Tax Help Information

Some confusion exists about which income amounts received from various sources are taxable. While all income received worldwide is subject to tax, there are a few categories that allow you to avoid the big tax hand. You would normally include many of the common ones on your W 4 tax form you give it to your employer at the start of each year. Your employer uses this form to decide how much tax they would take off from your paycheck each period. Child support payments and welfare benefits are common nontaxable income items. So too are adoption expense reimbursements, workers’ compensation benefits, and cash rebates from a dealer or manufacturer. Having to declare many of these items would prompt you to fill out the IRS form 1040ez instead of the basic 1040 form. The cash surrender value you receive from a life insurance policy may also be nontaxable, but you should get competent financial advice about these payments before including them on your income tax returns.

The article below will give you some important tips and ideas for preparing your income tax return.

Check if Your Boss Has Filed Taxes For Your Wages

There are many ways to find out if your boss had filed taxes for your wages or not. The easy way, is to ask your boss if the tax filing has taken placed. However, you may not wish to take your boss’s word for something that is as important as taxes. The only way to find out, for sure, is to get the information from the official source - the IRS. So how do you go about doing it?

Go to the government security website, socialsecurity.gov Note the extension at the end of the domain name. It has to be .gov, and not .com, .net or any other extension. If it’s not a .gov, do not leave any sensitive information through the website. Leave the website immediately.

Locate and click the link to the section on “Questions about: Earnings and Employment”.

Choose the “Earnings and Employment” category, then from the drop down menu, choose: General-Earnings & Employment.

Next, click on the question “How can I check my Social Security earnings for accuracy?”, and you will be presented with further instructions.

You may then proceed to check your Social Security Statements for last year, and for years prior to last year. When you are checking the Statement for the previous year, your earnings should be reflected in this years statement. Sometimes, while you are checking, you may discover that the earnings reflected is not complete. This may be because some of the earnings filed for the last year is still in process.

However, earnings for years prior to the last year may also be incorrect. When that happens, you need to take corrective measures immediately. The number to call is 1-800-772-1213 (7 a.m - 7 p.m). Have your W-2 and your tax returns with you so that you can clarify the mistakes during the call.

If you do not have your most recent Social Security Statement, you can request for one online by downloading the SSA-7004 form. You can also request for the form to be sent to you by calling 1-800-772-1213. Alternatively, you may take some time off and take a trip to the local Social Security office to fill up the form. Once you submit a request for the Statement, you won’t receive another Statement automatically till the year is over.

Once you receive your report, you will be able to check if your boss had filed taxes for your wages. Refer to W-2 for any particular year. If taxes had not been filed, you will have to provide the Social Security office with copies of the W-2 as well as copies of your tax filing.

With the Internet, making a request for the report is very fast and convenient. This will give you the opportunity to erase any inaccuracies in your previous years’ tax filings.

For more information on State tax returns and e file tax returns, please visit our website.

Remember that while cash is king, taxable income may include other forms of payments. For example, if you decide to swap your product or service, including your labor, for another product, service or labor, you are in effect creating taxable income.

Originally posted 2009-02-09 09:29:36. Republished by Old Post Promoter