A LaPorte man is being described as the victim of an Internal Revenue Service scam according to police.
The 53-year-old says he received a phone call from a man claiming to be an IRS agent, and that he needed to pay nearly $1-thousand or be subject to arrest. Following the suspect’s advice, the victim sent pre-paid credit cards through Western Union.
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The Indiana Department of Revenue is promoting an option that some Indiana residents may qualify for when filing their taxes.
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Individuals can begin filing their taxes today, and area tax professionals say a bit of assistance can help reduce tax liability.
Changes in the tax code take effect each year. According to H&R Block Tax Professional Michelle Bachtel, individuals will need to ensure that this year they don’t overlook steps when it comes to reconciling their healthcare situation.
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The Indiana Department of Revenue says greater security measures will be in place once again to prevent identity theft.
According to a press release, the alleged criminal perpetrators attempted to steal more than $88-million from taxpayers through ID theft and fraudulent tax returns last year.
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Property tax bills are planned to go up for area farmers, but efforts are in the works to temporarily halt the increase once again.
According to Starke County Assessor Rhonda Milner, the Department of Local Government Finance uses a formula each year to determine the agricultural base rate. This is combined with other factors, including the soil productivity factor to determine the taxable value.
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The deadline to file federal and state income taxes for 2013 is quickly approaching. H&R Block Senior Tax Advisor Michelle Bachtel says anyone who has federal income tax withheld from their income should file regardless of the requirement to file. She says by doing so they can either receive a refund or properly credit any tax obligation they owe. This includes many teenagers who work part-time after school or during the summer.
More than 119,000 taxpayers used Infreefile last year to file their taxes by visiting www.freefile.dor.in.gov. There, you can see if you qualify for INfreefile based on the vendors’ options. If they qualify, all taxpayers have to do is click the vendor of their choice and complete their tax returns online.
It’s April 15, and that means those who haven’t yet filed their taxes or paid their amounts due have got to hurry up and get them filed and mail or submit payments. The IRS has a variety of penalties in place for those who either fail to file or fail to pay.
The failure-to-file penalty is calculated based on the time from the deadline of your tax return – including extensions – to the date you actually filed your tax return. The penalty is five percent for each month the tax return is late, up to a total maximum penalty of 25 percent.
If you haven’t yet filed your taxes, it’s time to do so before the IRS tax filing deadline on Monday. With the deadline less than three days away, the IRS is offering tips for those who have completed their federal tax return but are unable to pay it all upon filing.
IRS officials encourage taxpayers to file on time and pay as much as they can; filing on time ensures that the taxpayer will avoid the late filing penalty, and paying as much as possible reduces the late payment penalty and interest charges. For electronic payment options, see IRS.gov, and if paying by check, make it payable to the United States Treasury and include it with your return.
With just three days until the IRS tax filing deadline, the IRS is reminding taxpayers to review their tax returns for some of the more common errors that could potentially delay the processing of their returns.
The IRS encourages filers to file electronically, whether through e-file or IRS Free File, to vastly reduce the risk of tax return errors. The tax software performs the calculations, flags common errors, and prompts the taxpayer for missing information. Best of all, there are free options available for everyone.
For those who are confused when it comes to filing their taxes because their employment status changed throughout the year, H&R Block has a number of tips to help make it a bit easier. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 4.2 million workers were hired in December 2012 while more than 8.7 million people were self-employed and many made the decision to retire.
The deadline to get those taxes in is quickly approaching, and H&R Block is offering a number of tax tips for those concerned about extensions, audits, deductions, and penalties. This year, the federal government is anticipating a $450 billion tax gap – that is, the amount the IRS estimates is missed in tax collections – and in an effort to close that gap, the government will conduct a number of IRS audits of those suspected of having underpaid. In 2011, 7.4 percent of taxpayers were contacted concerning their returns, and the IRS collected $15 billion through audits. H&R Block advises that even with the anticipation of more audits this year, taxpayers shouldn’t be afraid to claim all the tax breaks to which they are entitled.
The deadline to file your taxes is coming up, but H&R Block is coming to the aid of those who abhor deadlines. All participating H&R Block locations and At Home online are offering free tax extension filing through the April 15 tax filing deadline – but don’t think an extension to file means an extension to pay. Even if you’ve filed a tax return extension, you still have to pay taxes owed.
H&R Block is also providing additional information online for late-season filers in its Extension Resource Center, a one-stop resource for information about filing an extension including how to pay taxes due using a credit or debit card.
