The IRS Audit Blog

Archive for October, 2008

Question: If you owe back pay child support, Will you still get your IRS refund back if you have other children?

Hello my fiance owes back pay child support to the IRS for the time that he was in prison, but he also also has 2 other children that do qualify for the child tax credit here in the state of Texas. So does that mean he will still get something back for the kids since they qualify for the credit or would the IRS still take the refund regardless if he has other kids or not?

We live in the state of Texas.
He owes quite a bit of back pay.

Answer: No, he won’t, but has he challenged the accrued arrears from that time? Judge David Grey Ross, Commissioner of the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement ruled in 2001 that child support cannot accrue durinf interment. He may have grounds for a reduction for that time period only.

http://tinyurl.com/RetroactiveArrearsModification

http://icanhaz.com/ChildSupport-Taxes

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Singletary: IRS is more forthcoming about its open house info

The tax code is complicated enough, but some people who tried to find information about a recent Internal Revenue Service initiative to help those in economic distress learned anew why Americans get so frustrated with the agency charged with collecting our tax dollars.

WHERE’S MY REFUND – IRS Code 1102

Northwest collecting formal dresses

The Northwest High School Ambassadors will be collecting gently used, freshly dry-cleaned formal dresses in February and March. The dresses will be sold at the school’s inaugural Cinderella’s Closet on April 23 through April 24, said Stacey Reilly, faculty sponsor of the Ambassadors.

UGA Football 2007-2008 Sacks

Question: How do I report a try at email fraud? I got an email, supposedly from the IRS about a refund that cannot be.?

Answer: These are the directions of what to do from the IRS website:

How to report phishing, e-mail scams and bogus IRS Web sites
If you receive an e-mail or find a Web site you think is pretending to be the IRS,

* Forward the e-mail or Web site URL to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.

* You can forward the message as received or provide the Internet header of the e-mail. The Internet header has additional information to help us locate the sender.

* After you forward the e-mail or header information to us, delete the message.

Go to the link below for more information.

Fed. requirements delay home credit returns

Local home buyers will now how to file for their tax credit by mail, delaying their tax return.

Tax Tips: Tax Scams – March 2009

Question: I just received a letter stating that I was recenlty audited in Maryland for the 2005 tax year. ?

The letter states that I owe 250 bucks because they say that I did not include an addition modification on my state taxes though I had a tuition deduction on my fed. taxes. In MD, it seems that people are taxed on fed. tuition deductions. In other words, the fed gives and the state takes it right away. My questions are: Is there a statute of limitations in MD? What is the statute of limitations on Tax Audits in Maryland? How far back can they go back to audit me?

Thanks

Answer: The typical SOL is 3 years from the filing deadline for the return. Assuming that to be the case, MD would have until April 15, 2009 to assess any additional tax. They got it in just under the wire.

When State SOLs differ from Federal they’re typically longer, not shorter. CA used to be at least 4 years and I believe that it still is.

The Pepsi Bottling Group Reports Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2009 Results

SOMERS, N.Y.—-The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. today reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2009. For the full year, PBG reported net income of $612 million, or diluted earnings per share of $2.77.

Statute of Limitations

Question: What does it mean when your federal tax return has been Accepted by the IRS when you e-file?

Does this mean that they agree with the calculations?

What is the likelyhood of being audited after your return has been accepted?

Does this lower the probability of being audited?

Or does it just mean they are acknowledging they have recieved a a complete tax return regardless of what you actually put down?

Answer: They are acknowledging that they received your return and have done some very basic checking of it – for example have verified that the social security numbers you listed are valid and match the names, and that nobody else has already claimed the same dependent that you did or filed a return with your ssn. If you claimed something you shouldn’t have, or left out some income, they would catch that later, long after they send the ack.

The likelihood of being audited doesn’t go up or down because you e-filed, it depends on what information you have on your return. If you left off a W-2 or 1099 something like that, they’ll catch it for sure when they compare your return to what they received from other sources – it won’t be a full audit, they’ll just send you a letter notifying you, and telling you how much extra to send to them, or if you get real lucky, how much they’re going to refund to you. This won’t happen right away – would be months or over a year.

If they are going to audit you, that most likely won’t happen for awhile either. People get audited because something on their return “looks funny” or out of the normal range, to the computers, even though it might be correct – being audited doesn’t mean you’ll owe more if you can prove that what you put down is accurate. There are also random audits, where returns just get picked randomly.

AP answers your questions on the news, from guns in Finland to a proposal to audit the Fed

Some people on Capitol Hill want to get the ball rolling on a thorough audit. But don’t worry — they’re not talking about your tax return. A Senate bill proposes a full audit of the Federal Reserve. But what exactly would that entail?

How To Audit Proof Your Tax Return