South Carolina Tax Attorney

I know everyone is chomping at the bit to get their hands on that “free money” the government is sending out as a part of the recent economic stimulus package.  The IRS has recently updated their site about the stimulus package and I am providing a link below.  The order of how the payments are being made is based on your social security number and payments are supposed to begin being mailed on May 2, 2008.

    I wanted to wish you a happy tax day!  Hopefully, you aren’t running around like crazy trying to get your taxes filed this afternoon or standing in a long line at the IRS office this afternoon.  But, if you are, I would recommend that you do everything you can to get your return filed and paid on time today.  That means you have it postmarked before midnight.

If you are unable to get your tax return filed or mailed today, you should at the very least file an extension to file your tax return.  However, an extension to file is not an extension to pay.  Therefore, you need to make sure if you are going to owe taxes you make a payment today for what you think you are going to owe or you will be penalized for not making the payments on time.

    If you haven’t filed your income tax returns yet, this is a warning to remind you that you have until next Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at midnight to get your tax returns filed.  Here are a few tips to keep in mind if you are a tax procrastinator:

1. Check with your local post office to see if they will have extended hours on Tuesday night.  Some post offices will remain open until midnight so you can make sure you get your tax returns post marked by that time.
2. If you do wait until the last day, make sure you get them postmarked while it is still April 15, and be sure to send the tax returns via certified mail, return receipt requested.
3. Go ahead and file your tax return no matter if you owe the IRS money and you don’t have any money to pay it.  We’ve discussed this on here before.  You will save yourself up to a 25% penalty by at least filing the return.
4.  If you owe money and cannot afford to pay it, look into your options.  Depending on the amount you owe and your past history with the IRS you may be able to easily set up an installment agreement.  If you owe a significant amount you may be eligible for an offer in compromise.  Read more on this blog to learn more about those options or contact a tax professional to assist you and your specific situation.

    Don’t you LOVE the IRS.  I’m sure many people will be receiving "Valentine’s Day Cards" from the IRS today telling them that they owe thousands upon thousands of dollars to the IRS.  That places stress on you personally and indirectly on your love life at home.  This Valentine’s Day start down the road to getting off of the IRS’ mailing list by determining if you will qualify for an offer in compromise.  You can find the forms (Form 656) online at www.irs.gov and you can read this blog for tips on negotiating with the IRS and hopefully you can get all of your tax resolution questions answered. 

    Here is a collection of the Top Ten Most Litigated Tax Issues from 2007 as determined by the National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina Olson. 

1. Collection Due Process hearings (IRC §§ 6320 and 6330);
2. Gross income (IRC § 61 and related Code sections);
3. Summons enforcement (IRC §§ 7602(a), 7604(a), and 7609(a));
4. Civil damages for certain unauthorized collection actions (IRC § 7433);
5. Frivolous issues penalty (IRC § 6673 and related appellate-level sanctions);
6. Failure to file penalty (IRC § 6651(a)(1)) and estimated tax penalty (IRC § 6654);
7. Trade or business expenses (IRC § 162(a) and related Code sections);
8. Accuracy-related penalty (IRC § 6662(b)(1) and (2));
9. Relief from joint and several liability for spouses (IRC § 6015); and
10. Family status issues (IRC §§ 2, 24, 32, and 151).

    We will discuss some of these most litigated issues in future posts and the types of cases that stem from each issue.  Be sure to check back often for those discussions.

    The IRS is now offering a Free File program for certain taxpayers.  The Free File program is a partnership between the Internal Revenue Service and several tax preparation software companies (joined together as the Free File Aliance LLC).  Since the debut of this program, more than 19.2 million income tax returns have been filed with the free program. 

    When you sign up for the free file program, you will have the choice of approximately 19 different online software programs to use to prepare and file your income tax returns.  Here is the link to the Free File Program.  There are also at least two companies that offer a Spanish version of Free File. 

    Is it really free?  Yes, but you have to meet certain criteria to qualify.  The taxpayer must have had an Adjusted Gross Income of $54,000 or less for 2007.  This means that over 97 million taxpayers will qualify for the free file program (over 70% of taxpayers nationwide). 

    I know I recently wrote an article about filing your own tax returns, but I want to reiterate that just because there is access to the software does not mean you are qualified to file your own return.  Check back at that article and see if there are things you should look out for to determine if you should hire a professional tax return preparer or CPA.