Official IRS app lets you track your refund

The Internal Revenue Service app IRS2GO allows taxpayers to check on the status of their tax refund and access other features.  IRS2GO also allows payments through an ACH debit from your checking or savings account (which is known as IRS Direct Pay), by debit card with a flat rate service fee ranging from $2.50 to $3.95, or by credit card with percentage based fees.  Government Technology has some more details about the app:

Where's My Tax Refund?

IRS Mobile App Simplifies Federal Tax Refund Tracking IRS2Go proves useful to taxpayers looking for refund answers and assistance in tax filing.

The IRS is trying to take some of the sting out of tax time with a mobile app that allows for simplified payment and refund tracking services.

The official application, called IRS2Go, allows users to check the status of their refunds, make payments and access free tax preparation services from a compatible smartphone.

Mobile users are also tied into a host of other resources, like instructional videos and tax tips through the agency’s social media pages and direct contact functions.

Refund status is reportedly available to taxpayers as soon as 24 hours after filing electronically and roughly four weeks after filing a return by mail...

The app, which was originally announced in January 2011, is available through the Apple App Store, Google Play and Amazon.

IRS warns about identity theft

The IRS announced that there was a 400 percent increase in phishing and malware activity earlier this tax season.  Be reminded that the IRS doesn't call, threaten, or email taxpayers about their taxes.  Normally they send letters.  Here are two of the scams the IRS says to watch out for:

Phone Scams: Phone calls from criminals impersonating IRS agents remain an ongoing threat to taxpayers. The IRS has seen a surge of these phone scams in recent years as scam artists threaten taxpayers with police arrest, deportation and license revocation, among other things.

Phishing: Taxpayers need to be on guard against fake emails or websites looking to steal personal information. The IRS will never send taxpayers an email about a bill or refund out of the blue. Don’t click on one claiming to be from the IRS.  Be wary of strange emails and websites that may be nothing more than scams to steal personal information.

IRS offers "Free File" program

The Internal Revenue Service is offering a "Free File" program to electronically prepare and file your income tax return if you make less than $62,000 a year.  I haven't tried it out, but it seems like a good option if want to do your own taxes and you're trying to save money and time rather than doing your taxes by hand or by buying software.  Here's the description of the program from the IRS website:

All Tax Forms Free with Free File

Feb. 12, 2016

WASHINGTON — Whether you draw a paycheck, are self-employed or own a small business, you can use all available tax forms you need for free with IRS Free File.

If you make $62,000 or less, you qualify for free brand-name software offered through a partnership between the IRS and 13 leading tax software providers. Some of these providers offer free federal and free state return preparation and electronic filing. If you made more than $62,000, you can use Free File Fillable Forms, electronic versions of IRS paper forms best for someone experienced in return preparation.

Free File offers all federal tax forms for free. That goes for the Form 1040, Form 1040EZ and Form 1040A. For example, all forms are free if you have mortgage interest deductions, children in college or made money in the stock market, among other things.

Also for example, all forms are free if you have a Form W-2, or a Form 1099 or an EIN for your own business. #February marks a high-point in the tax filing season when the IRS experiences many calls to its customer service line from taxpayers with questions. Free File software products can help answer many of your questions by walking you through a step-by-step process to complete your tax return.

And if you can’t find answers from your tax software product, there are many other online tools at IRS.gov that can help you find the answers you need when you need them.

To start your Free File tax return, you first need all your documents including your income statements such as Form W-2...

Deducting real estate taxes paid from your income taxes

*Note:  Please contact a tax professional for tax advice*

If you are itemizing deductions on your 2013 federal income tax return, you can deduct property taxes paid on real property (land and structures) that you own.

Local fees are a different matter.  IRS Publication 530 says that “itemized charges specific to property or persons,” cannot be deducted because they are not “taxes,” even if they are paid to a taxing authority.  The publication lays out specific examples of nondeductible fees, stating that “a periodic charge for a residential service (such as a $20 per month or $240 annual fee charged for trash collection)” is nondeductible.

Generally speaking, payments for Decatur’s residential sanitation and stormwater utility, may fall into this category of nondeductible charges.  For a single-family home in Decatur in 2013, the residential sanitation charge was $235, and the stormwater charge was $75.

Other nondeductible payments include penalties and interest on delinquent taxes paid if applicable.

Tax payments toward the five funds listed on Decatur tax bills (capital, DDA, bond, the general fund, and school taxes) are deductible.

If you are deducting real estate taxes paid from your income taxes, you’ll want to keep a copy of your second installment Decatur property tax bill, which is a restatement of your total taxes owed and paid for the year (and a copy of your DeKalb tax bill) in your income tax file.  You can access a bill reflecting your payments or a receipt at www.decaturgatax.com.

This post is intended solely to bring awareness of the distinction that the IRS draws in its official publications on the real estate tax deduction, and is not intended as instructions on how you should file or how much you should deduct.  Since individual circumstances vary, please contact a tax professional for further guidance.

 

Evacuation near Atlanta IRS offices

WSB 750 is reporting on air that the Peachtree Summit building is being evacuated because of a possible grenade onsite.

It may be totally unrelated, but the news caught my attention because the IRS has offices in that building, and we remember what happened in Texas earlier this year when a man flew an airplane into IRS offices in Texas.

Fox 5 has a photo of the evacuation on its website.

Income tax assistance

The IRS has announced that 200 of its “taxpayer assistance” centers will be open for special hours from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 15 “to provide help to small business owners and individual taxpayers dealing with notices and payments, return preparation and a variety of other tax issues.” (Hat tip to Tax Policy Blog for announcing this.)

It might be a good idea to arrive early because the IRS’s press release says that “two-thirds” of taxpayers who showed up to their last Open House were assisted. I suppose the other third were either too late or turned away?

Anyhow, the closest IRS location to Decatur will be in downtown Atlanta at 401 W. Peachtree St. NW (ZIP code 30308) at the Peachtree Summit Building. (Other Georgia locations are listed here.)

For parking, it looks like the parking deck at 384 Peachtree Street is your best bet, or just ride to the Civic Center MARTA station.