I received an interesting newsletter from Kiplinger with a few tax tips that I wanted to share. I also encourage you tocheck out Kiplinger for the 11 most overlooked tax deductions.

And remember, if you can’t afford to pay you taxes this year, there are options like negotiating a tax settlement or a payment plan. You can also seek professional tax help so that your account is placed under “currently not collectible” status so that you will not be placed under collection.

As the tax filing season beings, common errors are cropping up among tax returns that have been filed early.

Most involve the 2008 tax rebate… payments of up to $1,200 for couples and $600 for single taxpayers, plus another $300 for each dependent child under 17

Many taxpayers who got the rebate are incorrectly claiming a credit for it on their returns. That is causing a lot of electronically files returns to be rejected. The main culprits are filers whose rebates were grabbed by IRS to offset tax debts. Instead of listing the pre-offset amount of the rebate in their tax software programs, they entered a rebate of zero, so the programs erroneously claimed a credit for them. (The credit is available only to taxpayers whose 2008 tax situations qualified them for a larger credit.) Others who got rebates are mistakenly claiming the credit again.

If you had a lot of trouble reaching the IRS’ toll free help line in 2008… Don’t expect much improvement this filing season, Treasure inspectors say. Questions about the tax rebate caused the IRS phone lines to be jammed at times in ‘08, as millions of taxpayers either waited an average of nearly 10 minutes on hold or heard busy signals or a recorded message to call back later. With more questions about the rebate likely this filing season, the Service has added enough extra staff to handle about 4.5 million more calls in ‘09 than last year. But Treasure warns that the number of extra calls is likely to be closer to 9 million. If that is correct, millions of filers will need all the patience they can muster when seeking IRS’ help.

If you are in trouble with the IRS, our specialized staff of tax attorneys, CPAs, EAs and tax professionals can help. Visit the Tax Resolution Services web site  for a free tax relief consultation or call us at 866-477-7762.

More Tax Help, IRS News and Tax Relief Tips:

1. Can’t Afford to Pay Your Taxes? IRS Offers Payment Plans and Tax Relief Options
2. Tax Resolution Services Founder Michael Rozbruch Featured in List of Top 40 Tax Advisors to Know During a Recession
3. We’ve Expanded to Help More Taxpayers Resolve Their IRS Tax Problems!
4. What the IRS May Not Tell You About Payment Plans
5. Tax Compromise Improvement Act Helps Struggling Taxpayers Enter into Offer in Compromise Agreements with IRS

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 13th, 2009 at 5:07 pm and is filed under Tax news and tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.