All you need to know about the W-2 form (Wage and Tax Statement)

by | Mar 11, 2021 | 2020 Tax Returns, Blog, Deduction & Credits, Tax Planning, Tax Preparation

All you need to know about the W-2 form (Wage and Tax Statement)

All you need to know about the W-2 form (Wage and Tax Statement)

The Form W-2 is officially known as the Wage and Tax Statement. The Form W-2 can be defined as the form which an employer should send to its employees and the IRS at the end of every financial year. It mainly denotes the annual wages of the employees and the amount of taxes that have been withheld from the paycheck of the employees. Form W-2 of an individual would also denote the State taxes and other taxes which have been withheld from his paycheck.

The information present on Form W-2 of an individual is extremely necessary while preparing his tax returns. Employers must send the Form W-2 of their employees by 31st January of the tax year to ensure proper tax return preparation. In case of an individual being a contractual employee or self-employed, the income would be reported by other tax forms i.e. Form 1099-NEC or Form 1099-K.

Tax Withholding and its importance

When an employer is withholding amounts from paychecks for the purpose of Federal Income tax, those amounts are being constantly transferred to the IRS throughout the year. Usually, the IRS instructs the taxpayers to make certain periodic payments throughout the year and this is mostly taken care of by the employers.

While the preparation of federal tax returns, the withholding amount reported on Form W-2 would be deducted from the tax bill of an employee. After this has been performed, it would be easy to understand if a tax refund is expected to be received or tax payment would be done. In the case of State Income tax too, when a taxpayer is filing the State Income Tax return a similar calculation has to be done for the amount that has been withheld from a paycheck for the payment of the State Income tax.

How to review the Form W-2?

Let us have a look at some of the major tips that can be used for a review of the Form W-2.

  1. The taxpayer must check the Social Security Number in Block A of Form W-2. If the Social Security Number is wrong, then the employer must be requested for issuing a corrected version of the Form W-2. The taxpayers should not try to change the details themselves as the employer must send the correct copy to the Government for the correct implementation of the changes.
  2. Taxpayers should never assume that the information in their Form W-2 is correct. The figures in the boxes i.e. Box 1 i.e. the federal tax, Box 2 i.e. the federal income tax which has been withheld, Box 16 which highlights the State wages, and Box 17 which highlights the withheld State Income tax must be compared with the figures that are mentioned on the final paycheck stub for 2020.
  3. In the year 2020, if the employer of the taxpayer has sponsored any of the moving expenses then those must be included in the Form W-2. Box 1 of the Form should be reviewed carefully to check the inclusion of that expenditure.
  4. In case an individual has not received his Form W-2 by the end of the first week of February then the employer must be intimated about it. There is a toll-free number that can be helpful for the taxpayers who have not received their Form W-2. As an alternate option, Form 4852 can be substituted for Form W-2 while filing the federal tax returns.

If an individual has complete knowledge about reading Form W-2 then it can be very helpful in understanding his salary structure and even starting the preparations for the tax returns. Once, the tax return preparations are over the taxpayers must attach a copy of their filled Form W-2 and send it to the IRS.

Conclusion

Hence, this information related to the Form W-2 would be of great help for the taxpayers to understand their salary, taxes, and even tax preparations.

 

All about Unemployment Income Reports

by | Mar 5, 2021 | 2020 Tax Returns, Blog, income tax, Tax Planning, Tax Preparation

All about Unemployment Income Reports

All about Unemployment Income Reports

The US economy has suffered from a great setback due to the pandemic COVID-19. Millions of Americans have either lost their jobs or have been furloughed. However, the US Government has started the initiative of providing several unemployment benefits for the affected Americans. These unemployment benefits are either a part of the CARES Act or are also sponsored by the State Government.

If you have been facing the problem of unemployment due to the pandemic and have received the unemployment benefits, then your taxes must have been affected. So, it is very important for you to understand how to report your unemployment income on your tax returns.

Taxability of the Unemployment Income

Unemployment income would be considered as an income and hence is taxable as per the laws. According to the norms of the IRS, the unemployment income or compensation obtained should be reported on the tax return of the year 2020.

The IRS and the Government want their cuts of the funds which you are receiving in the form of Unemployment income. Income is income and the source of income is not to be considered when it comes to filing your tax returns.

Unemployment Income to be reported

 Before you start filing your tax return for the year 2020, you should be aware of the below-mentioned facts.

You must check out if you have been a participant involuntary withholding. If you have been a participant in the Voluntary Withholding, then you should have done it by filing the Form W-4V which denotes the Voluntary Withholding Requests. In case, you had filled out the Form W-4V then withholding of a flat 10% of your unemployment benefits would have occurred. This would mean that you have already paid 10% of your federal income taxes on your income earned due to unemployment.

In case, you are not making payment for the taxes of any of your unemployment income then a lump sum of your taxes would be paid while filing your tax returns. In such cases, the IRS would however offer payment plans by which you would be able to make the payment of your taxes.

Reporting your unemployment income

 In your federal tax returns, you can mention the unemployment income which you have received under the Income Section. Before starting the process, one mandatory step is to receive Form 1099-G. This Form would help in highlighting the certain Government payments which have been issued by the State’s unemployment office and shows how much amount you have received as Unemployment Income.

You must keep that Form and match it to your own records which you have. Under the Income Section of your Tax return, the amount mentioned in Form 1099-G must be mentioned. Unemployment Income is usually reported in your federal tax return in Schedule 1 in the “Additional Income Section”. Then the full amount would be carried forward to the main Form 1040.

Exceptions for COVID-19

At this point, the IRS has clearly stated that there are no exceptions related to the taxes with respect to COVID-19. It has been stated by the IRS that you will have to pay the taxes related to unemployment on both the income received for unemployment from the State and also any extra funds if received from the Federal Government due to unemployment.

If you cannot pay the bills

In case you are not able to pay your tax bills on time you should not panic. You should not refrain from filing your tax returns due to this. It would be best for you to file your tax returns for the year 2020 even if you are not able to pay your bills on time. You would have to pay penalties in case of missing the tax return filing deadline.

You can contact the IRS and discuss the delay in tax payments. The IRS would help you by providing an extension in the tax payment, creating instalments in making the tax payment, or temporary late collection of taxes, etc.

Conclusion

Hence, reporting Unemployment income is a must for Americans and the given information would help understand the tax implications associated with Unemployment income.

2nd Generation Indians in the US: Did you know that you can avail Family Tax Deductions and Credits?

by | Mar 1, 2021 | 2020 Tax Returns, 2021 Tax Returns, Blog, Tax Planning, Tax Preparation, Uncategorized

2nd Generation Indians in the US: Did you know that you can avail Family Tax Deductions and Credits

2nd Generation Indians in the US: Did you know that you can avail Family Tax Deductions and Credits?

In the US, due to various practical and cultural causes, many families reside in their multi-generational homes. Over more than 60 million Americans tend to live with their families due to the various benefits this can offer. Sometimes, living together with families can be the reason for certain chaos; however, the advantages would always be more than chaos.

If you are an Indian staying with your family in the US, then while filing your tax returns there are certain benefits related to family which you must be aware of. You must ensure that you are taking the advantage of these tax deductions and credits while you file your tax returns.

Tax deductions on home

If you are the owner of a house, then you would be eligible to claim certain tax deductions. Let us check out some of these deductions.

  1. Points

In case, you have origination fees or points being paid for your new house to obtain a particular rate from your lender then that fee is deductible from your taxes. Moreover, if you had paid points when your house was purchased then you would be able to deduct those points in the year you had paid them.  In the case of refinancing your home, you would have to do a points deduction over the loan life.

  1. Interest

In case of a home purchase with the help of a home loan then you must have paid the mortgage interest. You are eligible to make a deduction for the mortgage interest that has been paid during the current tax year and has been reported on Form 1098.

  1. Taxes on property

Taxes paid on property are very expensive and can be deductible from your taxes if you have paid them. For the tax year 2020, your taxes on property or State Income tax withholding should not be more than $10,000 in total.

Tax Benefits on Family

As a parent, you would be able to avail various tax benefits while filing your tax returns.

  1. If your child is below the age of 13 years and was using daycare facilities in the last year then you would be eligible to claim the Child and Dependent Credit. For one dependent child, you can claim up to 35% of the $3000 that has been incurred in the daycare. For two or more than two dependent children, you would be able to claim up to 35% of the $6000 incurred in the child-care expenses.
  2. If you are working, then another tax benefit that would be advantageous for you is the Earned Income Tax Credit. If your family has three kids, then you can claim a tax deduction of up to $6,660. Last year around 25 million taxpayers were able to receive the Earned Income Tax Credit and the average Earned Income Tax Credit for each taxpayer would be around $2,476.
  3. Under the tax reforms, the dependent exemption was eliminated. But by the Child Tax Credit, you would be able to claim up to $2000 for each child who is below the age of 17 years and is a dependent. In case of your children being above the age of 17 years, you can claim the credit for non-child dependents which would be $500.
  4. You can also be eligible to avail of the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) if your kids are dependents and are studying in college. The American Opportunity Tax Credit is a refundable tax credit that would be up to $2500 for each student for the first four years of their college.
  5. In case, you are not qualifying for the American Opportunity Tax Credit, you can avail the option of Lifetime Learning Credit. The limit for this credit is up to $2000 for each tax return and you can claim it even if your dependent has attended one class in the college.

Financial support for elderly family members

If you have been providing monetary support for your parents or grandparents, then it is feasible to claim them as dependents while filing your tax returns.

  1. You can be a qualified relative to claim dependents only when you have provided more than half of the financial support for your parents/grandparents in the year 2020.
  2. In the year 2020, the taxable income of your dependents must have been less than $4300.

Conclusion

Hence, you might be staying in a nuclear family or a joint family setup; you must be aware of the tax deductions which you can claim for your dependents and family members.