Tax credits lowers the amount of money you must pay the government. It is designed to encourage people to spend money in specific ways. For example, one of the most common tax credits is the Child Tax Credit. Taxpayers who have children under the age 16 at the end of the calendar year receive a credit to help reduce the cost of raising a child. Another popular tax credit is the Lite Learning Credit (LLC). The LLC encourages people to pursue further education by crediting part of the overall cost back at tax time. A tax deduction lowers one’s taxable income, thus reducing the tax liability. If a person receives a deduction, he decreases the amount from his income, which lowers his taxable income. The lower a person’s taxable income, the lower the tax bill. By contrast, a tax credit decreases the tax bill rather than a person’s taxable income. So, if a person has a $100,000 salary and has a $10,000 deduction, the taxable income will be $90,000. If the person in this example is taxed at a rate of 25%, the tax bill will be $22,500. If that same person has a $10,000 credit instead of a deduction, he will be taxed at 25% of their $100,000 income and owe $25,000 in taxes. However, he will then be credited $10,000 and owe only $15,000. Some tax credits are refundable, but most are not. A refundable tax credit, which is different from a tax refund, can be given to taxpayers even if they do not owe any taxes. Additionally, a refundable tax credit can be given in addition to a tax refund. A nonrefundable tax credit means that a person will get the tax credit up to the amount owed. For example, if a person owes $2,000 in taxes and receives $3,000 in nonrefundable credits, that will simply erase her tax bill. If she gets $3,000 in refundable credits, she will receive a $1,000 tax refund. Between Federal, State, City and local credits and deductions there are too many to count, so please go to our “how it works section” and let us help get you started.

Avoid interest and penalties File your past due return and pay now to limit interest charges and late payment penalties. Claim a Refund You risk losing your refund if you don't file your return. If you are due a refund for withholding or estimated taxes, you must file your return to claim it within 3 years of the return due date. The same rule applies to a right to claim tax credits such as the Earned Income Credit. The IRS will hold income tax refunds in cases where records show that one or more income tax returns are past due. The Irs will hold them until they get the past due return or receive an acceptable reason for not filing a past due return. Protect Social Security Benefits If you are self-employed and do not file your federal income tax return, any self-employment income you earned will not be reported to the Social Security Administration and you will not receive credits toward Social Security retirement or disability benefits.

Collection and Enforcement Actions The return the IRS will prepare for you (A proposed assessment) will lead to a tax bill, which, if unpaid, will trigger the collection process. This can include such actions as a levy on your wages or bank account or the filing of a notice of federal tax lien. If you repeatedly do not file, you could be subject to additional enforcement measures, such as additional penalties and/or criminal prosecution. The IRS is getting a lot more money for audits. New infusion by Congress of $80 billion for the IRS will allow it to add thousands more auditors and customer service representatives. Every year, millions of federal and state tax refunds go undelivered or unclaimed. There's still $1.5 billion in total unclaimed tax refunds for 2019 earnings — that's an average of $1,006 per eligible individual. , so please go to our how it works section and let us help get you started.