WHAT’S THE BUZZ, TELL ME WHAT’S A HAPPENNIN’?

 
* Kay Bell reports “IRS TACs to offer assistance to walk-in taxpayers on four upcoming Saturdays” at DON’T MESS WITH TAXES.
 
* TaxGirl Kelly Phillips Erb provides a review of “What Looks Different And What You Need To Know About Your 2022 Tax Return” at FORBES.COM.
 
* After a one-month hiatus BOBSERVATIONS is back with some “Religious Observations".
 
* Back TO FORBES.COM, Robert W Woods explains what to do “When IRS Forms 1099 Are Wrong Or Missing”.
 
* And back to Kay Bell, she lists “5 tax tips for Free File users”.
 
She is talking about the IRS “FreeFile” system, which allows taxpayers with limited income to submit their federal return – but not their state return - electronically free of charge at the IRS website.  However, the filing of the returns is not done by the IRS but by seven commercial tax software companies.  Kay points out -
 
“Even before that scandal {involving Henry and Richard and Turbo Tax, which Key explains – rdf}, some members of Congress and consumer advocacy groups were skeptical of the government-software industry partnership. They want the IRS to take over the online program on its own.”
 
I wholeheartedly agree – I have been saying for years the IRS should create and administer its own online program for allowing all taxpayers, regardless of income, to submit their federal tax returns directly to the IRS electronically free of charge.
 
Kay’s post also tells us that taxpayers whose income is too high for FreeFile can use the IRS “Fillable Forms” program to submit federal returns electronically.  FYI – Fillable Forms is only available for the current tax return – it cannot be used to file prior year returns.
 
* Over at THE TAX FOUNDATION Erica York makes a good point in “Your Tax Refund Doesn’t Tell You How Much You Paid in Taxes” (highlight is mine) -
 
“Tax filing season brings up many questions for taxpayers, such as, ‘How big will my tax refund be?’ or, ‘Will I have a balance due when I file taxes this year?’ However, one of the biggest questions taxpayers should ask is, ‘How much did I pay in taxes?’”
 
The goal of a tax return is NOT to get the biggest refund possible but to pay the least amount of tax possible.
 
TTFN