When Do You Get Your Tax Rebate Check?

Very soon you'll be getting a check from the government as part of an "economic stimulus" plan. The majority of American's will receive between $300 and $600 + $300 more per dependent child. But when do you get this money?
Before we get to that there is one catch. You have to have filed your 2007 tax return on time. Since today is April 17th, if you haven't filed your taxes by now you won't get a check. But for the rest of you here's the breakdown. It's based on whether or not you had your 2007 tax refund direct deposited into your bank or if you had to receive a paper check. The date you get your money is also dependent on the last 2 digits of your social security number. Take a look at the charts below and find out when your money is due:

DIRECT DEPOSIT

Last two SSN digits:	Payment will be transmitted:
00 through 20	May 2
21 through 75	May 9
76 through 99	May 16

PAPER CHECK

Last two SSN digits:	Payments will be mailed by:
00 through 09	May 16
10 through 18	May 23
19 through 25	May 30
26 through 38	June 6
39 through 51	June 13
52 through 63	June 20
64 through 75	June 27
76 through 87	July 4
88 through 99	July 11

New Tax Help Website

Once again I've put together a tax help website. Some of you may find yourself with a tax debt after you've filed your return. Check out this site for detailed tax help articles. The link is www.irs-tax-settlement-hq.com

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Today is April 14th. That means your taxes must be filed by tomorrow! If you don't file the IRS will start assessing "non-filing penalties on the 16th, and the penalties are 5% per month up to 25%. So get your taxes in, or get an extension. Go to www.irs.gov
Click on the e-file links. You can e-file for free if you make less than $50k & it's quicker and easier than trying to do it by hand.
Just a couple of tips. If you're tying to get itemized deductions check you standard deduction for your filing status first. If your standard deduction is more than you itemized deductions there's no real point in filing all that extra paperwork, just take the standard deduction.
Good luck!

Don't Get Scammed Into an IRS Tax Debt!

A bone to pick… There’s nothing more irritating than the current glut of TV commercials promising “get rich quick”, tax settlements for “pennies on the dollar”, and getting a legal settlement amount in “one lump sum.”

Hard times… Every American is worried about money, and desperation can lead sensible people to do non sensible things. And not being sensible can not only cost you money that you don’t have on the promise of something good; being sensible may also get you into tax debt.

Do you really want that money now? I want to focus on the “get your structured legal settlement in one lump sum” commercials. While there are more than enough concerns about these companies I want to focus on the ramifications to your IRS tax debt.

Let’s say you get that lump sum. The company who did it for you takes out their substantial fee, but now you have a nice fat check and everything seems good, right?

Wrong! Because that lump sum of money you got counts as income when you file your taxes. And the IRS wants their cut. Not only do you have to pay taxes to the tune of 20-30% on your money, you have to report the full gross income on your tax return. If the settlement amount was big enough this can bounce into a higher tax bracket and cause you to have an IRS tax debt, which may be even higher if you didn’t take the correct amount of taxes out of your lump sum payment.

Trouble brewing… If you’re injured and unable to work you could be in real trouble right now. Hopefully you have enough of that money to pay off the IRS debt. If you’ve had to use it to pay other bills and don’t have anything left then you owe the IRS and you don’t have the money to pay them.

Beware of inflated promises… A large sum of money can always seem like an answer to prayers. But those lump sums can turn into nightmares when dealing with the IRS. And this extends to any lump sum payout including 401k, gambling winnings, even if you win a car you have to report it as income. So before you go for the big money and fabulous prizes make sure you can pay the devil his due.

Now you have the smoking gun…Use it!

Handling Your Tax Debt When You Can’t Hire a Tax Pro

You’ve been denied? There’s something you should know when you have an IRS tax debt. Very few tax professional companies will take your case on if you owe less than $7500, some of them won’t go below $10,000. Why won’t they help everyone, even people with the lowest tax debt?

What I’ve seen… After I left the life of an IRS-Hitman and started helping people with their taxes I’ve worked along side some of these companies. The reason why these companies don’t offer assistance to debts below $10,000 is that the legal fees associated with negotiating your debt with the IRS wouldn’t be in your best interest. In fact if you owe less than $7500, the fees could be as much as half your IRS tax debt.

One option…So what tax help can you get if the tax professionals won’t work for you? You can always try to deal with the IRS on your own. As a former IRS-Hitman I normally wouldn’t recommend this course of action. But your tax debt amount gives you a little more freedom when dealing with the IRS than someone who owes $25,000 would have.

For example if you enter into an IRS Installment Agreement the amount of your monthly payment can be too high for you to comfortable pay. But with your debt level of less than $10,000 you can negotiate a much lower payment, and make your IRS tax debt manageable.

A free service? But you wanted the help of a tax professional because you can’t deal with the IRS alone. Don’t panic, because there is a free service offered through the IRS called the Tax Advocate Service. The service is independent of the IRS and will keep your information confidential. The Tax Advocate Service has two main goals in assisting people just like you according to the IRS official website.

· Ensuring that taxpayer problems which have not been resolved through normal channels, are promptly and fairly handled

· Identifying issues that increase burden or create problems for taxpayers: Bringing those issues to the attention of IRS management and making legislative proposals where necessary.

Tax debt is difficult for anyone whether you owe $500 or $100,000. But there are enough people out there who want to help you with your tax debt. For more information about the Tax Payer Advocate Service visit the official IRS page: www.irs.gov/advocate

Now you have the smoking gun…Use it!

Help me write my new e-book

I'm currently working on a new free e-book that will consist of questions and answers about the IRS. I'm trying to cover as many subjects as I can but I need your help. E-mail me your tax questions. All of you who send me your tax questions will get a free copy of the e-book when it's finished. Below is a sample of the first chapter about filing your taxes with the IRS.

Chapter 1 Filing & Paying Your Taxes

Is there any way to stop the IRS from taking my tax return refund?

If you have an IRS debt then there isn’t any way to stop them from applying your refund to your debt. Remember, until that debt is paid everything you have the IRS can take to apply to your debt.

Can you get a rapid refund if you owe the IRS?

No, if you owe the IRS then any refund you’re entitled to goes to your debt. What’s even worse about the rapid refund is that a rapid refund is a loan from the tax prep company that gave it to you. So if you tried to get a rapid refund while you owe the IRS, not only will you still owe the IRS, but now you have to also pay back the rapid refund loan.

I hadn’t filed my taxes for 5 years and just now got them all filed and sent to the IRS. If any of the years give me a refund do I get it?

Yes…but only if you would have gotten the refund for either last year or the year before. Any tax refund prior to two years ago is null and void.

I keep hearing about this tax rebate check that is supposed to stimulate the economy. What’s that all about?

The government has passed an economic stimulus package to give Americans an amount of money based on their income to help “jump start” the economy. The average middle class person should receive $600.00 or $1200.00 for a married couple plus $300.00 for each child that is a dependent.

What is the income tax cap? Does it affect me?

The income tax cap is the maximum amount of income that can be taxed. Any income over that amount is not taxed by the Federal Government. The current tax cap is around $92,000, although some politicians are trying to raise the cap or get rid of it all together. Unless you make over $100,000 per year the cap really doesn’t have an effect on you.

Can I go to prison if I don’t pay my taxes?

No, you won’t go to jail for not paying your taxes. Now if you don’t file your taxes that’s a federal offense and you can go to jail for that, although it’s not very common unless the debt is really big. However the IRS can make your life a hell if you don’t pay your tax debt.

Credits and Deductions:

Is there anyway I can get extra money from the IRS?

If you mean deductions and credits then sure you can get a higher tax return if you qualify for either. If you’re asking about the IRS just giving away free money then no there isn’t any way they’ll do that.

Can I write off the tuition to my child’s private school on my taxes?

No, the IRS does not consider private school tuition to be a necessary expense. It falls into the IRS’s luxury category making it impossible to claim.

If two people claim the same child as a tax credit, for example the child’s grandparent and parent. Who gets the child tax credit?

Child tax credit goes in the order of the child’s relationship to whoever is claiming them. So with the above example the parent would have the first crack at the credit over the grandparent. Now if the grandparent can prove that they have taken care of the child for the tax year in question then they would be eligible for the credit; but the burden of proof rests on them.