With the service issues the IRS is dealing with, there are ways to make your life and theirs a lot easier. Here are some things you can do.
Should we start by what to watch for in the mail?
- Let’s do that.
- The first one is the Form 6419 which shows how much was received from the advanced child tax credits. Now the IRS has said that a small number of these letters have the incorrect amount so people should look at them closely and compare them to what was actually received.
- The next one is the Form 6475 which shows how much of the economic impact payment was received. This will be important this year since the IRS has stated that if you did not get one and should have, you will need to report the credit on your return. They are not planning on reconciling this automatically like they did last year.
- The third and last item I want to talk about here is the Form 1095-A which shows any subsidy that you received by having insurance on the exchange. This is important because if you have insurance from the exchange, the IRS will not process your return unless you include it on your return, even if the subsidy was zero.
What about how you file your return?
- This is another good one.
- My strong recommendation is that you always file your return electronically. I think the days of filing a paper return is just about over.
- The IRS still has millions and millions of return filed in paper last year that have not been processed. So much so that they are reminding taxpayers to file this year’s return even if they have not processed last year’s return.
- Now even though I get paid to do tax returns, I still recommend that people with less complicated returns use one of the commercially available software packages or file for free on the IRS website. For complicated returns, I think you are still going to need a tax preparer to do them for you.
Lastly, what else can be done?
- We talked about it a week or so ago.
- Pay your taxes electronically and have your refunds deposited via direct deposit.
- This will make sure you have a paper trail on your payments via the confirmation number and that you get your refund the quickest.
Be sure to talk to a tax professional if you have any questions about these helpful tips when dealing with the IRS.
As a partner, I have thorough experience providing tax services to individuals, privately held businesses, nonprofit entities and estates and trusts. I also provide compilation and review services.
