WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service today reminded families, teens and senior citizens about the continued importance of protecting personal and financial information (.pdf) online. Although the IRS and its Security Summit partners continue making strides in fighting identity theft and fraudulent tax returns, help is needed. The Security Summit works to protect taxpayers from criminals that file fraudulent returns for…

Every year the IRS mails letters or notices to taxpayers for many different reasons. Typically, it’s about a specific issue with a taxpayer’s federal tax return or tax account. A notice may tell them about changes to their account or ask for more information. It could also tell them they need to make a payment.…

IRAs provide tax incentives for people to make investments that can provide financial security for their retirement. These accounts can be set up with a bank or other financial institution, a life insurance company, mutual fund or stockbroker. Here’s basic overview to help people better understand this type of retirement savings account. Contribution. The money that…

For those who filed extensions on tax returns, October 15 is the deadline. It is coming very quickly! If your taxes have not yet been filed, regardless of extension, the IRS closes on November 20th for electronic filing. Returns can be mailed but expect refunds to take six to eight weeks to be sent. At…

In this day and age where everyone has multiple electronic devices, just to start with, it is important to have a list of all valuables in your home. Documenting valuables by taking pictures or videoing them before a disaster strikes makes it easier to claim insurance and tax benefits, if necessary. IRS.gov has a disaster loss…

The IRS continually offers a service to all taxpayers who would like to add one more layer of protection to their identity when filing a tax return. If your identity has previously been stolen, the IRS has already provided you with a six-digit number to list on your return in addition to the usual information.…

Taxpayers and tax professionals calling the IRS will be asked to verify their identity. This is part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to keep taxpayer data secure from identity thieves. Before calling, everyone should visit IRS.gov to access resources like the Let Us Help You page to get faster answers to their tax questions. If…

As a new school year approaches, students are considering what classes they need to take and how much the classes will cost. Whether it’s community college, a trade school, a four-year university or an advanced degree, higher education is expensive. The good news is tax credits can help offset these costs. These credits reduce the…

Do Millennials need life insurance? That depends, but if 2020 taught us anything, it’s that some things are just plain out of our control. But today, there are more tools and products than ever before — like online term life insurance — that could help you take back some of that control by bringing smart…

The first of six advanced child tax credit payments hit millions of parents’ bank accounts yesterday, providing them with up to $300 per child for the month of July. But many people received less (or sometimes more!) than what they thought they were eligible for. The White House and the IRS did send out letters…