Tax time is upon us. The IRS will begin accepting tax returns on January 17th and TaxSlayer.com is already processing thousands of tax returns every day. The question is, what should you do if you don’t have all of your tax forms?? If you are without some of your tax forms don’t fret, as a matter of fact most tax payers have yet to receive all of the forms required to file the tax return. Federal law allows employers, as well as other companies preparing tax documents (such as bank, educational institutions, day care etc.), until January 31st to provide these documents to you. With that being said you may want to get a jump on things so here are some suggestions to make sure you get these documents in your hands ASAP. • Ask your employer: While many companies don’t have to prepare the forms until the end of the month they may be able to generate them easily, especially smaller companies. Make sure you check with your boss and/or payroll department and they may be able to get it for you on the spot. • Check your address: If you have recently moved, the forms could be sent to the wrong address. A lot of the time you may forget to update your address with those that don’t send to you on a regular basis. If this is the case they may be able to resend the documents. • Check online: Many reporting agencies such as banks, mortgage lenders, and school may post the required forms online. In most cases these forms are available online long before you would receive them in the mail so make sure to check. • Contact the IRS: If all else fails you can contact the IRS in early February and they can help you track down the forms and information that you need. In most cases the information will be reported to them as well and they should be able to help. Just make sure that before you call you have all of your personal information ready to dish out. Once you receive all of your paperwork you can submit your return with TaxSlayer.com. With that being said it is not too late to get started regardless of whether or not you have everything you need. You can still register today and get started. TaxSlayer has more tools than ever to help you get the maximum refund possible and our calculations are always guaranteed. So what are you waiting on?? Get started today!!!

It may not be close to April 15th yet but hundreds of thousands of Americans are getting a jump start on filing their 2011 tax returns. TaxSlayer is seeing increasing volumes of tax returns on a daily basis. While the IRS won’t being officially accepting returns until the 17th of January, customers can complete their return now (as soon as they receive all of their paperwork) and it will be held in a batch at TaxSlayer’s secure processing center and will be processed and transmitted immediately to the IRS as soon as they open for acceptance. TaxSlayer has a completely revamped and much more user friendly interface this year that makes filing your taxes with TaxSlayer faster and easier than ever before. Customers who file their return before January 17th can receive confirmation of their accepted return as early as mid-morning on the 17th and could have a refund direct deposited as early as January 26th…now wouldn’t a big refund be a nice way to kick of 2012??? Make sure you log on to TaxSlayer.com and register today, many returns even qualify to be filed COMPLETELY FREE!!!

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a refundable credit. Refundable credits can actually increase your federal refund. Think of EITC as a ‘payment’ the Federal government gives to low- to moderate- income workers to get a break when they do their taxes. The catch is not everyone qualifies for EITC. Let’s go over the basics of qualifying for EITC on your tax return. Just as everything in life, you can’t win if you don’t try or in this case you can’t qualify for EITC if you don’t file a tax return. In some cases, you may qualify for EITC even though you aren’t required to file. If you don’t file for it, you won’t get it. The basic guidelines that everyone must follow are your adjusted gross income (AGI) must be below $48,362, have a valid social security number, cannot file Married Filing Separately, must be a U.S. citizen or resident alien all year, cannot file Form 2555 or Form 2555-EZ, investment income must be less than $3,100 and you must have earned income. AGI and earned income restrictions are based on whether you have children or not. With three or more qualifying children, you must make less than $43,352, or $48,362 if married filing jointly. For two qualifying children, it’s less than $40,363, or $45,373 if married filing jointly. With one child, it’s less than $35,535, or $40,545 if married filing jointly. With no children, the amount is $13,460, or $18,470 if married filing jointly. The number of qualifying children you have also affects the maximum amount of earned income credit you can receive on your tax return for this tax year. Three or more qualifying children may give you $5,666 in EITC. Two may give you $5,036; one may give you $3,050 and with none you may still be able to get $457. Filing your taxes with TaxSlayer.com makes it a cinch because it does all the necessary calculations for you. Filing online with TaxSlayer.com can really help so you don’t miss credits and miss getting your maximum refund.

Even if you are not the owner of a small business, you may be able to take tax deductions on the business use of your home as an employee. The rules are very similar to those for a small business owner. 1. As you complete your tax return, keep in mind the area of your home must be used as a principal place of business, such as a place for doing paperwork, meeting with clients or working on projects. 2. For you to take the tax deduction, the area must be used for regular and exclusive use, not just once every so often. In other words, you must use it for business purposes often, and it has to be a dedicated space, not a domestic area that you happen to do some work in. 3. You must use your home for the convenience of your employer. 4. You can’t get rent from your employer for the use of a portion of your home to conduct his or her business. When you deduct home office business expenses, you are actually determining the percentage of your home that you use for business and allocate that portion of the home as a business expense. Other business use of home expenses includes utilities, mortgage interest, depreciation, repairs and insurance. You may take these tax deductions regardless of whether you own your home or rent. Keep these things in mind to increase your tax deductions if you are eligible to the business use of a home deduction.