Subscribe
In order to get the largest refund you can get, you will need to know what the IRS allows you to deduct on your tax return. When you do your taxes, you should always have your eyes on the prize and think about that tax refund.
In order to deduct your moving expenses and get that much closer to the largest refund possible on your tax return, you must be able to meet all three of these requirements:
1. The IRS wants your move to be closely related to the start of work both in time and in place. In other words, you must move within a year from the day you first start work in the new place. However, you don’t need to set up work before moving. In order to satisfy that your move is closely related in place, you must be able to show that the distance from your new home to your new job is not more than the distance from your former home to the new job.
2. You must meet the distance test. Your new job location must be at least 50 miles farther from your old home than your old job was from your former home.
3. You must meet the time test. There are different time tests for employees and self-employed taxpayers. An employee must work full time for 39 weeks during the first 12 months after arrival. The self-employed taxpayer must work 78 weeks during the first 24 months of arrival.
If you can meet these conditions you can deduct several moving expenses. You can deduct the cost of moving your household goods and personal effects. You may also deduct ordinary travel expenses including lodging but not meals. Don’t forget that you can deduct the costs of connecting and disconnecting utilities, costs of shipping your car and household pets, and the cost of storing and insuring household goods. All these deductions certainly will help you receive a higher tax refund. It is certainly worth learning about.
TaxSlayer Blog
In order to get the largest refund you can get, you will need to know what the IRS allows you to deduct on your tax return. When you do your taxes, you should always have your eyes on the prize and think about that tax refund.
In order to deduct your moving expenses and get that much closer to the largest refund possible on your tax return, you must be able to meet all three of these requirements:
1. The IRS wants your move to be closely related to the start of work both in time and in place. In other words, you must move within a year from the day you first start work in the new place. However, you don’t need to set up work before moving. In order to satisfy that your move is closely related in place, you must be able to show that the distance from your new home to your new job is not more than the distance from your former home to the new job.
2. You must meet the distance test. Your new job location must be at least 50 miles farther from your old home than your old job was from your former home.
3. You must meet the time test. There are different time tests for employees and self-employed taxpayers. An employee must work full time for 39 weeks during the first 12 months after arrival. The self-employed taxpayer must work 78 weeks during the first 24 months of arrival.
If you can meet these conditions you can deduct several moving expenses. You can deduct the cost of moving your household goods and personal effects. You may also deduct ordinary travel expenses including lodging but not meals. Don’t forget that you can deduct the costs of connecting and disconnecting utilities, costs of shipping your car and household pets, and the cost of storing and insuring household goods. All these deductions certainly will help you receive a higher tax refund. It is certainly worth learning about.
Categories: Online Tax Software Tips
Actions: E-mail | Kick it! | Permalink | 0 Comments |
Comment RSS
Actions: E-mail | Kick it! | Permalink | 0 Comments |
Comment RSS
As with most other things having to do with taxes and your tax return, the answer to, “Is my disability pension taxable?” is, “It depends.” Getting your maximum refund will depend on knowing the details of your own particular situation.
You must claim as income on your tax return disability pension from a plan that your employer paid for. It goes on line 7 of Form 1040 or Form 1040A when you do your taxes. The day after you turn minimum retirement age, the payments you receive are taxable as a pension or annuity and not wages.
However, if you receive payments in lump-sum for accrued annual leave, do not count these as disability payments, even if you retired on disability. Pay very close attention to every payment that you receive so that your tax refund won’t be impacted. Whether or not you get that maximum refund depends on how you report the money you receive.
TaxSlayer.com tax software can help, of course, but it still helps to know the basics. For instance, you may be able to exclude from your income any disability pension associated with serving in the Armed Forces of any country, and certain non-military government service as well. You do not need to include as income any disability payments you get for injuries from a terrorist or military action.
These are only a few of the scenarios you may see if you receive disability payments, and how they may affect your tax refund. Check out TaxSlayer.com’s Help Center for a complete resource to our help articles.
Categories: Online Tax Software Tips
Actions: E-mail | Kick it! | Permalink | 0 Comments |Comment RSS
Actions: E-mail | Kick it! | Permalink | 0 Comments |
Comment RSS
Apr
22
My Deductions Reminder
Even though tax season is over, you can start managing your deductions more efficiently for next year. With the addition of the My Deductions donations tracker, you can keep track of all your monetary, stock, mileage, and noncash donations in one convenient place. To access the My Deductions donations tracker, login to your TaxSlayer.com account, then click on the My Deductions link under the Other Items tab. Once inside the My Deductions menu you can manually add donations as they occur throughout the year. Whether you have an old T.V. you donated to Goodwill or cash tithed to your church, it can all be recorded here. After the deduction is input it will automatically be pulled into your tax return for next year. This is a great time saving tool that is Free to everyone who uses TaxSlayer.com.
In addition, the deductions you add can be filtered by Charity, Donation Type, and Organization to help you sort which donations go where. With the My Donations tracker, you will be well prepared come tax season.
Categories: Online Tax Software Tips
Actions: E-mail | Kick it! | Permalink | 2 Comments |Comment RSS
Actions: E-mail | Kick it! | Permalink | 2 Comments |
Comment RSS
Those of you considering calling TaxSlayer tax support over reject code 1132, or most anything mentioning Schedule M, should consider yourself very lucky in terms of reject codes. This is very easy to fix. You will be through with your online tax preparation and back to anticipating your income tax refund in no time.
First let’s take a look at what the reject code means and then we’ll explain why it happens when some taxpayers e-file a tax return, and what we can do about it when it does.
First of all, it simply means that you’ve reported on your Schedule M that you received an economic recovery payment in 2010 when you did not. Basically, what is on your Schedule M does not match what the IRS has on record for you.
Luckily, the IRS has set up a nifty little place on its website to tell whether you got that economic recovery payment. Go here: https://sa1.www4.irs.gov/irfof-mwp/start.do and answer three easy questions and it will tell you if you received it.
I’m not joking. Everyone we’ve run into with this reject code has received it because they thought they had when they hadn’t, and not the other way around.
Fix it by going into your TaxSlayer account and clicking on the Forms tab on the right side of the screen, then scrolling down and clicking on Schedule M. When you click Submit, it will take you where you need to be. Some people like to hit that page with a double-whammy – delete the amounts in the blanks and then delete the page as well. This doesn’t delete the Schedule M, just the amounts and you will see your refund increase!
Then you’re clear to e-file your tax return again. No more 1132. Now you can forget about tax support and online tax preparation and go back to dreaming about what you’re going to do with your income tax refund.
Categories: Online Tax Software Tips
Actions: E-mail | Kick it! | Permalink | 0 Comments |Comment RSS
Actions: E-mail | Kick it! | Permalink | 0 Comments |
Comment RSS
