IRS Has Dough Waiting For You!
That’s right – they just can’t wait to send you money, if you’re one of the million or so blokes who hasn’t yet filed for the 2011 tax year and are entitled to a refund. And by IRS’ reckoning, those as yet unclaimed refunds total about a billion or so!
In situations where a tax return has not been filed, the law allows most folks a three year statutory period in which to claim a refund. For 2011 tax returns, nonfilers will be out of luck if they don’t cure their dalliance by April 15, 2015. If no return is filed by that date, Obama keeps the dough.
Understand, however, that if you are one of the folks with money on the table from 2011, even filing that 2011 return by this coming April 15 won’t make any difference if you still have not yet filed your 2012 or 2013 returns.
Bottom line – just file each year’s return when it’s supposed to be filed, and get any refund to which you are entitled promptly.
By the way, IRS thinks there are a little over 13,000 of you in Nevada with this 2011 issue still , with total potential refunds of more than $12 million!
And speaking of the upcoming April 15, don’t forget to make your IRA contribution by that date, if you wish to account for it as a 2014 transaction.
Eligible taxpayers with qualifying (i.e.- “earned”) income can contribute up to $5,500 to an IRA for 2014 – up to $6,500 if you’re over 50. There’s no age limit for folks contributing to a Roth IRA, but if you were at least 70-1/2 at the end of 2014, you’re barred from making contributions to a traditional IRA for 2014 and subsequent years.
And as you ponder all of this tax stuff over the next several weeks, don’t count on any help from the Revenooers if you have questions regarding the preparation of your return. According to whining Commissioner Koskinen, they’re just so underfunded due to the ramifications of Obamacare, which came prominently into play in 2014. Indeed, bleats Koskinen, the IRS has had to shift tens of millions of bucks away from “customer service” to enable his agency to build the computer systems and ready themselves to deal with the expected onslaught of questions about how the Obamacare tax penalty works.
Koskinen notes that the Revenooers are answering just 43% of taxpayer calls this year – a significant drop-off, says Koskinen, from the level of “taxpayer service” in previous years.
Says Rep. Anders Crenshaw, chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee which oversees IRS, the agency acts as though it is “entitled to $13 billion” in funding, but “We deliberately lowered the IRS funding to a level that will make the IRS think twice about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.”
So there!
CONSULT YOUR TAX ADVISOR – This article contains general information about various tax matters. You should consult your CPA regarding the implications to your own particular situation.
Jeff Quinn, the author of this article, is a shareholder in Ashley Quinn, CPAs and Consultants, Ltd., with offices in Incline Village and Reno. He may be reached at 831-7288, and welcomes comments at [email protected].
