Questions for the Tax Lady: March 29th, 2010

Check out the following new Questions for the Tax Lady answers. 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 #1: Is it true that the IRS is going to be in charge of enforcing the mandatory health insurance requirement?

Yes. Unfortunately, it looks like the IRS has been given the “enforcement job” by the new health care reform package passed by Congress. As I explained in my appearance on CNN last week, they are probably going to modify the IRS Form 1040 to include a section where you provide information on your health insurance coverage. If you do not have coverage and thus do not report health care coverage on your tax return to the IRS, you will be assessed a tax penalty.

Question #2: How do I find out if the IRS has sent my refund check yet?

The IRS’ website features a handy “Where’s my Refund” tool where you can monitor the status of your refund. You will need to provide your Social Security Number, filing status, and the dollar amount of the refund you are anticipating.

Tax Rebates are Coming Soon!

The Tax Policy Blog posted this interesting article reminding everyone that tax rebates are coming soon. Over the past few days there has been a lot of talk about the country’s economy and emergency stimulus plans designed to increase American spending. However, as the Tax Policy Blog reminds us, billions of dollars in tax rebates are already scheduled to be sent out over the next few months. Last year "over $140 billion in individual income tax refunds were sent out from January 2007 through March 2007. Plus, another $78 billion was sent out from April through June."