Monday, September 20, 2010

Questions for the Tax Lady: September 20th, 2010

Check out the following new Questions for the Tax Lady answers and feel free to ask me questions through one of the links below. You can send me an email, direct message or @ reply, and I will do my best to get an answer for you!



Question: can you download IRS forms online?

Answer: Absolutely! The IRS offers a vast majority of their forms online at www.IRS.gov The forms and publications library is convenient, simple and saves you a trip to your tax preparer’s office. I download IRS forms all the time. A few things to remember when downloading tax forms:

  1. Make sure the form is for the correct year. Tax rules change every single year, thus each tax form is updated each year. Using last year’s form can cause some big problems! How do you know what year the form is for? All forms should have the tax year in huge print in the top left corner.
  2. Make sure it prints properly! Once you’ve printed your form, take the time to compare it with the form on your computer screen. If your printer settings are a little off, the form can print incorrectly and that can cause you some pretty big tax headaches.
  3. Save yourself a world of trouble, and open up the instructions for any form you are going to use. Full instructions for each form are available for download as well. You may not need to print them (they are usually pretty long), but have them open on your screen, ready for when you have a question.

Question: can you deduct overdraft fees on your tax return?

Unfortunately, the answer is, no. The IRS opinion is that banking overdraft fees are really penalties, and therefore not deductible on your tax returns.