Month: March 2012

Tax Help For Those Who Clean Houses And Drive Cabs

For those who need help with their tax filing but cannot afford to hire a professional themselves, free help can be found right in their communities with IRS funded tax professionals. However, those that work for themselves may not be able to use this program if they have made a large sum of income from their business.

This is an unfortunate fact for those 13 million businesses that make under $50,000 a year, as this amount would allow them to qualify for the free help if they were filing as an individual. It is likely that a person who is self-employed as a cab driver, housekeeper or performing some other type of day labor would benefit from the knowledge of a tax preparer.

Beginning in 2006, the Corporation for Enterprise Development started assisting groups in 18 communities across the U.S. in making this help available to thousands of businesses. It is their goal to reach out to business owners and help to connect them to educational and financial services in order to assure that they have the tools needed to become successful.

Tax time is a moment when the reality of business ownership can really hit a person. They often are using an informal business as supplemental income which makes the need for tax help greater.

The CFED desires that the IRS would allow more low and middle class small businesses to benefit from the free tax services.

Often those who do not qualify for the free tax help will be referred to other organizations that will provide the turbo tax services at a discounted price.

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Use Turbo Tax To Help With Taxes

For many people out there tax time may seem a confusing mess. There are many people who just need a little help with taxes. One of the options out there to help is turbo tax to help get your taxes done right.

If you are unfamiliar with turbo tax you may wonder what it is. Well it is basically software set up to help you file your taxes. With the help of this software you may actually find deductions you failed to notice before and even increase your final refund. By doing you taxes online as well there is no delay of waiting for the mail. Everything will go directly to the IRS and your refund will get processed more promptly. You can have your refund direct deposited to your bank in the least possible time.

Incorrectly filed taxes can also be a hassle. Not only could you be missing out on money you deserve there is also the issue of fees and fines. A well meaning tax payer may think that everything is under control only to be shocked when a letter arrives from the IRS looking for a bill. Doing your taxes correctly the first time will save time and grief. Taxes do not need to be complicated so if you need some help make sure you go to the right place.

So taking a look at using turbo tax for help with your taxes may be for you. There are different options for individuals and business owners as well as those people with investments. Taxes can be tricky but the need not be with a little help.

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Institutions That Provide Help With Taxes

What to think through when you need help with taxes

The Internal Revenue Service has joined forces with a number of institutions to help certain individuals and families work through tax issues using the turbo tax system. This comes especially when closing dates for submitting income taxes is pending.

Here are some of these institutions.

The IRS, Department of Justice and the Community Relations Division of the Burlington Police Department through the Weed and Seed program provide free turbo tax preparation and e-filing to individuals with low income. However, only single individuals, earning not more than $30,000 per year, and single individuals with dependents filing together or not, making not more than $50,000 per year qualify for this program.

Elon University, particularly the Beta Alpha Psi and the accounting and finance professional society on the campus, is also in partner with the IRS. The services are offered to competent tax payers on campus include e-filing basic returns through a clinic which is being held every Wednesday and Saturday at the Holly Hill Mall, with the exception of 17th, 21st and 24th of March.

However, according to Rhonda Farmer, the director of Academy of Finance, residence of Alamance County will be short of one outlet. The Walter Williams High School, which has been offering tax assistance to low and moderate income earners, will not be hosting the program this year.

This is because the school is short of manpower considering how concentrated the program usually is. According to Farmer, the school, students and even she have been going through a lot of strain after the loss of two of the school’s business teachers.

She also added that initially, the IRS never sent back an acceptance confirmation to the school, even after submitting the returns prepared by the students, teachers and her.

She insisted that the preparation was always an intense program.

Regardless of the challenges, she wishes for the program to be reestablished at the school

This is because, apart from helping the community, the students always learned a lot and gained certain skills from the program.

If an individual needs help with taxes from any IRS partners, he must avail certain documentation. These include a photo ID, social security cards, birth dates, income statements in either of these forms W-2, W-2G or 1099-R and proof of bank account routing numbers.

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After Fierce Contention Over Payroll Tax, GOP Plays Offense To Dems.

With reputations damaged after payroll tax cut squabbles, Republicans in congress fight to change topics by emphasizing job creation. Pushing legislation that would bring jobs to the suffering economy, the GOP contends that bills promoting energy and transportation services, as well as lowering business tax and promoting capital, will reinvigorate the weak job market.

On the other hand, Democrats fight to retain control by forcing the Republican vote on needed programs paid for by tax hikes on the highest wage earners, in an election year nonetheless.

Both legislative positions emphasize political strategy drawn from the fight over payroll. The battle came to a close Friday evening after Congress utilized bipartisan compromise to deliver President Obama a bill totaling 143 billion in revenue. The package is intended to keep jobless benefits for those without work, stop cuts in Medicare reimbursement, and extends a 2 percent tax cut for payroll.

Before rescinding their demands that payroll tax cuts be paid for by lowering government spending, Democrats had succeeded in painting the Republicans as opposing middle class tax brakes for over 160 million people. The GOP seeks to redirect voters to Obama’s failures on the economy, taking attention off the party’s dismal showing in an election year.

As Republicans fight to preserve jobs and lower 2012 taxes, Dems seek to extend unemployment benefits and medicare provisions that many Americans depend on. With Republican measures in danger, there is little likelihood Republican energy bills will pass the Senate let alone get Obama’s signature. However, Republicans hope to make the best of the situation by showing they are in favor of job creation.

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A Recent Poll Shows Popularity Of The Millionare Tax

Most people agree with President Obama’s plan to require millionaires to put a significant amount of their income toward their 2012 taxes. However, the same people would prefer to see a cut in spending rather than a millionaire tax to help balance the federal budget. These results come from an Associated Press-GfK Poll.

The survey shows that Obama’s millionaire tax plan has a lot of support. However, his plan has not changed people’s opinions on how to bring down the budget deficit. United States deficits have been larger than $1 trillion dollars a year. Sixty-five percent of the people polled agreed with President Obama’s plan to tax millionaires at a rate equal to 30 percent of their income. According to the poll, only 26 percent of those surveyed were against the idea.

Interestingly, 56 percent of those polled preferred spending cuts rather than hikes in 2012 taxes to fix the budget. Thirty-one percent of those polled preferred tax hikes. This same question was asked a year ago, and the response changed only slightly.

The poll further showed that the majority of people have a more favorable view of Democrats than they do of Republicans. This should be good news for President Obama as we enter election season. According to the poll, 54 percent of those surveyed gave the Democrats good ratings and 46 percent of those surveyed gave Republicans favorable ratings.

Although Obama has little chance of having his proposal passed by Congress during the campaign season, it serves as a Democratic rallying cry. It also shows a stark contrast between Democrats and Republicans who would like to lower the tax rate for millionaires. It will be interesting to see how these issues are approached during the election.

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