The start of the 2017 tax season occurred this Monday on January 23rd. (Some argue tax season never ends.) By this we mean that Monday was the first day you can officially your income tax returns. Employers have until the 31st of this month to give you your W-2 and 1099 forms. If you made income on your investments in 2016, you may have to wait until mid-February to get all of your required forms.
Several states require employers to notify employees that they may be eligible for the federal (and perhaps also state) Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This year, California law was changed to require employers to also notify employees about the California EITC recently added to the law.
Following is the tax responsibility for individuals for November, 2015.
If you are an employee who works for tips and received more than $20 in tips during October, you are required to report them to your employer on the Internal Revenue Service Form 4070 no later than November 10. Your employer is required to withhold FICA taxes and income tax withholding for these tips from your regular wages. If your regular wages are insufficient to cover the FICA and tax withholding, the employer will report the amount of the uncollected withholding in box 12 of your W-2 for the year. You will be required to pay the uncollected withholding when your return for the year is filed.
October 13 – Report Tips to Employer
If you are an employee who works for tips and received more than $20 in tips during September, you are required to report them to your employer on IRS Form 4070 no later than October 13. Your employer is required to withhold FICA taxes and income tax withholding for these tips from your regular wages. If your regular wages are insufficient to cover the FICA and tax withholding, the employer will report the amount of the uncollected withholding in box 12 of your W-2 for the year. You will be required to pay the uncollected withholding when your return for the year is filed.
October 15 – Individuals Read more
You may be able to claim a credit for child and dependent care, if you pay someone to care for your dependent child who is under the age of 13, or for your spouse or other dependent who is not able to care for himself or herself. You must have incurred this expenditure so that you (and your spouse, if you are married) could work or look for work. If you are married, both you and your spouse must have some form of earned income, unless one spouse either was a full-time student for 5 months of the tax year, or was physically or mentally incapable of self-care.
The child and dependent care credit, which is a nonrefundable credit, is generally a percentage of the amount of the work-related child and dependent care expenses you paid to a care provider. The amount of this percentage depends on your adjusted gross Read more
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September 10 – Report Tips to Employer
If you are an employee who works for tips and received more than $20 in tips during August, you are required to report them to your employer on IRS Form 4070 no later than September 10. Your employer is required to withhold FICA taxes and income tax withholding for these tips from your regular wages. If your regular wages are insufficient to cover the FICA and tax withholding, the employer will report the amount of the uncollected Read more
If your employer does not reimburse you for your work-related expenses, any allowable expense in excess of 2% of your adjusted gross income is fully deductible on Schedule A.
If your employer does reimburse you, the deductibility of the expense depends on the type of reimbursement plan you have. There are two types of employer reimbursement plans: an accountable plan and a non-accountable plan.
Under an accountable plan, your employer’s reimbursement or allowance arrangement must require you to: (a) adequately account your expenses to your employer, and (b) return any excess reimbursement or allowance. Read more
If you are an employee who works for tips and received more than $20 in tips during July, you are required to report them to your employer on IRS Form 4070 no later than August 10. Your employer is required to withhold FICA taxes and income tax withholding for these tips from your regular wages. If your regular wages are insufficient to cover the FICA and tax withholding, the employer will report the amount of the uncollected withholding in box 12 of your W-2 for the year. You will be required to pay the uncollected withholding when your return for the year is filed.
Time to review your 2015 year-to-date income and expenses to ensure estimated tax payments and withholding are adequate to avoid underpayment penalties.
If you are an employee who works for tips and received more than $20 in tips during June, you are required to report them to your employer on IRS Form 4070 no later than July 10. Your employer is required to withhold FICA taxes and income tax withholding for these tips from your regular wages. If your regular wages are insufficient to cover the FICA and tax withholding, the employer will report the amount of the uncollected withholding in box Read more
If subsequent to filing your tax return, you discover that errors were made, you should file an amended tax return to correct these errors. Naturally, this corrective information will alter your tax calculations. The following are some of the typical errors you can make on your tax return:
• You did not report all of your income. For example, you received a W-2 with additional income, which arrived after you filed your original return.
• You claimed deductions or credits on your original tax return that you were not eligible for, and need to remove them.
• Conversely, you subsequently discovered that you did not claim all the deductions or credits you should have claimed, and need to include them. Read more
You should receive a Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, from each of your employers for use in preparing your federal tax return. Employers must furnish this record of 2014 earnings and withheld taxes no later than February 2, 2015 (if mailed, allow a few days for delivery).
If you do not receive your Form W-2, contact your employer to find out if and when the W-2 was mailed. If it was mailed, it may have been returned to your employer because of an incorrect address. After contacting your employer, allow a reasonable amount of time for your employer to resend or to issue the W-2.
If you still do not receive your W-2 by February 15th, contact the IRS for assistance at Read more
The terms “innocent spouse” and “injured spouse” are frequently misunderstood. These are two different situations under our current tax code. A previous blog discussed the concept of an innocent spouse under IRS rules (See Innocent Spouse Relief by John Stancil). An innocent spouse is one who stands has filed a joint return and is exposed to liability for additional taxes due to fraudulent activity on the part of the other spouse. An injured spouse is someone whose refund is captured by the IRS to satisfy a debt owed by the other spouse. An injured spouse claim, if accepted by the IRS, can prevent this from happening. A claim is made by filing Form 8379 with the IRS.
First, some background. When spouses file joint returns, each spouse is liable for anything that is included on the return. In addition, there is joint liability for any Read more
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