Children can reduce the amount of taxes you pay every year. There are many tax benefits for parents. When filing your federal tax returns, look out for these benefits:

Dependents: Children can be claimed as dependents in most cases. You are entitled to deduct $3,950 per dependent. If your income is above a certain amount this deduction will be less. Refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information for more details.

Child Tax Credit: For each qualifying child under age 17, you can claim the Child Tax Credit of up to $1,000 per child. Chi If you happen to get less than the full credit, you might be entitled to Additional Child Tax Credit. See the Child Tax Credit Schedule 8812 and Publication 972 for more details.

Dependent and Child Care Credit: This credit can be claimed if you paid for care for one or more qualifying persons, such as dependent children under age 13. The care must have been paid for because you were working or looking for work. See Child and Dependent Care Expenses, Publication 503 for more on this credit.

Tax Credit for Earned Income: If you earned less than $52,427 last year, you might qualify for the Earned Income Credit. You can claim up to $6,143 in EITC. You are eligible with or without children. Have a look at the 2014 EITC Assistant tool at www.IRS.gov to see if you qualify.

Credit for Adoption: If you paid certain costs to adopt a child, you might be able to claim this tax credit. See Qualified Adoption Expenses in Form 8839 for more details.

Tax Credits for Education: These are designed to help with the cost of higher education. Two different credits are available. The Lifetime Learning Credit and The American Opportunity Tax Credit can help to reduce how much taxes you owe.

Should your taxed be reduced to zero or less after applying the credit, you might get a refund. You might still qualify if you don’t owe taxes. File for this credit using Education Credits on Form 8863. See Publication 970 Tax Benefits for Education or visit the Interactive Tax Assistant tool on IRS.gov to learn more and see if you qualify.

Use the Interactive Tax Assistant tool on IRS.gov to see if you can claim them. Visit the IRS’s Education Credits Web page to learn more. Also see Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education, for more on this topic.

Interest for Student Loan: On a qualified student loan, you might be able to deduct the interest paid. Even if you don’t itemize your deductions, you can still claim this benefit. See Publication 970 for more information.

Deduction for Self-Employed Health Insurance: Were you self-employed and paid for your own health insurance? You might be eligible for premium deduction through the year. This will include any cost to cover dependent or non-dependent children less than 27 years of age. Have a look at Publication 535 Business Expenses for more info.

How TurboTax Can Help

TurboTax understands that tax season can be stressful and confusing for some. However, they make sure that their customers never miss out on a deduction and are able to keep the maximum amount of their hard earned money while receiving the biggest refund imaginable.

Turbo Tax covers more than 350 deductions and shows you which of them you qualify for. Be sure to check out their free tax refund estimator and if you ever have any tax related questions contact them at any time to have your questions answered by a tax expert.

The April 15^th tax deadline is gone, your taxes are done, but why should you even still have an interest in your taxes?

You don’t have to jump into tax planning at this very moment, but you should be aware of some things that you can do throughout the next year so you will get the maximum tax refund possible next year. The 6 tips below will help.

2016 Tax Year Tips:

• Get and Stay Organized. Your taxes are already filed, but staying organized will make filing next year much easier. Create a file for financial records and other important documents. That way you will be ahead of the game next year at tax time.

• Take A Closer Look At Your W-4 Withholding. Was your tax refund a big one this year? You should consider adjusting your withholding. These are the taxes taken from your salary by your employer. You can update them by re-filing your W-4 form with the payroll department. With Turbo Tax W-4 calculator, you can estimate your exemptions and update your W-4 form anytime during the year.

• Donate to Charities before year’s end.  When filing your taxes next year, you can minimize your tax liability by making charitable contributions in money or goods. Made use of TurboTax Its Deductible to track your charitable donations all through the year. The app will convert your donations into tax deductions and will make importing the appropriate info into Turbo Tax easy at filing time.

• Contributing to retirement funds to reduce taxable income. Planning for your retirement can help to reduce your tax burden for next year. For every dollar you contribute to your 401(k) or Traditional IRA you will get an equivalent reduction in your earned income when filing your taxes. For the year 2015 you are allowed to contribute $18,000 to your 401K and if you are over 50 years old that increases to $24,000. For your traditional IRA you can contribute up to $5,500 or $6,500 if you are 50 or older.

• Di you pay tax penalty for 2014? Then sign-up for healthcare. Did you pay a tax penalty in 2014 for not having health insurance? Then you have until the deadline of April 30 to enroll in the Marketplace plan unless you have gone through a special life event. You will avoid having to pay the tax penalty next year, which is expected to go up to $325 for an adult and $975 per family or as much as 2% of your income, whichever figure is bigger.

• Update financial information in the Health Insurance Marketplace. You will need to update your financial details in the Marketplace if you purchased insurance during the previous Open Enrollment and you got a tax credit to help with insurance coverage fees. By doing this you are getting the maximum allowable help you are entitled to while not having to repay extra tax credits, which you will not be eligible for next year.

Turn to TurboTax for Help at Tax Time

When you turn to Turbo Tax for help it will be like an interview. They will ask easy to answer questions while filling in the correct 1040 tax forms for you behind the scenes.

The answers you provide will enable them to see which deductions and credits you qualify for. In the event that you are unsure how to answer a question there are tax experts readily available to help you.

Turbo Tax online provides you with step by step instructions to insure that you get every deduction and credit that you are eligible for. Turbo Tax insures that you get the largest refund possible. They even have a free tax refund calculator available that allows you to know the amount of money that you will be getting back.

If you worked throughout of the entire year, getting a tax refund is important to you. However, waiting for your refund to arrive is frustrating, but it is even more frustrating when you get less than what you expected or no refund at all. Therefore, today we are discussing some of the reasons the IRS may change your refund and what to do if it happens.

Each year, 80% of taxpayers get a refund. However, millions of taxpayers are shocked when it comes because it is less than what they anticipated or they don’t get a refund at all. Below, we are covering the most common reasons for the IRS to change tax refund amounts.

You Owe Them Money

More than 17 million taxpayers owe the IRS money. Therefore, to get the money that is owed to them sometimes they have to deduct it from refunds. Keep in mind, when you owe the IRS, they can take your refund for up to 10 years after you have owed them money.

Your Spouse Owes Them Money

If you file a joint return with a spouse who owes the IRS (this includes child support and student loan debt), the IRS can use the joint return refund money to pay off their debt. If you don’t want your portion of the refund to go towards their debt, you have to file Form 8379. Three months after the form has been filed, the IRS will send you your share of the refund. Keep in mind, before you marry someone you should know about his or her financial situation.

Error on Return

It is not uncommon for the IRS to hold refunds that were given because of a tax credit. This is especially true for tax filers who claim the EITC or Child Tax Credit. If you are under an audit, you can also have your refund held.

When the IRS is holding your refund, you will receive a notice from them for a request for more information. As long as you turn in the information by the deadline, you will still receive your refund if it is deserved.

TurboTax will accurately calculate all tax credits, based on your answers to easy questions.

Identity Theft

The IRS will stop refunds if they feel a fraudulent return was filed. If this happens, they will send you a notice to confirm your identity. Once your identity has been confirmed your refund will be released.

Dependent Discrepancy

If the dependent information is wrong or someone else has claimed the dependent, the IRS will have to determine who needs to claim the dependent or you will have to fix the information. Supporting documentation may be required to clear up this dilemma.

Return Rejected

Many times refunds are delayed because the IRS rejected your return and you did not refile. When your return is rejected, simply fix the information and refile.

Closing Thoughts

In the event that you do not receive your return in three weeks, you should see what the holdup is. Your tax professional can help you with this; however, you have to make sure you have given them the authority to talk to the IRS on your behalf.

Additionally, if your refund is less than what you expected, check into it so you can see where the money went. This way you can know if it is a onetime thing or will continue happening. If it happened because of a result of an isolated incident that happened one year, ask to have the penalties removed because of good compliance history. This waiver could save you approximately $250

Identity theft is something that is all too common in this day in age. You may not want to believe it but numbers show us that it is more common than anyone likes to think.

According to the Wall Street Journal, 803 individual records have been stolen in the last three years alone. The population of the US is close to 319 million, which means despite the fact that everyone’s information has not been stolen; it could have been stolen 2.5 times in the past three years.

When tax season rolls around, this is when criminals put the stolen information to use.

How It Works

Once a thief has your name, birth date and social security number, they can file a fraudulent return. They make up all of the other information so they can generate a tax refund. You won’t find out that your information has been used until your tax return is rejected by the IRS.

By this time, the thief has the return money and you have a mess on your hands to clean up.

The Treasury Department can take up to 278 days to resolve a tax identity theft case. This means you have to prove you are who you say you are, deal with balance due, offsets, or other collection actions, and you do not get your tax refund for the year.

How to Handle Tax Identity Theft

• If you use a tax professional to file your taxes, take the IRS letter/notice to them so they can assist you.
• File Form 14039
• File a police report
• File an identity theft report with the Federal Trade Commission
• Set up fraud alerts with the major credit bureaus
• Monitor your credit reports closely for at least a year
• Notify all of your financial intuitions
• Submit your tax return by paper

As you can see this is a lot of work. However, if you file with H & R Block they have a variety of products and safeguards to help you protect your identity better.

• Tax Identity Shield – You call the hotline when someone files a fraudulent return. The number is found in your MyBlock account.

File and calculate your taxes with H & R Block to ensure that the tax professionals there have your best interests in mind.

You have just started a new side business, congratulations. However, your work is just beginning. You will have to manage your time, display your talents, and manage your home and career life. This is okay though since this is just a side business.

You will continue to make money at your full time job so you do not have to depend on your side business bringing in thousands of dollars each month immediately. Instead, you can take advantage of side business benefits, such as financial security and start-up funds. You have already jumped into the business so today we are sharing some tips that you should know.

Business Entity Creation

When entrepreneurs are first starting out they usually operate as a sole proprietors. This is because of the ease of setup and the ability to file business and personal taxes simultaneously. However, when finances start getting hectic you will wish that you would have created a separate business entity.

You have numerous options when it comes to doing so and one of the most common types is LLC. It is simple to do and you can do it online too. However, you can expect to pay a minimum of $20 or a couple of hundred.

By doing so, you are able to separate your business and personal finances, which is essential when tax season comes around. Having an LLC benefits you down the road when tax season rolls up too. Filing taxes is also the same as it would be if you were to classify yourself as a sole proprietor.

The real benefit comes in when you think about your side business in the future. It may not always be a side business; you may add employees or maybe even a partner. When the time arises, having an LLC will make doing so easier. Furthermore, and LLC can be treated as a corporation when tax time comes, this means you could save money by using corporate tax rates.

Lastly, there is financial protection. Your personal assets are usually safe when it comes to your company debts. This means as long as you do not attach a personal guarantee to it your only losses will be within your company.

Make Sure You Have a Website

With the way that the economy is now, job security can be difficult. Even those who have college degrees and outstanding skills have issues with job security. You can keep your resume and skills top of the line but what does that really count for at the end of the day?

A side business website allows you to have backup income. One client of mine has built a nice side business selling college football jerseys on the internet. Another client is making side money selling patio and garden supplies on her website.

It may take you some time to build up a full time income from your own business and be able to live comfortably but once you are able to do so if you lose your full time job you do not have to go into panic mode until the next job comes along.

It can allow you to have less stress because you know in the back of your mind you have emergency full time income coming in from your side business website if you need to resort to using it full time.

Using TurboTax for Your Taxes

Just like all of the other tax laws TurboTax has your back. Remember, when you file your taxes with TurboTax, you don’t need to know which tax forms to fill out. We’ll ask you simple questions about your life and put your answers on all the appropriate tax forms. Here is a discount code for TurboTax which can help you save money when tax time arrives

TurboTax makes it easy to file your taxes.  You can easily and accurately file in the comfort of your own home and save money.  Last tax season 75% of tax filers received a tax refund and this tax season many are already receiving their tax refunds so there’s no reason to wait!

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FICA Wage Base Remains at $118,500

The Social Security Administration has revealed that the Accounting FICA wage base taxable wages in 2016 will remain at $118,500. The maximum tax amount is $7,347 with 6.2% social security tax being paid by both employees and employers.

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You have just started a new side business, congratulations. However, your work is just beginning. You will have to manage your time, display your talents, and manage your home and career life. This is okay though since this is just a side business.

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New Parents Tax Guide

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The post Six Ways New Parents Can Save on Taxes appeared first on Internet Tax Connection.

If you have decided to purchase a home, you know that your mortgage is one of your largest debts – if not the largest. You may also find yourself paying fees known as “mortgage points”. The good news is, if you have to pay mortgage points you usually can deduct the points when you file … Read the rest

The post Deducting Mortgage Points on Your Tax Return appeared first on Internet Tax Connection.

Are you unsure which form you should be using to file your federal taxes? Many people use their computers to e-file tax forms because it’s easy and the software will automatically select the best tax form for your tax situation. However, if you are filing via paper, you have to select the best form to … Read the rest

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For many Americans, purchasing a home is more than just setting out a personal goal. It is eliminating the need of renting. It is building equity in an investment that is proven to never die out – real estate. Getting into home ownership is often a battle as mortgage payments can be sky high. Uncle … Read the rest

The post Mortgage Tax Breaks for Buying a Home appeared first on Internet Tax Connection.

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The post Things Employers Must Do To Process Employee Payroll and Pay Payroll Taxes appeared first on Internet Tax Connection.