by The Tax Place | Sep 11, 2019 | Tax Tips and News
The Internal Revenue Service says it has new procedures in place that can help certain expatriated American taxpayers come into compliance with their U.S. tax obligations and get relief for back taxes.
Relief Procedures for Certain Former Citizens apply only to those individuals who have not filed U.S. tax returns as American citizens or residents, owe a limited amount of back taxes to the U.S. and have net assets of less than $2 million.
Lack of compliance by eligible taxpayers must not have been willful in order to take part in this program. The IRS acknowledges that many of the taxpayers in this group have lived outside the U.S. for most of their lives and my not even been aware they had American tax obligations.
To qualify for the program, the IRS says taxpayers have to file their missing tax returns as a first step:
“Eligible individuals wishing to use these relief procedures are required to file outstanding U.S. tax returns, including all required schedules and information returns, for the five years preceding and their year of expatriation. Provided that the taxpayer’s tax liability does not exceed a total of $25,000 for the six years in question, the taxpayer is relieved from paying U.S. taxes,” the IRS press release states.
Individuals who qualify for the procedure will not be assessed penalties and interest. These procedures are only available to individuals. Estates, trusts, corporations, partnerships and other entities are not eligible.
No specific termination date was issued for this new program, although the IRS says it will issue a closing date before it decides to shut the program down.
Taxpayers who relinquished their U.S. citizenship any time after March 18, 2010, are eligible – as long as they satisfy the other criteria of the new procedure.
– Story provided by TaxingSubjects.com
by The Tax Place | Sep 11, 2019 | Tax Tips and News
IRS Tax Tip 2019-125, September 11, 2019
With school back in session, parents and students should look into tax credits that can help with the cost of higher education. They do this by reducing the amount of tax someone owes on their tax return. If the credit reduces tax to less than zero, the taxpayer may get a refund.
Taxpayers who pay for higher education in 2019 can see these tax savings when they file their tax returns next year. If taxpayers, their spouses or their dependents take post-high school coursework, they may be eligible for a tax benefit.
There are two credits available to help taxpayers offset the costs of higher education. The American opportunity tax credit and the lifetime learning credit may reduce the amount of income tax owed. Taxpayers use Form 8863, Education Credits, to claim the credits.
To be eligible to claim the American opportunity tax credit, or the lifetime learning credit, a taxpayer or a dependent must have received a Form 1098-T from an eligible educational institution.
The American opportunity tax credit is:
- Worth a maximum benefit up to $2,500 per eligible student.
- Only for the first four years at an eligible college or vocational school.
- For students pursuing a degree or other recognized education credential.
- Partially refundable. This means if the credit brings the amount of tax owed to zero, 40 percent of any remaining amount of the credit, up to $1,000, is refundable.
The lifetime learning credit is:
- Worth a maximum benefit up to $2,000 per tax return, per year, no matter how many students qualify.
- Available for all years of postsecondary education and for courses to acquire or improve job skills.
- Available for an unlimited number of tax years.
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by The Tax Place | Sep 10, 2019 | Tax Tips and News
IRS Tax Tip 2019-124, September 10, 2019
Tax professionals should learn the tell-tale signs that their office may have experienced a data theft. Such thefts could have resulted in fraudulent tax returns filed in their clients’ names.
Here is a list of warning signs that a tax professional or their office may have experienced a data theft:
- Their clients’ e-filed returns are rejected by the IRS or state tax agencies. This happens because someone else already filed a tax return with their client’s Social Security number.
- Clients who haven’t filed tax returns begin to receive taxpayer authentication letters from the IRS. The IRS sends letters such as the 5071C, 4883C and 5747C to confirm a taxpayer’s identity for a submitted tax return.
- Clients who haven’t filed tax returns receive refunds.
- Clients receive tax transcripts that they didn’t request.
- Clients who created an IRS Online Services account receive an IRS notice that their account was accessed.
- Clients who have an account get an IRS emails saying their account is disabled.
- Clients unexpectedly receive an IRS notice that an IRS online account was created in their names.
- The number of returns filed with the tax professional’s Electronic Filing Identification Number is higher than the number of clients they have.
- Tax professionals or clients responding to emails that the firm did not send.
- Network computers running slower than normal.
- Computer cursors moving or changing numbers when the user is not even touching the keyboard.
- Network computers locking out employees.
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by The Tax Place | Sep 8, 2019 | Tax Tips and News
According to the IRS, self-employed taxpayers should use the Tax Withholding Estimator when they perform their next “paycheck checkup.”
IR-2019-149 is the latest press release advertising the Tax Withholding Estimator, the agency’s newest online tool: “The estimator is an expanded, mobile-friendly online tool that replaced the Withholding Calculator, which since 2001 had offered workers an online method for checking their withholding.”
The IRS stressed that they needed to develop a new resource to help even more taxpayers manage their tax withholding: “The old calculator lacked features geared to self-employed individuals; the new estimator made changes to address this important group.”
Why Should Taxpayers Perform a Paycheck Checkup?
Tax withholding outreach was a focus of the IRS due to the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. As the IRS explains in Publication 5307, “the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act changed the way taxable income is calculated and reduced the tax rates on that income.” That meant “the IRS had to address and make changes to income tax withholding in response to the new law as soon as possible after it passed.”
Despite a year-long series of press releases reminding taxpayers that they might need to adjust withholding to address these changes, some tax professionals reported clients seeing surprise tax bills. Using the Tax Withholding Estimator is just one way taxpayers can avoid that problem, and accessing it is relatively easy.
How Does the New Tax Withholding Estimator Help Self-Employed Taxpayers?
The Tax Withholding Estimator helps self-employed taxpayers calculate their withholding by letting them enter information that wasn’t accepted by the old calculator: “The estimator allows a user to enter any self-employment income, including income from side gigs or the sharing economy, in addition to wages or pensions.”
Those who regularly used the old IRS Withholding Calculator will notice a number of improvements when they pull up the new Tax Withholding Estimator. Here’s the list provided by the IRS:
- Plain language throughout to improve taxpayer understanding.
- The ability to target either a tax due amount close to zero or a refund amount.
- A new progress tracker to help a user know how much more information they need to enter.
- The ability to go back and forth through the steps, correct previous entries, and skip questions that don’t apply.
- Tips and links to help the user quickly determine if they qualify for various tax credits and deductions.
- Automatic calculation of the taxable portion of any Social Security benefits.
Taxpayers concerned that they won’t pick the correct withholding form after getting the results of the estimator don’t need to worry. The IRS said that users will be given a link to the form corresponding to their entered information—Form W-4 for employees or Form W-4P for pensioners.
Source: IR-2019-149
– Story provided by TaxingSubjects.com
by The Tax Place | Sep 7, 2019 | Tax Tips and News
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