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I am hearing all kinds of rumblings about issues with getting the correct number for the Advanced Child Tax Credit. If you are at all in doubt about knowing exactly how much you got, I strongly recommend you check your IRS account to find the exact number. It's a lengthy process so it needs to be done BEFORE your tax appt. Here is how to set that up and do it:
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How to Access your Advance Child Tax Credit and Economic Impact Payment (#3) Information from your IRS Online Account Advanced Child Tax Credit Payment Information · Once logged into your IRS Online Account, select Tax Records from the menu at the top of the screen. · You will see a section on this screen labeled Advance Child Tax Credit Payments with a link to the Update Portal. Click on this link · Toward the bottom of the screen under the Payments Section, click on the plus sign next to Processed Payments. All payments that you received should be listed here. Please print a copy of this screen to provide to us. Economic Impact Payment 3 (EIP 3) Payment Information · Once logged into your IRS Online Account, select Tax Records from the menu at the top of the screen. · Toward the bottom of the screen under the Economic Impact Payment Information section, click on the plus sign next to 2021. All payments that you received should be listed here. Please print a copy of this screen to provide to us. If you disagree with any of the information provided on these screens, we recommend printing a 2021 account transcript. This can be done via the following steps: · From your online account homepage, select Tax Records from the top menu · Click on the blue box labeled Get Transcript · Select reason for needing a transcript. You can choose any of these that you like, · On the next screen, choose the 2021 Account Transcript at the bottom left of the screen. This will have the details on any payments made to you for the 2021 tax year. Can’t create or login to an IRS Online account? You can still have a transcript mailed to you. · From the IRS website (www.irs.gov) select the icon for Get Your Tax Record · On the next screen, Scroll down to the area discussing Alternative to Requesting a Transcript Online. · There is a link here to Get a Transcript by Mail. Once clicking on this link, you will need to provide your Name, Social Security #, Address and Zip Code used on your most recent tax return. You will also need to select that you would like a 2021 Account Transcript. Once this information is entered, it takes 5-10 days to receive the transcript. · You can also request a transcript by calling the IRS automated transcript request line at 1-800-908-9946. You will need the same information as listed above (Name, Social Security #, Address and Zip Code to request the transcript using this method Hi folks!
1. You should have gotten my January email, but if you didn't, it's here! 2. Appts are now available, up to 3 weeks out. So if you want an appt for Feb 21, it will be available Feb 1! All appts are online since I am in GA, stay tuned for news about me coming to NYC. 3. Speaking of me coming to NYC, if you haven't already make sure you sign up to tell me that you are interested in a mid-March appt in person. So far, only 9 people have expressed interest, which points to a very short trip for me, so if you want me to come for longer be sure to sign up so I know! 4. I forgot to mention this in my Jan letter, but if you are still missing your extra refund from Health Insurance Credits, or unemployment from either State or Federal, let me know so we can start looking in to that. There haven't been any announcements yet, but I'd like to know who still has things outstanding. 5. IRS Efile will be opening on Jan 24! Fingers crossed for a normal season with no law changes or extensions! 6. The Health Insurance Marketplace is closing Jan 15, go get coverage if you need it, and 4th Quarter 2021 Estimated Payments are due Jan 18! Pay up self-employed! Talk soon! Hi folks, few quick things for you!
1. Efile will be closing for the season on Nov 20. If you haven't filed yet, you really need to do it before then, because otherwise you will have to wait until Efile opens up again in late Jan 2022. (and that's optimistic, last year the opening was delayed to Feb 12!) This is also the LAST CHANCE to Efile tax year 2018. If you haven't filed that year yet, you need to do so ASAP. If you miss the Nov 20 deadline, you will have to mail in your return in order to file it, and wait the 9 months it takes to be processed. (The hard deadline to file for a refund for 2018 is April 18, 2022) 2. Unemployment refunds are still going out, I just saw that another batch is coming. So if you haven't gotten it yet, hopefully it's on its way now. But I still haven't heard that they are done, so we need to continue to wait. On state refunds, if I told you that you should be getting one automatically and you haven't or that you should wait to amend, do check in with me about that and we will see where we are. 3. The Health Insurance Marketplace is open! You can now sign up for health insurance for 2022! And good news, the credits are now more generous and available to more people, there is no longer a cliff at 400% of poverty level, so even people earning over 50k can get subsidies! Like last year, I am offering FREE help to sign up, if you want to make an appt with me to do the signup online together or just talk about your options, feel free to set up a time through my scheduling page. I want you all to have insurance! Sign up by Dec 15 for coverage starting Jan 1. Have a wonderful Holiday Season and can't wait to talk to you in January! UPDATE: NY extended the deadline yesterday (Oct 12) at 4 pm, lol. However my point that you need to file before efile closes down still stands!
I hope you all are safe and well after the recent crazy weather! This post is only for people who haven't filed 2020 yet, if you already filed, this doesn't concern you, it's just for the procrastinators :) You may have heard on the news that the (already extended) tax deadline has been extended from Oct 15 to Jan 3 for people in the areas affected by Hurricane Ida, which includes NYC and surrounding areas, and several counties in NJ and PA. This is true for the FEDERAL government. However, NY, being the crappy brutally taxing state it is, did NOT extend this deadline. So while you have more time to file your federal, NY is not giving you any more time, and you have to do your Federal return in order to do NY so really, you don't get an extension. Please do not delay, get your return done by Oct 15. If that is truly not possible because you were very badly impacted by the storm, let me know and we can work on drafting a request for penalty abatement, but this is not for people who can't legitimately say they were heavily affected by the storm. PA and NJ, being much nicer states, have followed the federal and extended the deadlines to Jan 3. However, I still STRONGLY urge you not to use this as an excuse to delay if you can help it. Obviously, if your home got flooded, then of course take advantage. But if you are just fine, do not delay. Even though the deadline may be extended, Efile shuts down in early November, so if you wait, you will either have to mail in your return (BAD IDEA!) or you will have to wait til Efile reopens in late Jan, and by then you will be late. Also, I will NOT have a lot of availability to work with you after Oct 15, my schedule is packed with performing commitments in Oct and Nov and I will not be able to guarantee I can help you in time. So, TLDR, unless you have really experienced serious consequences from these storms and truly cannot get your taxes done in the next month, proceed as though your deadline is still Oct 15. Because for most of you, it really is. I just didn't want to you be mislead by any news stories you might hear that tell you that you have more time, without giving you the full picture. Tough love, I do this because I care about you! :) NOTE: this post is about refunds for regularly filed returns. If you are waiting for an extra refund from unemployment, this does NOT apply to you. There is no way to track those, just wait patiently :)
I'm starting to get a lot of emails from people concerned that their refunds have still not come several months after filing. You are not alone! Literally millions of people are still waiting on refunds as the IRS is behind on processing returns. As of June, it was reportedly 35 million still being processed. Sometimes there is an obvious reason, sometimes there is no reason at all. Unfortunately, there is literally nothing I can do to help you if you are waiting on your refund, assuming there is no actual issue to address. You just have to wait. If you haven't gotten your refund yet and you are worried, here is what you should do: First, before you do anything else, check Where's My Refund? on the IRS website. You will need to know your social, filing status (married, single etc), and the amount of your refund. If you email me to check, this is the exact thing I am going to do. Now, what does that say? 1. Your return is still processing. Congrats, the IRS has your return, but you just need to wait. Check the site periodically for any updates. 2. It might say there is an issue with your refund. It might have been taken for debts, or the IRS doesn't agree with your return, and they will be sending you a letter explaining what's going on. If you get a letter saying there is an issue, please do bring it to my attention. 3. It might say that your refund was issued on a certain date, either directly deposited to an account or mailed by check. If you check into that info and it seems your refund has gone astray, let me know and we can work on what to do next. So if you are in situation #1 and your return is still being processed, why is it so delayed? The most common issue is that you requested stimulus money that you didn't get before on your tax return. These amounts have to be verified by an actual person, and that is taking months. You may have requested another credit like the EITC or Child Tax Credit and that amount is also being double checked by a human. A lot of returns were delayed that had unemployment this year. Even if you have none of these things, some returns just seem to be delayed for no reason I can discern at all, the IRS seems to have randomly decided a person needed to look at something, and again, thanks to Covid, that is taking a long time. Unfortunately there is nothing to do but wait patiently! Now this is all for federal refunds, if you are missing a state refund, chances are much higher that there is an issue that needs to be addressed, like them wanting to verify your ID or get copies of your W2s or other state tax returns, so let me know if you have issues with them! Hi folks! I have now emailed everyone who filed before the law with unemployment income or health insurance subsidies they paid back. So if you think that's you and you haven't heard from me, do email so I can check on you.
Reminder, the federal govt should be automatically sending out these refunds over the next few months (at least one client has let me know she got it!) so just chill and wait for your money. You only need to contact me if you get less than I said you would, which I know at least a few of you will based on the IRS guidance. We will then file an amendment to get you the rest. I am assuming they will direct deposit the money to the same account if you got a refund, but if you originally paid, they will probably mail it, so if you don't want that check to go to the address on your 2020 return, you need to update your address with the IRS ASAP! Make sure you pay your 2nd Quarter Estimated Payments by Tuesday June 15! If you are not sure how to make the payment, there are videos for Federal and NY on the How-To Videos page. If you don't know how much you should be paying, email me!
Hi folks! So the season is over and I am catching up on things at a leisurely pace. I'm cooking everyday, going to the gym, and actually spending time with my husband, its wonderful :)
1. I am starting to go through people who filed prior to March 18 with unemployment or health insurance subsidy paybacks. The IRS has started to send out automatic refunds, but it might take a while to get through the millions of people. I'd say give it at least 6 months - so November. They've already stated that people with complex returns and married people will be going last. I will put a note on this blog when the IRS says they are done and to contact them if your refund is still missing. Please do not email me asking where your refund is, I have no information. All we can do is wait patiently. I will send you an email telling you how much to expect in the next month or so, and if you don't get your full amount we will work on it! 2. I will be on vacation from July 10 through July 22, seeing my parents and in-laws for the first time in 2 years! (Yay for amazing vaccines!) I will only be available then for emergencies, so plan accordingly. 3. If you filed an extension, the deadline to file is Oct 15. If you owe, you are racking up penalties and interest every day, so get on that. Efile closes around Nov 15, and you do not want to have to wait another 2 months til filing opens again, so don't dilly-dally! Thank you to all of you wonderful people for your patience this year! This was by far the most ridiculous tax season ever, and you folks make it all worth it! I have had several reports now of IRS payments set up through direct debit when the tax return was filed not going through. They are working to fix this issue, but in the meantime, do make sure your payment went through. If it did not, you may need to pay it yourself online (good idea) or mailing in a check (not a good idea). But give it 2-3 weeks first, we have til May 17 so its fine.
I will be doing a video on return payments soon, you can make payments at https://www.irs.gov/payments/direct-pay Update: Payments are going through again, so hold off on paying yourself, wait a couple weeks to see if it goes through! If its getting close to May 17 check in with me! |
AuthorJennifer your friendly neighborhood tax preparer Archives
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