{"id":885,"date":"2020-12-17T16:36:47","date_gmt":"2020-12-17T16:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ayoub-associates.com\/blog\/?p=885"},"modified":"2020-12-17T16:36:50","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T16:36:50","slug":"get-ready-for-taxes-stay-home-and-stay-safe-with-irs-online-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ayoub-associates.com\/blog\/get-ready-for-taxes-stay-home-and-stay-safe-with-irs-online-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"Get Ready for Taxes: Stay home and stay safe with IRS online tools"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p> IR-2020-277, December 16, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>WASHINGTON \u2014 The Internal Revenue Service today encouraged taxpayers to take necessary actions now to help file federal tax returns timely and accurately in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the fourth in a series of reminders to help taxpayers get ready for the upcoming tax filing season. A&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/individuals\/steps-to-take-now-to-get-a-jump-on-next-years-taxes\">special page<\/a>, updated and available on IRS.gov, outlines steps taxpayers can take to make tax filing easier in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With continued social distancing, taxpayers can stay home and stay safe with IRS&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/help\/telephone-assistance\">online tools and resources<\/a>&nbsp;that help them find the information they need. These IRS.gov tools are easy to use and available 24 hours a day. Millions of people use them to find information about their accounts, get answers to tax questions or file and pay taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Free File<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Almost everyone can file electronically for free. The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/filing\/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free\">IRS Free File program<\/a>, available only through IRS.gov or the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/newsroom\/irs2goapp\">IRS2Go app<\/a>, offers brand-name tax preparation software packages at no cost. The software does all the work of finding deductions, credits and exemptions. It&#8217;s free for those who earned $72,000 or less in 2020. Some of the Free File packages also offer free state tax return preparation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taxpayers comfortable filling out tax forms electronically, can use&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/e-file-providers\/free-file-fillable-forms\">Free File Fillable Forms<\/a>, regardless of income, to file their tax returns either by mail or online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Choosing a preparer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The IRS has several options for finding a tax preparer. One resource is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/tax-professionals\/choosing-a-tax-professional\">Choosing a Tax Professional<\/a>, which offers a wealth of information for selecting a tax professional. The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/irs.treasury.gov\/rpo\/rpo.jsf\">Directory of Federal Tax Return Preparers with Credentials and Select Qualifications<\/a>&nbsp;can help taxpayers find preparers in their area who currently hold professional credentials recognized by the IRS, or who hold an Annual Filing Season Program Record of Completion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Other online help<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/help\/ita\">Interactive Tax Assistant<\/a>&nbsp;answers general tax questions, including helping to determine if a type of income is taxable or if someone is eligible to claim certain credits and deductions. With changes to income and other&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/individuals\/did-you-know-life-events-like-marriage-birth-and-divorce-may-have-a-significant-tax-impact\">life events<\/a>&nbsp;for many in 2020, tax&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/credits-and-deductions\">credits and deductions<\/a>&nbsp;can mean more money in a taxpayer&#8217;s pocket and thinking about eligibility now can help make tax filing easier next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taxpayers may qualify for credits like the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/forms-pubs\/about-publication-972\">Child Tax Credit<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/publications\/p503\">Child and Dependent Care Credit<\/a>. Taxpayers whose dependent does not qualify for the CTC might be able to claim the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/forms-pubs\/about-publication-972\">Credit for Other Dependents<\/a>. Individuals paying higher education costs for themselves, a spouse or a dependent, may be eligible to save some money with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/newsroom\/tax-benefits-for-education-information-center\">education tax credits or deductions<\/a>. Additionally, low- to moderate-income taxpayers may qualify for the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/credits-deductions\/individuals\/earned-income-tax-credit\">Earned Income Tax Credit<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beginning in January 2021, the Interactive Tax Assistant will be updated to include answers to more tax law questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taxpayers can check the status of their refund using the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/refunds\">Where&#8217;s My Refund?<\/a>&nbsp;tool. The status is available within 24 hours after the IRS receives their e-filed tax return or up to four weeks after they mailed a paper return. The Where&#8217;s My Refund? tool updates once every 24 hours, usually overnight, so taxpayers only need to check once a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The best and fastest way for taxpayers to get their tax refund is to have it&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/refunds\/get-your-refund-faster-tell-irs-to-direct-deposit-your-refund-to-one-two-or-three-accounts\">direct deposited<\/a>&nbsp;into their financial account. Taxpayers who don&#8217;t have a financial account can visit the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fdic.gov\/about\/initiatives\/getbanked\/index.html\">FDIC website<\/a>&nbsp;for information to help open an account online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information about planning ahead, see\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/pub\/irs-pdf\/p5348.pdf\">Publication 5348, Get Ready to File\u00a0<strong>PDF<\/strong><\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/pub\/irs-pdf\/p5349.pdf\">Publication 5349, Year-Round Tax Planning is for Everyone\u00a0<strong>PDF<\/strong><\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/newsroom\/get-ready-for-taxes-stay-home-and-stay-safe-with-irs-online-tools\">https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/newsroom\/get-ready-for-taxes-stay-home-and-stay-safe-with-irs-online-tools<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IR-2020-277, December 16, 2020 WASHINGTON \u2014 The Internal Revenue Service today encouraged taxpayers to take necessary actions now to help file federal tax returns timely and accurately in 2021. This [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88892,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Get Ready for Taxes: Stay home and stay safe with IRS online tools - Ayoub Sidhum &amp; Co.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ayoub and Associates CPA Firm is a full service Corona CPA firm that provides services in accounting, tax preparation and planning, IRS audit, and sales tax. 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