Finance Tax Time

So, you were pleasantly surprised to learn that you are getting a refund on your taxes. Congratulations! The question for most taxpayers expecting a return is, “Where is my refund?”

Check Your Refund Status Online

The easiest way to check on your refund is to ask the IRS through IRS.gov. On the home page of the site, you will see a “Where’s My Refund?” link. Using the service is fairly easy. You will need a copy of your tax return to provide the necessary information to get the status of your refund. Specifically, you need to provide your social security number, you tax filing status and the exact amount of your refund. The reason the IRS requires all of this information is purely for security purposes, to wit, the agency wants to make sure it is giving access only to the taxpayer. Again, all of this information should be on your return. If it is not, something is very wrong!

Once you submit the required information, the IRS will provide online results typically showing:

1. That the return was received and is in processing;

2. The expected mailing date or direct deposit date of your refund; or

3. Whether your refund could not be issued because of a delivery problem.

In some cases, the results may alert you to the fact that the IRS is reviewing your tax return because of errors or questionable entries. In such a case, it is highly advised that you review your return with a qualified tax professional and make absolutely sure that the return will stand up to scrutiny.

How Long Do You Have To Wait Before Checking?

If you filed your tax return electronically, you should be able to access the status of your refund within 48 to 72 hours. Since the return is coming into the database electronically, it should be assimilated into the system fairly quickly. If you do not file your return electronically, you are going to have to wait three weeks or more before the status of your return can be checked. As you can imagine, the IRS is receiving an enormous amount of paper tax returns and it takes time to organize and enter the returns into the system.

How Long Should It Take To Receive Your Tax Refund?

If you are expecting a refund, the time to issue the refund will depend upon how you filed your return. If you filed a paper return via regular mail, you refund should be issued in six to eight weeks from the date it was received by the IRS. Alternatively, if you filed your return electronically, you should expect to receive your refund in three to four weeks. If you elected to have your refund directly deposited in your banking account, you should take one week off of the above estimates.

Richard A. Chapo is with BusinessTaxRecovery.com - providing information on tax and taxes. Visit us to read more tax articles and our new tax credits page.

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In a recent decision, a federal court overturned a telephone tax that has been charged for years. Given the result, the IRS has decided to issue refunds for past collected taxes.

IRS Sets Telephone Tax Refund Amounts

In 1898, the federal government passed a law assessing taxes on long distance phone use in the United States. The tax was so relatively small, ranging from one to three percent, that it was never questioned. Last year, that changed. The tax was challenged in court and found to be invalid. After a few challenges, the IRS agreed to stop collecting the tax. It even went so far as to agree to issue refunds on some of the taxes collected.

Given the fact the 1898 law covers just a bit of time, the issue of telephone tax refunds is potentially a complicated one. Simply put, how do you figure out how much tax you have paid on phone bills for this specific assessment through the years? At one to three percent, it certain is not much. Further, how do you prove the tax payments if you are audited? Anyone have phone bills from 1898? Probably not. In truth, the refund amount only looks back 41 months, but you get the idea.

To overcome these issues, the IRS is proposing a flat rate refund for taxpayers. The refund amounts are proposed to be $30 to $60 depending on specifics. More importantly, taxpayers will not be required to dig through old phone bills to substantiate the deduction. To claim the tax refund, you will need to fill in a yet undeclared area on your 2006 tax return. Just to be clear, this is the return you should file on April 2007.

So, how do you figure out how much you can claim as a refund? The refund amounts are being tied into the number of exemptions you claim. The standard amounts are $30 for a person filing a return with one exemption, $40 for two exemptions, $50 for three exemptions and $60 for four or more exemptions. If you are single and claim one exemption, the refund amount will be $30. If you wish to go through your phone bills and claim the exact amount of tax you paid as a refund, you also have this option.

Given the fact businesses tend to use long distance telephone services more, there is no standard deduction amount. The IRS is playing around with ways to come up with a set amount, but most believe businesses will have to dig through their phone bills to calculate the correct amount. Businesses simply vary too much to come up with universal numbers.

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