Tax Strategies & Credits

If You Don't File, You May Be Cheating Yourself!

If You Don't File, You May Be Cheating Yourself!

According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), approximately $1 billion in refunds is owed to taxpayers each year, yet it sits unclaimed in the treasury's coffers. Why? Because the people to whom the money is owed chose not to file a tax return.  Most people who don't file choose not to because they think that it's all been taken care of by their employer withholding taxes on their behalf, but when you don't file you miss out on a number of exemptions and write offs that you may be eligible for.  The IRS has indicated that about half of the people who have left money on the table are owed at least $600 that the government can't send them without a tax return being filed. Here are just a few of the write offs people may be missing by not filing:

  • American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) – This credit is available to those who have paid for four years of post-secondary education expenses, and the credit can go as high as $2,500 per eligible student. Eligibility is based on being enrolled at least 50% of the time and for at least one academic period over the course of a calendar year.
  • Child Tax Credit – The Child Tax Credit is a credit of $1,000 per child that is available for those who have at least one child under the age of 17.  Though it is not a credit for which you can get a refund, it can work to lower the amount of taxes that you owe, and if you are income is low enough that the credit doesn't offset your taxes then you may be eligible for at least a portion of the credit as a refund.
  • Earned Income Tax Credit – Taxpayers who earn less than $52,427 may be eligible for this credit, whether they have a child or not, and it is worth a lot – as much as $6,143 as a refund.
  • Over-Withholding – This one is all about your employer and whether their math is correct or not. If the company that you work for withheld too much money each week, then you may be entitled to get some back as a refund.
  • Premium Tax Credit – A Premium Tax Credit, or PTC, is one of the elements of the Affordable Care Act -  If you bought your health insurance through a government marketplace there's a good chance that you are entitled to a PTC, which is a subsidy.  Anybody who received a PTC in advance already got the benefit of their insurance premiums being lowered, but also need to file a tax return in order to make sure that the correct credit was given. If your PTC was too low, you are owed a refund.

In all of these examples, the only way for a taxpayer to get the money that is owed to them is to file a tax return. The good news is that if you think that you may be owed money for tax years in the past, it may not be too late for you to get it. The statute of limitations for getting a tax refund is three years from the return's original due date, which would be April 15th of the following year. That means that you still have until April 15th of this year to file a return and get the refund you're owed for 2011 and each year that follows.

If you believe that you may be owed a tax refund for a previous year's taxes, contact National Tax, Accounting and Financial today. One of our Saint Petersburg tax professionals can help you get the money that you're owed. 

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Tom Gargiulo, E.A.

Tom Gargiulo, E.A.

Tom Gargiulo, E.A. is a tand Quickbooks accounting professional based in St. Petersburg, Florida. Tom is a Member of the National Society of Tax Professionals and has been Enrolled to Practice before I.R.S. since 1986. Specializing in Quickbooks Accounting, Consulting and Training, he has many QuickBooks certifications. National Tax, Accounting & Financial is a family business started over 25 years ago. If you could summarize our firm in one word, it would be "personalization". Our firm gets to know our clients as people and uses our personalized service to best meet their needs in all facets of our business. This translates into savings for our clients. We bring unique solutions to complex problems by applying years of experience and the latest technologies. We can assist you with your tax preparation and accounting needs.

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