Farmers, if you have deferred the gain on livestock sales because of the recent drought conditions, the IRS has extended the replacement period due to the continuing drought. Farmers and ranchers, whose sale replacement period was set to expire on December 31, 2012, will get another year. [Read More...]

The IRS has indicated that many of the more than 11 million individual taxpayers who requested an extension to file their 2011 tax return have yet to file. If you requested a Federal tax-filing extension, you will need to submit your return to the IRS by Monday, October 15th. Some taxpayers have more time,including taxpayers with extensions in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi affected by Hurricane Isaac, who have until January 11, 2013, to file and pay. Double check your tax returns for any over-looked tax benefits, and then e-file your return using TaxSalyer.com.    Before filing, take a moment and see if you can qualify for often-overlooked tax credits and deductions for low and moderate income workers and families, that can help you get a larger tax refund.  These tax credits and deductions include: ·         Earned Income Tax Credit      o   If you are eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, the TaxSlayer.com software will calculate the tax credit for you. ·         Savers Credit (Retirement Savings Contributions Credit)- which is claimed by low-and moderate-income workers who contributed to a retirement plan ·         American Opportunity Tax Credit ·         Other education tax benefits for parents and college students.   Taxpayers who filed an extension for their 2011 tax returns should file their returns by October 15 2012 to avoid the following penalties: 1.   Failure To File Your Tax Return / Late Filing Penalty ·         5% of unpaid balance for each month or part of a month the return is late. Maximum 25%. ·         If the return is more than 60 days late, the minimum penalty is the lesser of $135 or tax due. There is no penalty if the return shows a refund. ·         If the taxpayer is subject to failure to file and failure to pay penalties for the same month, the failure to file penalty is reduced by the failure to pay penalty. (Section 6651(a)(1) )   2.   Fraudulent Failure To File Your Tax Return ·         The late filing penalty, which is listed above, is replaced with 15% of tax per month, not to exceed 75% of tax. ( Section 6651(f) )   3.   Failure To Pay Taxes Owed / Late Payment Penalty ·         0.5% of unpaid balance for each month or part of a month there is an unpaid balance. Maximum 25%. ·         The penalty is half the usual rate for any months an installment agreement is in effect. (Section 6651(a)(2) )   4.   Underpayment of estimated tax by individuals ·         Interest at federal rate for underpayments applied to the underpaid amount for the number of days late. The federal rate changes by quarter from 4-6% on average. (Section 6654)   5.   Willful failure to pay tax or file return ·         Misdemeanor—up to $25,000 fine, one year in prison or both; $100,000 for corporations. (Section 7203)

Victims of Hurricane Isaac may qualify for tax relief from the IRS. After FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) issued disaster declarations for individual assistance, the IRS announced September 7, 2012 that affected taxpayers in Louisiana will receive tax relief, and based on additional damage assessments by FEMA other locations may be added in coming days. [Read More...]

Millions of American’s file amended or original tax returns after the tax deadline every year. Both are subject to different limitations and scenarios. Hopefully I can help explain both of them to you in order to make the process a little bit easier for you. Keep in mind that TaxSlayer.com has all of the tools to make filing your amended tax return, or a tax return following an extension, as easy as possible. Amended Tax Return Amended tax returns can be filed for a variety of reason. In short, you should file an amended tax return if any of the return information was incorrectly entered or omitted on the original tax return. For example, say you overlooked a small W2 for an odd job that you worked during the year. You have already filed your tax return but realized after the fact that you forgot to include that W2. You can go back and amend the return, by adding the W2 that was previously left off, and correct the situation. One key item to remember is that almost all forms provided to you have also been provided to the IRS. This means that your tax filing may not match the tax FILE that the IRS has for you. While this discrepancy may not have been caught at first, the IRS will eventually notice the difference. A lot of people may neglect filing an amendment because they are afraid they will have to pay additional tax. While this is not always true, it is best to correct the mistake as early as possible to avoid paying increased penalties and interest down the line. Also, many times an amendment can result if a BIGGER refund. This is money that is owed to you by the IRS that you would not receive should you not file an amendment. You can also file an amendment for things such as changes in deductions or missing credits to name a few. If your amendment does result in additional refund, make sure you wait until you have received the original refund before you file the amendment. All amendments must be filed within 3 years of the original return filing or within 2 years of the date on which you paid the taxes due, whichever is later. TaxSlayer’s amended return module is very easy to use and has all of the familiar tips and tools to help you on your way. Tax Extension While taxes may be due on April 15th (or April 17th this past tax season) many people file extensions to allow them to file their tax return no later than October 15th of the same year. One common mistake that people make is in thinking that by filing an extension they are also extending the amount of time that they have to pay any tax that they may owe. This is NOT the case. All taxes owed are still due by the original filing deadline. You can request a tax extension in one of three ways. You can either file for the extension online (using TaxSlayer.com), you can pay all or some of the estimated tax that you owe, or you can mail in an application. All of these must be done by the filing deadline. TaxSlayer makes filing an extension very easy. Once you have filed for the extension in one of the methods mentioned above you can file your return like normal using TaxSlayer.com These are two very common question marks for users of TaxSlayer.com. I hope this has helped explain them even more. As always our support team at TaxSlayer is here and available to help with any questions that you may have. Feel free to email the at support@taxslayer.com.