Tax Season Madness: Last-Minute Tips

Tax Season Madness: Last-Minute Tips

by | Accounting News, IRS, News, Retirement, Tax, Tax Planning - Individual

March Madness is upon us, and while that term often refers to college basketball, if you’re like the majority of Americans, it can also apply to tax season. The IRS tax deadline will be here before we know it, and while it might be late in the game to do much about lowering your tax bill or increasing your return, here are a few tips to help make your 2019 tax return as smooth, painless, and advantageous as possible.

Max out your traditional IRA

This is the easiest way to lower your tax bill after the end of the calendar year, and you can make contributions for the 2018 tax year until the April 15 tax deadline. Contributions top out at $5,500, or $6,500 for those 55 years and older, and it’s all deductible on your 2018 tax return. Contact me to see if this strategy will work for you.

Beware of common mistakes

It seems obvious, but common blunders include social security numbers with mixed-up digits, missing signatures, and bad bank account numbers. These mistakes could cost you, literally, so double and triple check your personal information.

To itemize or not to itemize?

Due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which nearly doubled the standard deduction, itemizing deductions is now obsolete for millions of taxpayers. Unless your financial situation has changed drastically, if you didn’t itemize in the past, you won’t need to do it now. The standard deduction for 2018 is $24,000, so unless your itemizable deductions top that number, itemizing isn’t worth it.

Contribute to your HSA

HSA funds can essentially act as an addendum to your retirement savings because funds can be invested and carried over year after year.

Can’t pay? File anyway

If you owe the IRS money, your unpaid balance will result in a penalty of 0.5% of the unpaid balance per month or partial month. However, failure to file will cost you a lot more: a monthly penalty of 5% of the amount owed. So even if you can’t pay, file your return or request an extension. Read on to find out what to do when you can’t pay the full balance.

Set up an installment plan

The IRS might not have the best reputation, but the agency will work with taxpayers who show that they’re trying to pay their taxes. An installment plan allows you to make monthly payments up to 72 months until the balance is paid in full. This requires a setup fee, but it’s less if you arrange for direct debit from your bank account, and interest on your unpaid balance will still apply.

Request more time if necessary

You can file for an extension before April 15 with Form 4868 for automatic approval, which will give you until October 15 to file your tax return. Keep in mind this extension is just for filing and doesn’t include an extension for payment on taxes owed. If you don’t pay by April 15, your bill will be subject to interest and penalties. However, you can request a 120-day grace period from the IRS to come up with the payment, but you’ll still owe interest and other fees on the balance until it’s paid off.

Here’s How Congress Plans to Make the IRS More Taxpayer Friendly

Here’s How Congress Plans to Make the IRS More Taxpayer Friendly

by | Accounting News, IRS, News, Tax

The House recently passed the Retirement, Savings, and Other Tax Relief Act of 2018, which includes the Taxpayers First Act of 2018: legislation created to protect taxpayers from unfair practices as well as improve IRS operations. If the Bill makes it through the Senate, we’ll be seeing a more modernized and simplified IRS.

The bill directs the IRS commissioner to submit a plan for improved customer service within a year and a full plan to completely restructure the agency by September of 2020. The focus of this revamp will include, but not be limited to, the following:

Customer Service

The goal is to enhance customer service by adopting the private sector best practices of customer-service providers, which would mean updating guidance and training materials for IRS customer-service employees as well as developing means for quantitatively measuring the progress of customer service strategy. This would include providing taxpayers with more secure and varied means of communication, such as online and telephone call back services.

Cybersecurity

The IRS would initiate a collaborative effort with the private sector to improve cybersecurity and protect taxpayers from identity theft refund fraud. Along with implementing an information sharing and analysis center, the initiative would include appointing an IRS Chief Information Officer.

Electronic Services

The plan would broaden electronic service assistance, such as creating individualized online accounts and portals for taxpayers to access taxpayer information, make payments of taxes, and share documentation. This includes adding the ability for taxpayers to prepare and file Forms 1099.

Property Seizure

One of the IRS’s most forceful capabilities is property seizure. The new bill would still allow the IRS to pursue the seizure or forfeiture of assets, but only if a) either the property to be seized was derived from an illegal source, or b) the transactions were structured for the purpose of concealing a violation of a criminal law. It also includes new post-seizure procedures to protect taxpayers who had property taken by the IRS for violating the reporting rules. And should a court return funds to a taxpayer whose assets were mistakenly seized, the new bill provides taxpayer exemption for interest liability.

Other areas of improvement covered in the Bill include an independent appeals process for all taxpayers with a legitimate claim, easier access to equitable relief for innocent spouses on a deceptive joint return, and greater restriction on the IRS to issue a John Doe summons for suspected tax code violation.