Every year, the IRS announces that it is holding unclaimed tax refunds. Taxpayers have a limited time to claim the $2 billion dollars the IRS is currently holding.
Three years is a magical number when it comes to Tax Returns. It refers to the statute of limitations on certain tax issues such as when an audit can occur, when refunds can be claimed and when amended tax returns can be filed. The IRS is currently holding $2 billion dollars in unclaimed tax refunds for the 2002 tax year and taxpayers must file their claims by April 17, 2006 or lose the refunds forever.
Approximately 1.7 million people are due refunds out of the $2 billion dollars currently held by the IRS. These people have refunds due because they failed to file tax returns for 2002. This occurred most likely because people felt they did not make enough money to warrant filing a tax return. By failing to file, however, they have left $570 on average with the IRS.
If a taxpayer fails to claim the tax refund by filing a tax return for 2002, the money will default to the federal government. Importantly, there is no penalty associated for filing late if a taxpayer is due a tax refund. This is common misconception among non-filers.
One group of taxpayers that almost always has a large percentage of non-filers is military personnel. Obviously, it is a bit hard to file from Afghanistan, but now is the time to do so for 2002. Members of the military that failed to file in 2002 are owed an average of $749 per taxpayer.
The IRS releases demographic on the areas in the United States where refunds are due. To this end, California and Texas are the states where the most individuals are due refunds while Idaho has only 6,200 people due a refund.
Nobody finds filing taxes an exciting prospect. The pain is much less, however, is you know you are due a refund. If you failed to file in 2002, you might be throwing away a nice little chunk of change.
Wouldn't it be nice to know how much your income tax refund check will be. It's like having money in the bank. Yes, there is a simple way to estimate your tax refund in advance and it won't cost you a dime.
I'm about to show you how you can estimate your Federal IRS income tax refund or return in advance, for free!
How to estimate your income tax refund
Forget about using pen, paper and a calculator, we're going to estimate your taxes with the help of the Internet. Using an online tax refund estimator, we can get this done in about 10-15 minutes. The tax refund estimator will need to gather information about you, to make an estimate. All you have to do is make simple entries.
Here is how and what you'll be asked:
Screen 1. Your filing status, age, your children and other dependents.
Screen 2. Earnings, gross wages and self employment income.
Screen 3. Any investment income such as interest, dividends and capital gains.
Screen 4. Any other income such as rental, royalty , partnerships, trusts, tax refunds, alimony, unemployment, social security and any other income.
Screen 5. Ira and education expenses such as Ira contributions, student loan interest, college tuition and expenses.
Screen 6. Expenses, business and work related, self employed health insurance, moving, Keogh and other.
Screen 7. Deductions and personal expenses such as medical, real estate, mortgage interest, home equity loan, charitable contributions, alimony you paid, child care, gambling losses, theft and other.
Screen 8. Miscellaneous tax items. These tax items apply to relatively few people. AMT and other misc.
Screen 9. Withholding, Federal income tax withheld, State income tax withheld and future withholding if before end of tax year.
Screen 10. Tax payments you have made or will make for this year.
And now what you've been waiting for.
The Results! That's it, you'll know how much your tax refund will be, so you can make important financial decisions.
There are several methods which can get you your tax refund quicker. It depends on whether you keep detailed records on at least a monthly basis or not. The price of good organization is the rapid response to your tax return. It will help you, if you are a business rather than an individual, to have conscientious employees. You must first have the means to determine whether you have a refund. Some have tax attorneys, if this is your case then insure that you have the very best tax attorney who has a fantastic accountant. They will have your books updated monthly and will probably have your tax return ready to file before January 31. They can submit your return electronically over the internet through your tax attorney. If you aren’t in this category then you can take all your expense records which include sales slips, interest for school loans, medical expenses, records of loss from investments, thefts and personal checks from your bank account with your 1090’s from all of your jobs to a well known tax agency. They will review your records and assist you in claiming any legal deductions. Some of these agencies will for a percentage of your return provide you a check immediately for any return funds owed you by the federal and state governments.
Another method can be the use of the EZ tax form whereby you only take the standard deduction and skip making detailed deductions. Another method is the EZ eform tax return where the tax payer goes to http://www.irs.org and uses tax preparation software free. There are several free contractor provided tax preparation software packages for you to use in preparation of your tax return. Each walks you through your tax return where you can choose whether to take the standard deduction or itemize them. The software is extremely reliable and should enable you to accurately complete your tax return. After they complete the process of correctly preparing their tax return online, you can sign it electronically and submit it immediately. This will start their tax return process much faster than snail mail.
The easiest and quickest way to file a return and obtain a refund, is to do this electronically--a practice already used by more than half of all taxpayers. The conventional way of Free IRS Efile taxes has been opposed by online tax filing systems in recent times. Filing online will allow you to get your tax refund in as little as 10 days.
The process of filing taxes online is simple and trouble free. The customer first prepares his tax papers personally or approaches professional tax consultants to do so on his behalf. After the tax papers have been prepared they can be effortlessly filed through an IRS e-file provider. Filing can be done online as well, but if an individual is not sure about the mechanics, it is better to seek professional guidance. Usually most tax experts will be licensed IRS e-file providers. The relevant documents are signed and retained by the customer for future reference. The IRS e-file provider then files the returns electronically on the behalf of the customers. Next, the IRS e-file provider sends the customer an acknowledgement mentioning the current status of the filing process.
Online filing eliminates the need for going through tiring steps of rushing to the local IRS offices and post offices and waiting in never ending queues to post the papers before the due date. Office hopping has been completely eliminated. The only thing required is a reliable computer and Internet connection. Mistakes and errors can be corrected online in comparatively less time. Online tax filing has reduced the time gap prior to receiving Income Tax Refunds and papers can be printed to maintain precise records for future reference. Online tax filing also facilitates tax payments using credit cards. It has reduced back office processing time considerably.
Join the millions of people who have discovered how easy, online tax filing can be. The cost will be much less, your tax forms will get to the IRS with no hand-written errors, and you'll get your tax refund in as little as 10 days.
Purpose of This Computer Program The purpose of this application is to help employees to ensure that they do not have too much or too little income tax withheld from their pay. It is not a replacement for Form W-4, but most people will find it more accurate and easier to use than the worksheets that accompany Form W-4. You may use the results of this program to help you complete a new Form W-4, which you will submit to your employer.
Tips For Using This Program
Have your most recent pay stubs handy.
Have your most recent income tax return handy.
Fill in all information that applies to your situation.
Estimate values if necessary, remembering that the results can only be as accurate as the input you provide.
Consult the information links embedded in the program whenever you have a question.
Print out the final screen that summarizes your input and the results, then use it to complete a new Form W-4 (if necessary), and keep it for your records.
Who Can Benefit From This Application?
Employees who would like to change their withholding to reduce their tax refund or their balance due;
Employees whose situations are only approximated by the worksheets on the paper W-4 (e.g., anyone with concurrent jobs, or couples in which both are employed; those entitled to file as Head of Household; and those with several children eligible for the Child Tax Credit);
Employees with non-wage income in excess of their adjustments and deductions, who would prefer to have tax on that income withheld from their paychecks rather than make periodic separate payments through the estimated tax procedures.
For Special Situations If your situation is among those listed below, you will probably achieve more accurate withholding by following the instructions in Publication 919, How Do I Adjust My Tax Withholding?
If you will be subject to alternative minimum tax, self-employment tax, or other taxes; or
If any of your current jobs will end before the end of the year.