Tax season arrives as IRS begins accepting electronic returns

With tax filing season now underway, it’s important to know about a scam involving phone calls and another scheme where people are fraudulently impersonating other individuals so they may receive that person’s income tax.

Low- and moderate-income taxpayers can get help meeting this health-care requirement and filing their return for free by visiting one of the more than 12,000 community-based tax help sites staffed by more than 90,000 volunteers that participate in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (VITA/TCE) programs. Free online forms, which provide electronic versions of IRS paper forms to complete and file, are also available through IRS.gov.

Once you file online, the IRS will notify you within 24 hours if your return was accepted.

You may also be eligible for the saver’s credit up to $1,000 for an individual, $2,000 for a married couple.

Free File is available only at IRS.gov/FreeFile.

The IRS and Free File Alliance had announced the launch of the 2016 Free File program on January 15, with many changes and updates this year, including more free state tax return options and easier Form W-2, Wage, and Tax Statement imports. State tax return offers are at the discretion of the providers.

Also, never sign a blank tax return.

Continuing to pay your taxes and file your tax return until the problem is resolved.

“These guys have changed over a period of time, where they just call out of the blue, and so as we’ve been warning people, that the first contact will not be by telephone”.

People won’t usually realize they are victims until after they get a notice from the IRS or the state saying something went wrong with their tax return. Many people forget to deduct taxes that they might pay on real estate.

“Our office has been gearing up for the upcoming tax season with a considerable focus on combating tax fraud”, North Dakota Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger said.

Taxpayers who have myRA accounts may use Free File to deposit their tax refunds or a portion of them. These expenses may help you get a bigger tax refund.

This year’s tax deadline is Monday, April 18.

But other taxpayers may have to claim exemptions from coverage or make “shared responsibility” payments with their tax returns. Just use Form 8888 or follow your software product’s instructions. The FATCA bill has routinely been criticized for unfairly extending the powers of the IRS overseas, placing ties with foreign banks where they are not needed.

The Treasury Department has received almost 900,000 reports of IRS scam calls since October of 2013.