New service centers mailing address for some areas
Hybrid Vehicles Tax Deductions
Consumer Alert: Tax Refund E-mail Scam
Receiving extra income this year?
IRS Discontinues TeleFile Program
Are tax forms holding up your refund?
Extension Filing made simpler
Are you missing your 2004 tax refund?
New service centers mailing address for some areas
The IRS notes that taxpayers in the District of Columbia and 11 states
will be sending their taxes to a different service center than last year.
States affected are: Colorado, Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi,
Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, South Dakota, Virginia and West Virginia.
If you received a tax package from the IRS, the labels included with the
booklet contain the correct mailing address for your return. Otherwise,
please refer to the back cover of instructions to Form 1040, Form 1040A
or Form 1040EZ. Those e-filing will not be affected. See where you should
send your return.
New Hybrid Vehicles Eligible for Tax Deduction
The IRS has certified the 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid and the 2006 Mercury
Mariner Hybrid for the clean-burning fuel deduction. If you purchase one
of the qualified hybrid vehicles during 2005, you can claim a tax deduction
of up to $2,000 on Form 1040. This one-time deduction must be taken in
the year the vehicle is originally used and the taxpayer must be the original
owner. Also, you do not have to itemize to take this deduction. See a
complete list of certified vehicles for the clean-burning fuel deduction.
See a complete list of certified vehicles for the clean-burning fuel deduction.
Consumer Alert: Tax Refund E-mail Scam
The IRS warns consumers of an e-mail claiming to be from "tax-refunds@irs.gov,"
and telling recipients they are eligible for a tax refund. The e-mail
links you to a site designed to gather personal and financial information
for identity theft purposes. Keep in mind that the IRS does not send unsolicited
e-mails, nor does it require you to complete a form to get your refund.
For information on the status of your tax refund, visit "Where's
My Refund?" on the IRS Web site.
Receiving extra income this year?
With enhanced identification systems, the IRS is cracking down on taxpayers
who underreport income or avoid filing tax returns entirely. By comparing
income reported on Forms 1099 to those on individual tax returns, the
IRS can determine if taxpayers are declaring all of their earnings. Forms
1099 are used to report miscellaneous income, such as dividends, interest
and distributions.
IRS Discontinues TeleFile Program
After August 16th, you'll no longer be able to file your taxes using the
IRS's TeleFile program. The program, rolled out in 1997, allowed you to
file forms 1040EZ, 4868 and 941 over the phone. E-file has since become
the filing option of choice.
Which tax forms could be holding up your refund?
Every year, late-breaking tax legislation from Congress causes delays
in the finalization of certain IRS tax forms. This year, the IRS has restricted
a number of federal forms from being e-filed until they are finalized
by the IRS. As a result of this IRS restriction, if your return has one
of these forms your return will not be able to be e-filed until February
1 or March 1, 2006. This could cause your tax return to be processed later
than expected. Unfortunately, all professional and self-prepared returns
will be delayed by these restrictions. The following tax forms are affected:
Disaster-related Forms
· Form 982, Reduction of Tax Attributes Due to Discharge of Indebtedness
· Form 8606, Nondeductible IRAs
· Form 8863, Education Credits
· Form 8915, Qualified Hurricane Retirement Plan Distributions
and Repayments
· Form 3468, Investment Credit
· Form 3800, General Business Credit· Form 5884 A, Hurricane
Katrina Employee Retention Credit
General Tax Forms
· Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation
· Form 8611, Recapture of Low Income Housing Credit
· Form 8864, Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Fuels Credit
· Form 8896, Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel Production Credit
· Form 8271, Investor Reporting of Tax Shelter Registration Number
· Form 8886, Reportable Transaction Disclosure Statement
IRS Simplifies Extension Filing for 2006
New procedures expected to save taxpayers between $73 million and $94
million annually by eliminating certain forms.
Starting Jan. 1, 2006, you will be able to request an automatic six-month extension for the most common individual and business returns. The current two-step process allowed automatic extensions for only four months (until Aug. 15) with Form 4868. If more time was needed, you had to request a second extension using Form 2688. You then received two additional months to file. The new procedure eliminates the need for this second form. Keep in mind the new extension process does not extend the deadline for tax payments.
The new extension procedure will also benefit business taxpayers. Existing regulations only allow corporations to request the automatic six-month tax filing extension. Non-corporate businesses, including partnerships and trusts, could only apply for three-month extensions at a time. Now, non-corporate business taxpayers have the six-month option available too. By streamlining this process, the IRS is eliminating three existing forms for such businesses. In the past, about six percent of individual taxpayers filed for the first four-month extension and a third of those go on to request a second extension.
Are you missing your 2004 tax refund?
Chances are the IRS is looking for you. More than 84,290 taxpayers did
not receive their 2004 refund checks. In fact, the amount of outstanding
refunds totals approximately $73 million, and the average amount owed
to each taxpayer is $871. In most cases, this money can be issued once
you update or correct your address with the IRS.
If you did not receive your refund last year, visit the IRS Web site and find out how to get the refund you're due. By providing your social security number, filing status and the refund amount shown on your 2004 tax return, the IRS can give you the status of your refund. Need to update your address? If you have moved since filing your last tax return and failed to notify the IRS, your refund has probably been returned to the government. Here's how you can correct the situation. Submit the Change of Address form to ensure the IRS has your correct address. Call the IRS toll-free assistance line (1-800-829-1040) to update your address.