Does IRS’ Tea Party Targeting Admission Concern You?

Officials say the head of the government office knew his agency was targeting tea party groups in May 2012. Tell us what you think of the agency’s recent admissions.

It’s bound to be no party for Internal Revenue Officials in the coming days. The Associated Press reported Monday that IRS officials revealed that acting IRS Commissioner Steven T. Miller knew back in May 2012 that the agency had targeted tea party groups by unfairly investigating them to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status. Monday’s revelation came on the heels of last week’s acknowledgment by the agency that the groups had been targeted during the 2012 election season. Organizations that faced IRS scrutiny included those that had “Tea Party” or  “Patriot” in their names. According to the AP’s report, about 300 groups were singled out for additional review; while about half of those cases had been closed and no group had …

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Andrew Blawat

4:56 pm on Monday, May 20, 2013

Spout all your usual lies and propaganda you want as no one believes your lies anyway libtard.   more ›

Taxpayers are Already Asking 'Where's My Refund?'

The Internal Revenue Service reports experiencing high traffic on its online “Where's My Refund?” tool.

 The deadline to file tax returns isn't until April but taxpayers appear to be filing early and are already asking, Where's my refund?"  “Due to the large number of inquiries and to avoid service disruptions, the IRS strongly urges taxpayers to only check on their refunds once a day,” the IRS said, according to a report by Accounting Today. “IRS systems are only updated once a day, usually overnight, and the same information is available whether on the Internet, IRS2go smartphone app or on IRS toll-free lines. While 'Where's My Refund?' is updated nightly, your account will not change that frequently.” According to the report, nine out of 10 taxpayers typically receive refunds in less than 21 days when they use e-file with direct deposit. …

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Scammers Want Your Tax Return

Read tips on how to protect yourself.

DailyFinance.com calls tax identity fraud a "specialized and sophisticated form of theft."  According to a post on the site, thieves are stealing year-end statements, W-2s and other income information to file returns on victims' behalf. The report says that during the 2011 tax processing year, roughly 940,000 tax returns were filed fraudulently, and this year, that number will likely increase to 1 million.  How do you protect yourself? First, shred any paperwork you don't need for tax preparation. Second, be wary of a slow-running computer or out-of-place pop-ups when filing taxes online. Also, be suspicious of any phone calls or e-mails claiming to be from the IRS, even with the appropriate logos. According to the IRS website: "The IRS …

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Could You Afford $20,000 for Health Care?

According to new rules released last week by the IRS, by 2016 you might have to.

Some conservative news organizations have taken a close look at new rules released by the IRS on Jan. 30 on the new health care regulations and found them wanting … wanting much more, in fact, by 2016. According to Breitbart.com, the IRS estimates that by 2016 the cheapest Obamacare plan will cost $20,000 for a family of five. That would be for a bronze plan.  Other plans offered go up from there to silver, gold and platinum. The IRS used as an example a family of five earning $120,000 a year. If no family members had insurance, they would be subject to a “shared responsibility” penalty putting them into the Bronze plan. The tax penalty for that is $2,400 a month or $20,000 a year.  Read the IRS regulations here. Alert, there is a lot of …

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IRS Announces 2013 Tax Rates and Deductions

It's tax time again! Standard deductions will increase, but the ceiling for itemized deductions decrease in 2013, plus other changes that will affect your taxes this year.

On Friday, the Internal Revenue Service announced annual inflation adjustments for tax year 2013, including the tax rate schedules, as well as other tax changes from the recently passed American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.  The tax items for 2013 of greatest interest to most taxpayers include the following changes. Details on these inflation adjustments and others are contained in Revenue Procedure 2013-15, which will be published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2013-5 on Jan.28, 2013. Other inflation-adjusted items were published in October 2012 in Revenue Procedure 2012-41. -News release from the Internal Revenue Service You might also be interested in reading: New Georgia Vehicle 'Title Tax' Takes Effect in March 2013 Price of Stamps …

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When Will IRS Begin Processing 2012 Tax Returns?

The agency is retooling after the massive 'fiscal cliff' legislation.

Last Chance: Filing Federal Taxes

The tax deadline is traditionally April 15 but has been pushed back to April 17.

You still have one day left to meet the filing deadline for your 2011 federal income tax returns. The tax deadline is traditionally April 15 but has been pushed back to April 17. That's because April 15 is a Sunday, and April 16 is Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia. April 17 is also the due date to apply for 2011 tax extensions. Two Northeast Cobb post offices will be open until 6:30 p.m.: The Internal Revenue Service encourages taxpayers to file returns electronically. According to a statement posted on the IRS website, e-file is "the best way to ensure accurate tax returns and get faster refunds." For last-minute filing tips, see the IRS video attached.

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Looking for Advice on Tax Advice

Next week's Northeast Cobb Readers' Choice will focus on the one certainty in life other than death.

Income tax returns are due April 17, and that means the annual panic over doing your 1040 form correctly without either overpaying (or underrefunding) or drawing IRS scrutiny is beginning to rise. The best cure for that anxiety is a tax preparer who knows his or her stuff. So when it comes to filling out and filing your taxes, whom do you trust? (And does he or she have any openings for an online news editor who always has too much work to do?) Use the comment space below to let us know the people and businesses in Northeast Cobb deserving of consideration as our Readers' Choice so we can include them next week. After all, they're all too busy now to toot their own horns.

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Dealing With Tax Identity Theft

Taxpayer identity theft usually involves stealing Social Security numbers and filing for refunds early.

It's tax season. Identity thieves have created more than 1500 different tax scams being sent out in hundreds of thousands of tax scam emails, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In an effort to protect citizens from identity theft, the U.S. Government is working to identify ways to authenticate taxpayers without the full use of their Social Security number. In May of 2007, the Office of Management and Budget, issued Memorandum M-07-16: Safeguarding Against and Responding to the Breach of Personally Identifiable Information. The memorandum requires all federal agencies to take steps to eliminate or reduce the use of SSNs in order to protect citizens from identity theft. In the video, Northeast Cobb CPA John Miller explains what…

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IRS Tax Tips

The tax deadline is April 18, not April 15, for both federal and Georgia income taxes this year.

As the April 18 filing deadline approaches, Northeast Cobb Patch offers you tips to make the chore of tax filing easier. “The IRS is taking extra steps to help people who have lost their jobs or facing financial strain.  We are aware that the economic downturn has affected many people,” IRS Spokesman Mark S.Green said.  “We will continue to do everything we can to help ease the burden on struggling taxpayers in meeting their tax obligations.” There is free tax information on IRS Web site, IRS.gov. This online tax center has numerous resources including links to information on tax assistance and relief to help struggling taxpayers. IRS has $35 million in unclaimed refunds for Georgians who have not filed a 2007 Tax Return.  However, in …

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