Corcoran Bookkeeping & Tax Service

read moreOctober 15 is the deadline for your return. Any payment was due April 15. IRS adds carrying charges for late payments. Please gather the missing paperwork quickly - a last-minute surprise can be expensive! If you qualify for a rebate check (see next article) you must file a return, else IRS cannot calculate your rebate amount. IRS won't help until 8-10 weeks after you file. IRS has installment plans, but charge up to $105 to set one up. If you can pay the balance with the second billing from IRS, don't waste the money by asking for a plan.

read moreEach rule allows for job changes, medical issues, or unforeseen circumstances. If you qualify you can get a portion of the exclusion that depends on how much of the 2 years in each test you can meet. Spouses have no special rules. If newlyweds live in a home already used by one spouse, the spouse who moves into the home must live there for two years. In some cases couples sell, but only one spouse gets the exclusion. There is an exception for divorces - if the home is held in both names after the divorce, but one spouse must move out, that spouse is treated as if still living there.

read moreYou don't need much time. Give it 10 minutes each week and half an hour to finish up. Find a place to keep your records. Gather last year's tax return, a few envelopes, your check registers, a scratch pad, and a calendar. You may see forms for unemployment benefits, state tax refunds, prizes, awards, or gambling winnings. Partnerships, etc. Forms K-1 from partnerships, trusts, estates, and corporations arrive later. We can do the rest of your return early. Mail these forms to me when they arrive.

read moreWho can say? Computers generate most audits. It happens when reports from employers, banks, or brokers don't match up with your return. For now be sure your records are in a safe place. We might need them. Put your return in a safe place. Also keep copies of financial records and worksheets we used to prepare your return, along with your check register. The credit is a full $1,000 for each child under 17. In 2003 the credit was $1,000 but most parents got $400 of this as an "Advance Rebate" in August.

read moreNot so fast! It takes IRS months to sort things out. As records from across America are sifted, some problems inevitably appear. By accident someone changed a digit of a Social Security Number - and now it matches yours. Or the interest reported by your bank doesn't jive with your tax return. Somewhere a few refund checks got lost. More than 130 million tax returns were sent to IRS. There are bound to be problems. The official line at IRS says they can't check until 10 weeks after you filed, but often they are much faster.

read moreIf we filed an extension, your return is due by October 15. Any payment was due April 17. IRS will add carrying charges for late payments. I urge you to gather the missing paperwork quickly - a last-minute surprise might be expensive! When IRS questions anything on your return they call this an "audit". You probably picture an "audit" as a face-to-face meeting with an IRS employee who asks lots of questions. IRS says for 2006 only two out of every nine "audits" were face-to-face meetings. In 1992, more than five of every nine "audits" were face-to-face meetings.