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For Good Tax Health Keep in the Know of Your Tax Account Records With IRS

Harmon Tax Resolution

Taxpayer Follow-up Maintenance

I proudly wore my CPA and Enrolled Agent hat while I labored through a busy tax season. With April 18th come and gone, there is now time to reflect on how going forward I can improve the processes and communications mediums of my firm. There’s also a lot to reflect upon regarding how to help my clients maximize their taxable position for the 2022 tax year filing. Some clients ponder whether it is necessary to worry about this now since it will be a while before we go through this tax preparation exercise again. That response is a good segue for me to point out that the most effective tax planning is done as early as possible since it allows for one to be proactive in choosing what, when, and how to engage in certain taxable events thereby allowing for the ability to choose from a greater amount of potential taxable outcomes versus waiting until tax prep time rolls around which in turn significantly limits one’s options to choose a taxable alternative.

Since every taxpayer has a unique situation requiring specific actions when considering how to maximize their own taxable situation, it would not be prudent to try to list them here. However, there is a simple universal repetitive task that taxpayers could utilize to help them become more proactive with their tax health (I was tempted to use the word “prophylactic” since having a poor tax situation can lead to bad health). The task is simply to just log into your online IRS tax account at least every other month to confirm that all data listed within is correct and to make you aware of any IRS notices of action. If one does not have an account with the IRS, it is easy to set one up. Just go to “IRS Gov Create Account” and follow the instructions.

What are the advantages of this? For starters, this is a great and timely way to make sure the most recent tax return compares to what IRS has listed. This will avoid many problems, especially the next item. One will be immediately aware of any IRS notices or actions allowing for a timely response, and if in the wrong an opportunity to lessen the accrual of penalties and interest. Also, since certain allowable responses are time-oriented, it is crucial to be able to respond within the allowable time otherwise one may not get to use them. As a tax attorney, I have dealt with several clients who came for help in response to their IRS notices and were not aware of other IRS notices sent. This resulted in more complexity and additional cost to the clients all of which could have been avoided simply had they been proactively checking their IRS accounts.

There are many additional reasons to perform routine checks on your IRS account. Here are some relative points taken from a recently posted article on the IRS website, “ Steps to Take Now to Get a Jump on Your Taxes

Use online account to securely access the latest information available about your federal tax account and see information from your most recently filed tax return on IRS.gov.

You can:

  • View the amounts of the Economic Impact Payments you received
  • Access Child Tax Credit Update portal for information about advance Child Tax Credit payments
  • View key data from your most recent tax return and access additional records and transcripts
  • View details of your payment plan if you have one
  • View 5 years of payment history and any pending or scheduled payments

Organized tax records make preparing a complete and accurate tax return easier. It helps you avoid errors that lead to processing delays that slow your refund and may also help you find overlooked deductions or credits.

Also another good tax prepartion tax tip: Wait to file until you have your tax records including:

This one is important! Notify the IRS if your address changes and notify the Social Security Administration of a legal name change. This will make sure that you are getting timely information from IRS.

I hope this helps someone to maintain good tax health. If there are any observations or questions, please feel free to reach out to me.

Our Client Reviews

Read our tax lawyer reviews to see what customers have to say about our Harmon Tax Resolution, LLC.

I put my trust in him and I so happy I did. He was great about keeping me informed and did what he said he was going to do. I will recommend Harmon Tax services to any one that need it. Plus I will always use him if I ever need him again. Great...

Paul F.

Unexpectedly, I received an IRS notice stating I had a balance of over $124,000. The IRS debt was very impactful and made me very worried that I could not sleep at night. I sought help from Will. He was able to research and identify the issue...

Joseph B.

For many years of having a small real estate rental business, I started to have many issues with IRS. In desperation I started searching for a Tax Accountant and Attorney. I remarkably came across Will Harmon, and have been very happy and...

Deborah W.

I had a pressing IRS issue that I could not resolve with the IRS. I employed tax attorney CPA Will Harmon to fix this. He immediately addressed the issue with the IRS and another 3rd party, so I did not have to, allowing me to focus on other...

Brant G.

Attorney Will Harmon provided excellent, trusted representation for me across several issues. There were facets of my situation that required a combination of skillsets, which Will happens to have. In addition to being an attorney, he is also a...

Jason M.

Absolute pleasure to deal with! IRS came down on me for something i didn't even do. Will took on the task and knocked it out faster than i imagined. Absolutely pleased! Definitely recommend using him for your needs!

Greg S.

Mr. Harmon is a gentleman always conducted himself in a professional manner. He is very knowledgeable and organized. I can sincerely say he is always a pleasure. He’s an excellent conversationalist and goes out of his way to give his clients the...

Danny A.

Will Harmon is excellent at what he does and Harmon Associates is the place to go. He is a fantastic person and an expert in taxes and law. Harmon Associates is the best place to go to get excellent results and absolutely excellent service. I...

Lisa R.

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