hand, fraudulence involves outright cheating on your taxes. This is a willful act of defrauding the IRS to avoid paying due taxes. This includes crimes such as having two sets of accounting records for fraud purposes, forging receipts and other documentation, altering figures in various tax records, and not filing a tax return with no valid reason. For such crimes, the IRS pursues both civil and criminal charges.

According to an analysis by the IRS, 17% of taxpayers cheat on their tax returns. The main culprits are employment occupations, businesses that are cash intensive, and service industry workers. This includes bar waitresses, lawyers, doctors, construction workers, domestic workers, and way-side shops. However, the IRS prosecutes very few tax cheats. In a recent tax year, the IRS charged 2,472 taxpayers for criminal offenses, which accounted for only 0.002% of taxpayers. However, these statistics should never be an incentive to cheat on your taxes. The IRS is actively increasing its audits to track down and pursue both negligent and fraudulent taxpayers. 2010 statistics show that the IRS has increased audits in all taxpayer groups. Furthermore, when the ax falls your way, the consequences are really not worth the risks on lying on your returns.

Criminal investigations conducted by the IRS are handled by the IRS Investigations Department. The department has special agents who investigate various potential tax cheats and prosecute taxpayers once they have enough evidence to build a case. If you are ever contacted by one of these special agents, you should be aware that you are being investigated for criminal charges. Here is what to do if you find yourself in such a situation:

  • Ask for Identification – If you are approached by an individual or team of people claiming to be special agents from the IRS Investigations Department, you should ask them for a business card or identification. If the contact is on email or telephone, do not divulge any information whatsoever to them. There are many identity theft scams that are circulating and their aim is to steal your information for malicious use. Besides this, receiving a business card is good for future reference when contacting or referring to the IRS agent assigned to your case.
  • Do Not Answer Questions – After they identify themselves and give you a business card, ensure that you do not give any information about your taxes. The Fifth Amendment in the U.S. Constitution gives you a right to not bear witness against yourself in a criminal case. This means that the agents have no right to get you to talk in any way, concerning your taxes or any other matter that may incriminate you.
  • Beware of the Witness Trap – You should also be careful about the witness trap. The IRS Investigations Department special agents will usually tell you that they are not investigating you but rather, they want you to be a witness in a case. Once they gather enough evidence, they then seek criminal charges against you. Therefore, even if they tell you that they are not investigating you, do not give them any information.
  • Seek Legal Counsel – Next, you should consider seeking legal counsel to get help on how to handle the situation. Your attorney will advise you on what to do and he or she will represent you in criminal claims for your IRS problems.

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Stay out of IRS Trouble by Submitting your Payroll Taxes

The current economic recession has had a hard toll, especially on small businesses. Their access to financing and their ability to shoulder tough business seasons are much less than that of bigger businesses. For this reason, many small businesses are being tempted and choosing to skip the remittance of payroll taxes and instead using these funds to work at surviving in the struggling economy. However noble the reasons for defaulting on payroll taxes may be, the IRS is indeed, not happy with this trend. They are now aggressively seeking such businesses and implementing tough consequences for these defaulters. According to tax experts, payroll taxes may lack the urgency of remitting as compared to other business creditors as the IRS does not proactively seek to recover the funds. However, delaying or not submitting the payroll taxes has the potential of bringing your business to a halt. From freezing a business’s account receivables to placing a lien on the wages of staff responsible for remitting the payroll taxes, the IRS can literally cause havoc to your business. It is therefore, advisable to remain in the good books of Uncle Sam.

Report by Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration on Payroll Taxes

The extent of delayed and non remitted payroll taxes by many businesses was highlighted by a report on payroll tax compliance done by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) in early 2011. According to the report by this IRS watchdog organization, about $54 billion of payroll taxes are not remitted every year. This is a huge contributor to the tax gap. For this reason, the IRS has taken drastic measures to catch up with defaulters of payroll taxes.

New Approach Taken by the IRS

Following the report by TIGTA, the IRS has randomly picked some 6,600 employers and is auditing them for payroll tax compliance. The IRS states that this is a start and probably, it hopes that the audits will send a warning to any businesses that are still not complying with tax requirements. Some tax experts have seen this move by the IRS as being unfair and harsh, as it sidelines some employers to take the blame of many others who are not complying. Unfortunately, a non-compliant employer is already at fault and lacks any defense and therefore, the employers who are picked in the sample have no recourse for being selected.

Implications of Withheld and Unremitting Payroll Taxes

According to the tax code, the IRS has a right to hold the company responsible for non-remitted taxes. It also has a right to hold responsible the various individuals and entities who have control over the business accounts and who are responsible for remitting the taxes. This includes the accountants, book keepers, treasurers, and owners of the business. The IRS can even hold business creditors responsible for payroll taxes if they prevent the remittance of the taxes by taking control of the business accounts to recover their debts.

When the IRS catches up with a business that has not complied with payroll taxes, they will not only seek the payment of the due taxes, but will also levy the late payment charges that go as high as 25% of the payroll taxes due. The employer is also expected to pay any interests that would have accrued because of the delay in remittance. The amounts due can really sky rocket and can easily drive a business into economic hardship or even bankruptcy. It is therefore, best to pay your payroll taxes within the deadline and to seek compliance as soon as possible if you are already a defaulter to minimalize your IRS problems.

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IRS Payment Options if you are Unable to Pay Taxes Due

If you find yourself in a situation where you are unable to meet your due taxes before the tax deadline, do not despair. There are available options that you can take advantage of to ensure that you do not agitate Uncle Sam. Here is what to do if you find yourself in such a situation:

File a Tax Return

Ensure that you file a tax return, even if you are unable to pay off the due taxes immediately. There are worse consequences if you do not file the return. Not filing amounts to more tax troubles and may even surmount to criminal implications.

Consider Various Options for Paying your Due Taxes

Once you have filed your tax returns, you need to plan on how you will pay the taxes due. Depending on the amount of taxes that are owed, you may consider the following options for delayed payments:

  • Request for Short Delay – If you will have the funds to pay the taxes within 120 days, then you may call the toll-free IRS number and request for a short delay. The IRS customer service representatives handling such issues are permitted to make an interest and penalty free extension of up to 120 days if you provide a good reason for the delay.
  • Installment Agreement – If the amount you owe is below $25,000.00 and you are not able to pay it all in one lump-sum, you can apply for an installment agreement under the Online Payment Agreement service available on the IRS website. You can also call the toll-free IRS number to set up this installment agreement. The installment agreement is automatic for any taxpayer who owes below $25,000.00 and you can determine the installments to pay as long as you will repay within the required period. This installment agreement also has an extra advantage – you will not be requested to provide financial statements or any further paperwork. However, you will need to pay interest on the taxes due and late payment penalties. The interest rate for tax debt to the IRS is currently at 4% and is subject to change every three months. The late fee is currently 0.25% for Installment Agreements and 0.5% for tax debts outside IRS payment agreements.
  • Consider Borrowing – You can also consider taking a loan to clear your due taxes. However, you will need to compare the amount to pay if you took up a loan against making late payments through installments. Depending on your loan terms, you can check if the loan interest will amount to more than what the IRS will charge in interest and lateness fees. If the loan interest rate is less than that of the IRS’s deal, then it would be advisable to take the loan and pay off your taxes. However, if it is cheaper to take the IRS Installment Agreement, you should not be hesitant as there is no recourse to taking the agreement.
  • Prioritize Between State and Federal Taxes – If you owe both Federal taxes and State taxes, you should also do a comparison of the charges to be levied if you are late on either of the taxes. You can then pay off the taxes that bear more charges in interest and late fees and place an installment agreement with the tax authority with lower charges.
  • Seek Professional Help – If you owe over $25,000.00 or are still unsure about how to handle your tax dilemma, you may consider seeking help from a tax professional on what to do regarding which option to select.

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IRS Problems: Interim Letters Cause More Confusion as Opposed to Resolving Inquiries

The IRS internal rules require every inquiry letter sent to them by a taxpayer to be responded to within 30 days of its receipt. The rules also provide that should the department handling an inquiry be unable to provide a response within the set timelines, they should send an interim letter to the inquirer within the 30 day period to inform him or her that the inquiry is still being handled and to give the inquirer an update of the progress on the case. The intentions of this internal rule are noble. However, as was noted in an audit carried out by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), a group that reviews IRS problems, many of the interim letters are confusing to taxpayers and may not fulfill the intentions of this IRS internal rule.

The IRS has Many Formats of Interim Letters

The TIGTA undertook an audit in July 2011 to investigate the effectiveness of the IRS in handling inquiries received. According to the audit report, the IRS has over 70 different interim letter formats for different tax issues. The formats are for initial interim letters, second interim letters, follow up letters, acknowledgments, transfer of inquiry, apologies, closing letters, and many more interim correspondences. Depending on the matter being inquired and the delay by the IRS in handling the inquiry, a taxpayer can receive many of these interim letters in different combinations. Furthermore, since the interim letters are not resolution letters, they do not have information about the taxpayer’s tax account or direct answers to the inquiry. To the ordinary taxpayer, the content of the interim letters is confusing and unclear. Many taxpayers will not know whether they need to take action in response to the letter or what to do with the interim letters in general. In this case, many taxpayers either call the toll-free number to get clarification about the letter or send out another letter to seek clarification. This only results in the increase of inquiries sent to the IRS.

Interim Letters Not Sent as Per IRS Internal Rules

Another problem highlighted by the TIGTA audit was that the interim letters were automatically generated in a systematic cycle, which led to unnecessary interim letters sent out. From the samples that were used in the audit, 12% of the interim letters sent out from the Automated Underreporter Program department (one of the major departments that deal with client responses) arrived to the taxpayer after the issue had already been resolved and 29% were received 10 days prior to the issue being resolved. 29% of the first interim letters were sent out after 30 days of initial inquiry to the taxpayer, conflicting with the IRS internal rules. In the Accounts Management Function, another department that majorly deals with taxpayer correspondences, 19% of interim letters were sent within 10 days of the issue being resolved and 12% of the first interim letters were sent after the 30 day deadline. Furthermore, 20% of the inquiry letters received by the Accounts Management Function department were resolved after the 30 day time line did not have any interim letters sent as required.

Survey by the IRS Confirms the Interim Letter Issue

According to the TIGTA report, a survey carried out in 2010 by the IRS on the effectiveness of interim letters also revealed that most taxpayers did not understand interim letters and indeed, found them confusing. The IRS also noted that the interim letters were not being used to meet the objectives of the IRS of providing timely and accurate responses to taxpayer inquiries. Instead, the interim letters had become a way of buying time for the departments handling the inquiries. However, the IRS has yet to take action on the findings of this survey.

Recommendations by the TIGTA

Following the audit, TIGTA recommended that the IRS review its interim-letter procedures to ensure that the interim letters are sent in a timely manner and as per the internal rules. The interim letters should also be clear so the average taxpayer can easily understand its contents and should provide the taxpayer with specific information as to the progress of the inquiry and the expected time of resolution. The IRS agreed with the audit and also undertook to look into implementing these recommendations.

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Tax Relief: Retirement Plan Options for Small Business Owners

Most employees in the United States have organized retirement plans, usually set by their employers. The employers will usually offer Traditional IRAs or Roth IRAs, among other retirement plans, as benefits to their employers. However, for the self-employed and small business owners, setting up retirement funds can be more challenging. This is because the business owner has to decide a vehicle through which he or she will invest for retirement. There are various options available to the self-employed and business owners to enable them to save for retirement. Some options are complex and risky while others are straightforward. Some of these options are:

401(K) Option and Profit Sharing Accounts

Self-employed taxpayers and business owners can use 401k plans and profit sharing accounts to set up retirement accounts. However, many business people complain that these profit sharing retirement accounts are complex and need professional consultants to prepare. They may therefore, not be ideal for small businesses that cannot afford expensive consultants.

IRA Option

The IRA options are much easier and straightforward for business people and self-employed individuals. The 2011 tax code allows for a business owner to contribute untaxed funds to traditional IRA or pay after-tax funds to a Roth IRA and receive IRS tax free retirement distributions up to a cap of $11,500.00 a year. A business owner can also make contributions to a SEP IRA account up to a maximum of $49,000.00 for the 2011 tax year. A SEP IRA is set such that 25% of pretax profits or income go into a retirement account (before paying taxes). This retirement plan is ideal for people who receive inconsistent incomes and profits over the years and can save more or less depending on the year’s performance. The limitation of using the IRA option is that if the business person has employees, he or she must provide the same benefits to these employees, which can be quite costly.

Sale to a Grantor Trust

The sale to a grantor trust is a more complex retirement plan and is ideal for business people who have significant wealth. In this plan, the business person gets a registered evaluator to appraise the business. The business owner then sells a portion of the business to his or her children at a significant discount to be repaid over a period of time. The portion sold to the children is administered under a trust estate. Given that the threshold for estate gifts has been raised from $1 million to $5 million for the 2011 tax year, the business owner can provide the discount without paying any taxes, as long as the discount is within this threshold. The spouse of the business owner can be a trustee of the estate and this way, he or she can have his or her health care, regular maintenance, and educational costs covered under the estate. The repayment of the business from the children’s estate can then act as the retirement plan. The estate can continue to repay these funds over a long period of time.

Loan Option

Another option in use by business owners is taking a loan against the business to put the borrowed funds into a retirement fund. If a business person feels that he or she lacks the discipline to invest into a retirement fund over the years, he or she can take a loan to be repaid by the business and the loan proceeds can be used to set up a retirement account. This is a risky way of setting up a retirement account, as the business may fail to repay the loan and the retirement fund is then liquidated to repay it.

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IRS Taxes that Affect Land Ownership

Various land related expenses are treated differently depending on the use of the land and whether the land is improved or unimproved. These expenses include land rates, association fees, and other land maintenance expenses.

Unimproved land

In taxation terms, improved land is land that has a structure on it, such as a building. A piece of land is considered unimproved if it has no buildings on it, even if you bring in utilities such as water, electricity, fencing, and/or a sewage system. As long as there is no structures that can be used for economic purposes or personal housing, it is considered unimproved. For unimproved investment property land, one cannot deduct ongoing expenses. However, you may add the cost of the various one-off capital expenses that you apply to the land to the value of the land and depreciate it if it is an investment property (as opposed to a personal property). If it is personal property, you can add the amount of such expenses used to improve the land to the cost of the land, which will increase your cost price of the property if you were to ever sell it. This way, the capital gain on the property will be lowered and you will consequently pay less in capital gain IRS taxes.

Improved Land

Improved land is land that gives you some utility in one form or another. You may have a personal home on the land or some rental or investment property. If it is an investment property, then the land rates and land expenses are an allowable business expenses and are therefore, deductible for tax purposes every year that the expenses are incurred. Most of the land-servicing-expenses are not deductible for personal-use land.

Investment Property Land

For investment property, any association and property maintenance expenses are tax deductible. The details of qualifications of these deductible expenses are contained in the Internal Revenue Code Section 212. These expenses are a miscellaneous itemized deduction and therefore, follow the rules of itemized deductions. This means that you must add all itemized expenses and subtract 7.5% of your Adjusted Gross Income before deduction. You also cannot deduct this through itemized deductions if you are under the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). However, for those under the AMT and for those who do not itemize deductions, you can still add these expenses to the cost of the land so as to reduce on the capital gains (in case you ever sell the land). This option is called, capitalizing carrying charges, and is a choice available for those with an investment property. However, if the investment property is unimproved, you can only capitalize the carrying charges for only one year. If you opt to capitalize the charges, you will need to attach a statement to your tax return form explaining the expenses that you are capitalizing in the year you choose to do so.

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