Tax Refunds & Advice

Are you wondering where your refund check is? Were you expecting an economic stimulus payment but it has yet to arrive? If this sounds familiar, you will want to get in touch with the IRS at once. Approximately $266 million in refund checks have been returned to the IRS. In other words, the US Postal Service was unable to deliver these checks so they have made their way back to the IRS.

There is a good chance that you did not receive your refund or stimulus payment because your address has changed. In this case, you will want to send Form 8822 to the IRS. In turn, your address will be updated and any payment that is being held will be immediately mailed.

In order to avoid this issue in the future, you may want to opt for direct deposit. This way, the IRS can deposit any refund directly into your bank account. This helps to avoid lost checks, or problems caused by an address change. If you are going to opt for direct deposit you need to make sure that your bank account information, including the routing number and account number, are 100 percent accurate. An error with this information could lead to just as many problems as a returned check.

So if you are still waiting for a refund or stimulus check it is time to get in touch with the IRS. You can do so by calling the hotline number at 1-800-829-1954 to check on a regular refund, or 1-866-234-2942 to receive an update on a stimulus check.

Throughout the year, no matter if you are self-employed or work for somebody else, you should be paying taxes to the IRS. This is the law, and it is something that you should be doing if you don’t want to be in a bad position when you file your final return. Of course, there are some people who don’t pay enough in taxes out of every paycheck. In this case, the IRS is going to be asking for money at the end of the year. What will you do if faced with this situation?

Many people never plan for this situation because they don’t think they will ever have to deal with it. Unfortunately, things don’t always work out as you plan them. If you have enough money in the bank, you can quickly and easily send the taxes you owe and then leave well enough alone. But again, not everybody will find themselves in this position.

If you owe the IRS money but don’t have enough to pay in one lump sum, you should consider your options. Even though it may not sound appealing, the IRS will let you pay them a little bit at a time. If you are going to do this, you should be ready to pay interest on top of what you owe. While this may not sound fair, it is something that you will have to deal with if you are low on cash reserves.

It is always better to pay in full on time if possible. The IRS will work with you if you cannot afford to do so, but this is something that you would be much better off avoiding.

If you have been keeping up with the news you are probably aware of talks about a second economic stimulus package. The question is: will this come to fruition anytime in the near future? As with the last package, there are some people who are for this and others who strongly oppose it. Over the next few weeks it is safe to say that talks are going to heat up.

On one side, Fed Chief Ben Bernanke says that a second economic stimulus package is greatly needed. With the economy falling even further and a recession looming (if it is not already here), a second package may be able to halt the slide. There are many people within the government who agree with Bernanke, and are hoping to rush a proposal forward as soon as possible.

A second economic stimulus package may sound simple on the surface, but this is not the case. Thinking that the government can simply hand out money to better the economy is ludicrous at best. The question that needs answered is: how will this economic stimulus package be structured? Will it look the same as the last one? Will consumers benefit in the same way?

At this time, it appears that President George Bush is against a second economic stimulus package. Dana Perino, White House spokeswoman, said earlier this week the president is open to all good ideas, but that officials have not seen any new proposals that would give the economy a boost.

Keep an eye on the news over the next few weeks. More and more people will be talking about a second economic stimulus package and how this can or cannot benefit the economy.