A report released Wednesday has revealed that nearly seven hundred IRS employees (about five percent of the ninety-thousand Internal Revenue Service contracted workers) owe a combined $5.4 million in back taxes.
The report says that it is the responsibility of the IRS to make sure contractors are current and do not need to file back taxes. Incidentally, most of these workers are not enrolled in payment plans, despite the fact that this should make them ineligible for employment by the IRS.
The IRS is the only federal agency that requires its employees, including contractors, to comply with federal tax statutes, which means they must file on time and enroll in a payment plan if they are not completely paid up.
The report did say that the IRS is thorough in checking for compliance with new hires, but needs to improve on its monitoring of its workers’ adherence to federal tax laws throughout their employment.
As of June 2012, six-hundred and ninety-one IRS contract workers owed taxes that were not paid when due; three-hundred and fifty-two of them were not enrolled in a payment plan. This brings the delinquency rate to two point six percent. In 2011, by contrast, the average delinquency rate for all federal workers, including retirees, was at three point two percent. At the time, the Treasury Department reported the lowest rate, at one point one percent.
The IRS has stated that it will begin reviewing cases of delinquent taxes, as well as to take additional action “as necessary,” although what this means is still up in the air.
Regardless of which state that they live in, all lawfully married gay couples can now file back taxes in the United States and can obtain the same tax benefits that married heterosexual couples receive. This means that whether a married gay couples lives in a state that recognizes gay marriage or one that does not, the marriage tax benefits applies nationally. This is because of the invalidation of an important part of the Defense of Marriage Act federal law of 1996 on June 26.
This act had previously recognized marriages only between a man and a woman. The invalidation of the act now provides for definiteness for gay couples that want to file back taxes and gives them access to benefits, responsibilities and protections under federal tax laws. The implication of this ruling is that same sex couples in states that do not recognize same sex might move to states such as New York where same sex marriage is legally permitted.
The ability of gay couples to file back taxes goes back to the 2010, 2011 and 2012 tax years and such couples can seek tax refunds by filling amended tax returns. Filling tax returns will change their tax status because couples can choose to file taxes as married filing jointly or married filing separately. But the change is also both positive and negative because it has benefits as well as penalties.
The positive side of the ruling is that spouses that are legally married will be exempted from federal state tax. A gay couple that is in a certain income bracket may get charged with the marriage penalty tax that heterosexual couples are usually faced with. Same sex couples will receive the file back taxes benefits as long as they are married without regard to where they reside.
Welcome to the April 15, 2013 edition of Tax Carnival Ecstasy. In this final edition for the 2013 tax season we have a number of good articles beginning with one from John Schmoll on last minute tax deductions for those that still need to file. Bill Smith has a post on the popularity of Turbo Tax for online tax filing. And if you are wondering the status of your tax refund since you have already filed and not seen a check from the IRS in the mailbox, KC Beavers covers finding the status of your refund in a great piece. Hope all the articles are helpful, make sure to bookmark, like on Facebook, tweet, and come back for additional tax information throughout the year.
deductions
John Schmoll presents Looking For Last Minute Tax Deductions? Try Making a Ringtone About Yourself! posted at Frugal Rules, saying, “It’s the end of tax season and people that are waiting til the last minute are commonly looking for deductions to take. Here’s a look at some of the crazy ones celebrities have tried to get past the IRS.”
Bill Smith presents Top Tax Scams To Avoid With Turbo Tax 2013 posted at 2014 Taxes, saying, “Using Turbo Tax 2013 is a good way to avoid tax scams in the first place, seeing as how you can e-file your paperwork with confidence that it will go directly to the IRS.”
taxes
KC Beavers presents Where Is My Tax Refund? posted at Generation X Finance, saying, “So your taxes should be done and filed by now. Now one of the most common questions we ask is where is my refund?”
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of tax carnival ecstasy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
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English: Rep. Greenwood receives the “Hero of the Taxpayer” Award from Americans for Tax Reform. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Welcome to the April 10, 2013 edition of Tax Carnival Ecstasy. We start this edition with a post from Dominic Mondal on Securing your Pension Plan by Investing in Self Managed Super Funds. Bill Smith takes a look at the U.S. tax reform and the effect of a decrease in the tax code’s bias for debt. John Schmoll has 4 Ways to Make Filing Taxes Easier from the Frugal Rules blog. And finally Edward Webber presents The New Tax Code for 2013-2014. Hope you enjoy the articles, bookmark, share, tweet, like on Facebook and come back for our next edition.
dominic mondal presents Securing your Pension Plan by Investing in Self Managed Super Funds and Property posted at Recent Articles.
John Schmoll presents 4 Simple Ways to Make Filing Taxes Easier Every Year – Frugal Rules posted at Frugal Rules, saying, “Very few people enjoy doing and filing their taxes. However, with a few simple steps you can make the process easier every year.”
retirement
John Schmoll presents Financial Advisor Compensation – Why it Matters posted at Frugal Rules, saying, “A financial advisor can be a great way to help you grow your portfolio when you have long term goals in mind. Make sure you do your homework and hire one that you feel right about and best fits your needs and goals.”
Alan Webster presents A Day in the Life of a Trader posted at TradingAcademy.com, saying, “Have you ever wondered what the average day is like for a trader? In this blog post we interview Steve Moses, an options trader, to sneak a peek into his average day.”
Edward Webber presents The New Tax Code for 2013-2014 posted at TaxFix Feed Update, saying, “In the UK the tax allowance is about to increase. This means that anyone working in the country can earn 9,449 pounds before they need to pay any tax. This post explains all about it.”
Bill Smith presents Innovations For Turbo Tax 2013 posted at 2013 Taxes, saying, “Professional accounting can help business owners save time and resources, and the Turbo Tax 2013 CPA Select edition by Intuit may be the ideal solution for tax filing season.”
Bill Smith presents Last Minute Tax Tips When Using Turbo Tax 2013 posted at 2009 Tax, saying, “Before you head to TurboTax.com, take a moment to read through these tips. With the deadline approaching, you need to know what to do at the last minute to make the filing process successful.”
Bill Smith presents Finding The Right Online Tax Prep posted at 2009 Taxes, saying, “The nice thing about these different options is that they are all free and allow you to quickly get your information in so you can receive your refund.”
John Schmoll presents How Should You Spend Your Tax Return? posted at Frugal Rules, saying, “The average tax return is nearly $3,000. Receiving that sum of money all at once can lead to easy temptation. Make sure you make wise decisions with that money, whether it be paying off debt or investing for the future so you can make the money work for you.”
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of tax carnival ecstasy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
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The news that renters and home buyers do not want to hear is that 2013 will almost certainly see higher housing costs, higher rents and various mortgage fees.
This year also sees the introduction of several new mortgage regulations, and anyone applying for a mortgage will potentially be affected by these.
English: Sign of the times – Foreclosure (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If you apply for a FHA mortgage and have a lower down payment, you will have higher rates for your mortgage insurance.
In an ongoing effort to add to its reserves, the FHA (Federal Housing Administration) has implemented various raises to insurance premium costs since 2008, and analysts seem to think that trend will continue. One such increase will be a 0.1 percent increase in the yearly insurance premium that is added to the monthly mortgage payment of borrowers. Currently, the charge for FHA borrowers is about 1.25 percent.
Janneke Ratcliffe of UNC Chapel Hill in North Carolina points out that once rates rise, this seemingly small increase will be noticeable.
Rental prices are rising due to a poor job market, a high number of foreclosures and tight mortgage lending, and in addition, the supply of rentals is low in many areas. Real estate firm Reis pointed out that in the 4th quarter of 2012, apartment vacancies stood at 4.5 percent, an 11 year low.
Whereas earlier refinancing options have not worked effectively, President Obama is likely to push for more effective legislation to help owners with an ‘underwater’ property, predict some analysts, including Julia Gordon of the Center for American Progress.
Consumers could be affected for better or worse when a series of new mortgage regulations are introduced early this year. One of the most important is a rule stipulating that a borrower must prove to a lender that they are financially able to pay back the loan.
Mortgage rates usually go up when investors move from Treasury bonds and mortgages to stocks, and this week was no exception. A 30 year fixed mortgage increased to 3.77 percent, while a 15 year fixed increased to 3.03 percent and a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage increased to 2.78 percent.
The approach that you take when filing back taxes will make a very big difference in your life. It is important for you to avoid putting off dealing with your taxes, this is a mistake that many people make. If you allow time to pass, you run the risk of forgetting and having to deal with panic that results from an approaching deadline. As such, you want to take advantage of software that would help you to streamline the process of dealing with your 2008 taxes. All you will need to do is enter your financial information and answer a few questions. These questions are designed to help determine how much you are responsible for while limiting your financial burden. The process is very quick, it will allow you to get rid of the stress that comes along with having to file back taxes.
Tax Preparation (Photo credit: agrilifetoday)
Additionally, you may want to speak with a professional that would be able to look at your financial situation in order to determine your liability. People tend to think that they do not need help when it comes to dealing with taxes. However, this is simply not the case. Following the guidelines set forward is the only way that you will be able to avoid making a mistake. Software can help to safeguard you while reducing the amount of time that it would otherwise take to get this portion of your life in order going forward.
