Checking on Economic Recovery Payments

Taxpayers who can’t recall if they received an economic recovery payment should personally contact one of the agencies listed below for confirmation before completing and filing their 2009 tax return.  The IRS will not be able to provide this information.  If taxpayers need to know whether they got a payment, they should contact the agency that would have issued their payment.

 

Social Security Administration: Toll Free number 800-772-1213.  General ERP inquires can be answered by the SSA Web site: www.ssa.gov/recovery.

 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): Toll free number is 800-827-1000.  General ERP inquires can be answered by going to the VA Web site: www.va.gov/recovery.

 

Railroad Retirement Board: Go to the RRB Web site at: www.rrb.gov/recovery for more details.

 

Be Sure to Know Whether You Qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit

The Earned Income Tax Credit, commonly referred to as EITC, can be a financial boost for working people adversely impacted by hard economic times. However, one in four eligible taxpayers could miss out on the credit because they don’t check it out. Here are the top 10 things the Internal Revenue Service wants you to know about this valuable credit, which has been making the lives of working people a little easier for 35 years.

1.     Just because you didn’t qualify last year, doesn’t mean you won’t this year. As your financial, marital or parental situations change from year-to-year, you should review the EITC eligibility rules to determine whether you qualify.

2.     If you qualify, it could be worth up to $5,657 this year. EITC not only reduces the federal tax you owe, but could result in a refund. The amount of your EITC is based on the amount of your earned income and whether or not there are qualifying children in your household. New EITC provisions mean more money for larger families.

3.     If you qualify, you must file a federal income tax return and specifically claim the credit in order to get it – even if you are not otherwise required to file.

4.     Your filing status cannot be Married Filing Separately.

5.     You must have a valid Social Security Number. You, your spouse – if filing a joint return – and any qualifying child listed on Schedule EIC must have a valid SSN issued by the Social Security Administration.

6.     You must have earned income. You have earned income if you work for someone who pays you wages, you are self-employed, you have income from farming, or – in some cases – you receive disability income.

7.     Married couples and single people without kids may qualify. If you do not have qualifying children, you must also meet the age and residency requirements as well as dependency rules.

8.     Special rules apply to members of the U.S. Armed Forces in combat zones. Members of the military can elect to include their nontaxable combat pay in earned income for the EITC. If you make this election, the combat pay remains nontaxable.

9.     It’s easy to determine whether you qualify. The EITC Assistant, an interactive tool available on IRS.gov, removes the guesswork from eligibility rules. Just answer a few simple questions to find out if you qualify and estimate the amount of your EITC.

Here are the top five changes that may show up on your 2009 return.

1. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

ARRA provides several tax provisions that affect tax year 2009 individual tax returns due April 15, 2010. The recovery law provides tax incentives for first-time homebuyers, people who purchased new cars, those that made their homes more energy efficient, parents and students paying for college, and people who received unemployment compensation.

2. IRA Deduction Expanded

You may be able to take an IRA deduction if you were covered by a retirement plan and your 2009 modified adjusted gross income is less than $65,000 or $109,000 if you are married filing a joint return.

3. Standard Deduction Increased for Most Taxpayers

The 2009 basic standard deductions all increased. They are:

• $11,400 for married couples filing a joint return and qualifying widows and widowers
• $5,700 for singles and married individuals filing separate returns
• $8,350 for heads of household

Taxpayers can now claim an additional standard deduction based on the state or local sales or excise taxes paid on the purchase of most new motor vehicles purchased after February 16, 2009. You can also increase your standard deduction by the state or local real estate taxes paid during the year or net disaster losses suffered from a federally declared disaster.

4. 2009 Standard Mileage Rates

The standard mileage rates changed for 2009. The standard mileage rates for business use of a vehicle:

• 55 cents per mile

The standard mileage rates for the cost of operating a vehicle for medical reasons or a deductible move:

• 24 cents per mile

The standard mileage rate for using a car to provide services to charitable organizations remains at 14 cents per mile.

5. Kiddie Tax Change

The amount of taxable investment income a child can have without it being subject to tax at the parent's rate has increased to $1,900 for 2009.

Do I have to File a tax return?

You must file a tax return if your income is above a certain level. The amount varies depending on filing status, age and the type of income you receive.

Check the Individuals section of IRS.gov or consult the instructions for Form 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ for specific details that may affect your need to file a tax return with the IRS this year.Even if you don't have to file, here are eight reasons why you may want to file:

1. Federal Income Tax Withheld If you are not required to file, you should file to get money back if Federal Income Tax was withheld from your pay, you made estimated tax payments, or
had a prior year overpayment applied to this year's tax.

2. Making Work Pay Credit You may be able to take this credit if you have earned income from work. The maximum credit for a married couple filing a joint return is $800 and $400 for other taxpayers.

3. Government Retiree Credit You may be eligible for this credit if you received a government pension or annuity payment in 2009. However, the amount of this credit reduces any making work pay credit you receive.

4. Earned Income Tax Credit You may qualify for EITC if you worked, but did not earn a lot of money. EITC is a refundable tax credit; which means you could qualify for a tax refund.

5. Additional Child Tax Credit This credit may be available to you if you have at least one qualifying child and you did not get the full amount of the Child Tax Credit.

6. Refundable American Opportunity Credit This education tax credit is available for 2009 and 2010. The maximum credit per student is $2,500 and the first four years of postsecondary education qualify.

7. First-Time Homebuyer Credit. The credit is a maximum of $8,000 or $4,000 if your filing status is married filing separately. The credit applies to homes bought anytime in 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010. However, you have until on or before June 30, 2010, if you entered into a written binding contract before May 1, 2010. If you bought a home after November 6, 2009, you may be able to qualify and claim the credit even if you already owned a home. In this case, the maximum credit for long-time residents is $6,500, or $3,250 if your filing status is married filing separately.

8. Health Coverage Tax Credit. Certain individuals, who are receiving Trade Adjustment Assistance, Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance, or pension benefit payments from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, may be eligible for a Health Coverage Tax Credit worth 80 percent of monthly health insurance premiums when you file your 2009 tax return.

Get Your Refund Faster - Choose Direct Deposit 

If you want to get your refund as quickly as possible, just tell the IRS to deposit your refund directly into your bank account. By choosing Direct Deposit, you can get your refund much sooner than if you chose to have a paper check mailed to you.
Here are the main reasons 73 million taxpayers chose Direct Deposit in 2009:

1.     Security Thousands of paper checks are returned to the IRS by the U.S. Post Office every year as undeliverable mail. Direct Deposit eliminates the possibility you won’t receive your check and prevents your refund from being stolen.

2.     Convenience The money goes directly into your bank account. You won’t have to make a special trip to the bank to deposit the money yourself.

3.     Ease When you’re preparing your return, simply follow the instructions on your return. Make sure you enter the correct bank account and bank routing numbers on your tax form and you’ll receive your refund quicker than ever.

4.     Options You can also deposit your refund into multiple accounts. With the split refund option, taxpayers can divide their refunds among as many as three checking or savings accounts and up to three different U.S. financial institutions. Use IRS Form 8888, Direct Deposit of Refund to More Than One Account, to divide your refund among different accounts. A word of caution: some financial institutions do not allow a joint refund to be deposited into an individual account. Check with your bank or other financial institution to make sure your Direct Deposit will be accepted.