Can't Afford To Pay Your Income Tax?

Did you know that every year, the IRS receives millions of returns from taxpayers who can’t pay what they owe before the April 15th deadline?

Well I'm In The Process Of Filing My Taxes Online!

I'm kinda almost finished though!

I must say that this is the first time that I have ever filed my taxes online! And for me - and I don't know why - but it felt like a scary thing to do!

First of all there was my local area tax which is called the Earned Income Tax - EIT for short. This is a tax that my local area has where residents are charged a 1% tax on any income that they have earned. Of course in the previous years I have always filed this tax the old way which was by filling out the form, paying the tax and mailing it in. But this year I decided to try and file online. Well the first time I tried to file this form online it wasn't working for me right and I got frustrated and stopped. Then a few days later I decided to try it again and it went almost 100% smoothly! I was still quite nervous filing it out maybe because it is getting so near the due date to file the income tax forms. But I did manage to get through it in one session and when I saw "your tax return has been filed successfully", I breathed a sigh of relief! *I should note here that while filing a tax return online may be more easier and convenient for some, I noticed that as far as my local tax return is concerned the company that handles it charges a fee for filing online if you owe any tax!

Ok so next comes my state (Pennsylvania) income tax form. Now while I was feeling good about filing my local tax online successfully, I was still a bit nervous about going to the next filing - I don't know why - maybe it was just because I was doing it for the first time! But after a slow start, I did successfully manage to file my state income tax form online as well and as well I got that same "your tax return has been filed successfully".

Goody! I was successfully able to file both returns online and I made it by the due date (which is next week!)

I haven't filed my federal income tax return online yet because doing 2 of them in one day is just too much more than my nerves can stand! So I still have a few days left yet to file my federal return online.

If you have never filed your income tax forms online before I'm here to tell you that it is kind of a scary thing - at least for me it was - but it may be something that you might be interested in doing. Of course you save the cost of a stamp but maybe that is just a small matter.

I'm blogging about this mostly because I don't know why I put myself in such a state of nervousness when I was trying to do this. In fact I think my nervousness and anxiety about doing this made it even worse! But I got through the first 2 forms and I'm feeling good! Now I have the one form - the federal - left to do.

If you're thinking about filing your taxes online you may find out that it isn't as hard as you thought it might be!

Turbo Tax

Well as you know we are right at the start of tax season! Yes that's right another year has gone by and it's now time to get ready to file one's taxes for 2008!

Personally I have quite a few tax forms that I have to prepare for this year including a local Earned Income Tax that I have to pay in my own local area - LaMott, PA

One of the most popular tax software packages seems to be Turbo Tax! - although I still choose to do my income taxes by hand - the old-fashioned way - LOL!

TurboTax is the #1-rated, best-selling tax software. Free Edition includes free IRS efile. Easily prepare your tax return and file income taxes online. You can find out more about this income tax preparation software by going to the Intuit website.



Comments Received

Hadyn said...

TurboTax provides many different tax software packages...

The IRS Is Giving Some Taxpayers A Break!

With tax season here (already?) here is at least some good news for some taxpayers!

The IRS is trying to help make it easier for those that owe back taxes. They have relaxed some of their rules for those that owe back taxes.

The IRS Softens Some Of It's Rules!

A Tax On Grocery Bags!

I saw this headlined article and couldn't believe it!

There is a mayor who wants to put a 20-cent tax on plastic grocery bags! That means that a customer / shopper would have to pay an additonal 20 cents
for each grocery bag that they use!

I really think that this is so ridiculous! However I am reminded of my local Aldi store where shoppers are charged something like 25-cents to buy their grocery bags.

The tax is being proposed because of the feeling about how plastic bags are not good for the environment and to encourage people to re-use their bags.

Here is a link to the news story!

Paying Income Taxes - A Necessary Evil!

Well I'm almost finished filing out and completing my income tax forms for this year. I have already completed my local tax form which is called an Earned Income Tax where you are taxed 1 percent of your income.

I have also completed my state income tax forms which was the big holdup because I had to wait until I got a Schedule C form from them - which I got a few days ago. (By the way you can always go to your state website and download tax forms so that you can have them right away.)

I think I have finished my federal income tax form but I want to make copies of that before I seal up the envelope and put a stamp on it. The form(s) are downstairs and I just don't feel like getting them right now - but I should be finished completing them though.

Since I'm self-employed and work from home, filing out my income taxes this year was quite difficult and more complicated. It was a lot more easier when I was working for somebody else!

However on the plus side there were some things that I was able to deduct as far as business expenses were concerned and now I have made a mental note to save my receipts that are related to business because I never really done that before.

Of course when you're self-employed that means more paperwork as far as one's income taxes are concerned but since I have worked for both the IRS and H & R Block, I am familiar with the basic procedure of filing out tax forms. In fact it will be fun to see which business expenses I can legally deduct as far as my business is concerned.

I was also noticing when I was filling out my income tax retunrs just how many things one has to declare as far as income is concerned. Lottery winnings, grants and even the interest you get from banks and the like! Other things like social security and disability income that you get are sometimes not taxable BUT if you want to claim the special tax stimulus refund then you have to fill out an income tax form. I know someone who is doing this and they are expecting a $300 refund!

I also will be getting a refund this year - thanks mainly in part to the business expenses that I was able to claim and deduct.

I started to fill out my income taxes more than a month ago and I'm just now getting to the end of it. But once they are in the mail I will be quite relieved!

Tax Season Is Here!

With the New Year comes the new tax season. I realize that it is only January but the sooner you face the fact that you have to do your income taxes the better off you will be!

There is the federal income tax, the state income tax and in more local areas (like my own local area I also have what is called an "Earned Income Tax" - yeah it's a bummer but it is a bummer that HAS to be done!

If you are not comfortable with doing your own income tax then by all means hire an income tax preparer to do your income tax. I used to work for both H & R Block and the IRS and believe me if you hire a good income tax preparer then they may be able to help you get a higher tax refund.

Property Tax Bill(s) Tidbit!

Here is an interesting little thing that I found out

It seems that there is at least one county that sells the unpaid property tax bills of its residents. Whoever buys these property tax bill(s) will pay the bill but will then become the person or company that you still owe the bill to.

In other words while you won't be liable to your county you are liable to whoever owns that property tax bill note.

Personally I think that this is just horrible - instead of finding a better way to work with the persons that owe the property tax bill they are sold off to the highest bidder.

So I guess that my piece of advice here is to just be able to pay your property tax bill because you might end up with a more worse creditor than your county tax office!

Losing Your Home To Back Property Taxes

Here are some basic things that I know about this process....

If your property taxes are not paid (in some cases by the end of the year) then their is a lien put on the property. In that case if you sell the property then the amount of the back property taxed owed has to be paid before you get any money. If the property taxes aren't paid then the property is sold and the back taxes are paid from the amount that the property sold for.

I have heard different views on what a person can do in situations like this one. I have even heard the term "property tax consultant".

It is never a very pleasant thing when someone is losing their property especially when that property is their home.

Tax Software For Free?

I received this email offer for free tax software that can be downloaded right off the internet. Now there's nothing wrong with trying out new software BUT when it comes to something as important as your taxes I think that the best way to go is to go along the way you have been going regardless of whether you do your taxes yourself or you hire someone to do it.

You can try out the software fine but just don't use it as the only way to do your taxes - at least not initially. You can try out the software (and since it's free software there shouldn't be a cost involved) and if you like it (and hopefully can trust it) then you will feel more comfortable using it for preparing your taxes.

Getting Fast Cash?

Income tax season is upon us now and a lot of the tax preparation businesses are offering "get cash now" services. Basically what it involves is you being able to get your tax refund now instead of waiting for it to come from the IRS. However you should be aware that you will pay a high price for doing this. In order to provide you with the cash right away the business charges fees and these are high fees. It has been reported that people take this "payday"- type loans and when they can't pay it back they take out another loan and so the cycle continues. Not everything is black and white and in some instances there may be the necessity to take out these kinds of loans but you should try to avoid doing this as much as you can.

It is a sad thing to say since I used to work for one of these big income tax preparation businesses (but this was well before the onslaught of being able to get your income tax refund before the IRS mailed it to you) but the fact of the matter is that they can charge you a big fee in return for providing you with "fast" cash.

You should check and see if you can get some free or low-cost tax preparation help. I know that the IRS itself provides help because I have used it in the past (heck I even used to work for them!). They have a phone number and a web site and you can find that out by looking in your local phonebook. You should also see if your area provides some income tax preparation help as well. Many communities offer these kinds of services at a low or free cost. If you make under a certain amount of money you can get help with your taxes free! The same thing applies to seniors who need help with their income tax preparation.

So although you may want to get your tax refund back as soon as possible try to find a low or free cost way to do it.