IRS is offering a new online tool to help people find a closeby location for free tax preparation assistance. The  Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and the (TCE) programs by IRS  , which means Tax Counseling for the Elderly are offering free tax help for taxpayers based on who qualify for the service. Besides other tax prep tools like Turbotax being theBest tax preparation software 2011, this is really helpful for people who can qualify for this service.
It is a very important tool to encourage more & more people to report their income. I would say that it is a really helpful tool for the ones who are entitled to a refund & they won't have to spend on the refund.
For VITA & TCE programs, the IRS website page offers you to enter your zip code & gives you a drop down option of choosing the radius which ranges from 5 miles to 100 miles.
Some major keywords for searching these IRS tools are "VITA by IRS", "TCE by IRS","Free Tax preparation for you by volunteers" etc..
So, go ahead & file your taxes with Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and the (TCE) programs by IRS before April 17th, 2012.

In 2011, Tax return for contractors is a very versatile & important information. The reason being that due to loss of jobs & low salaried jobs, many people do other part time contractor-ship ventures for earning some extra money.

This job which you are doing under your own name without any salary is called self-employement & such earned income is called self- employement income. It is very important for it to be treated appropriately in tax return for contractors because the income if not reported or not reported appropriately, you can invite yourself a tax audit which can make you lose a bunch of hundreds or grands(depending on your case).

So, for all the contractors out there, here is some informtation about when you need to report self-employed income. If you are paid $600 or more for your work for any individual client, you should receive a Form 1099-MISC(explianed below) from your customer. Remember that you have to include this income in Schedule C of your your tax return. You can claim the deductions for your business expenses against your self employed income. And if your net earnings from self-employment(contractorship job) exceed $400, you will have to pay self-employment tax (for Social Security and Medicare) & this is ascertained on Schedule SE. Now, as a contractor you are paying double the percentage of tax which you pay as an employee, but you can deduct one-half of that SE tax as an adjustment to income on Form 1040.

Following are the two types of tax forms that are used in year 2011 tax return for contractors:

Form W-9

Form W-9 is used if you have figured out that the person you are paying is an independent contractor, the first thing you have to do is is to have the contractor complete Form W-9. With this form you request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification. This form can be used to request the correct name and Taxpayer Identification Number, or TIN, of the worker. A TIN may be either a Social Security Number (SSN), or an Employer Identification Number (EIN). The W-9 is supposed to be kept in your files for four years for future reference in case IRS has any questions from the worker.

Form 1099-MISC

A Form 1099 is used for various reasons, but it typically is given to an independent contractor as a record of the income that he or she received from a particular business.This is known as Form 1099-MISC. Other versions of the 1099 can be used to report different types of income, such as interest, dividends, real estate sale proceeds and debt cancellation. On a general 1099 form, such as the 1099-MISC, the income earned is noted, but there will not be any deductions for federal or state income taxes, Social Security or medical deductions. The 1099 form's recipient is not an employee of the business, so the business is obligated only to tender the income to the contractor without any deductions. Always remember, this 1099 income is also reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). So if you receive 1099, always report it in your tax return.

So, all you contractors out there take these points into consideration for 2011 tax return for contractors, go ahead & report your 1099 income on your tax returns to avoid any tax audits.

"Where's my refund" is an online tool by IRS that helps the tax return filers to check their refund status online. Generally the refund status is suggested to be checked around 72 hours of processing time if you use efile method of filing. e.g. you submitted the return between Jan 17 and Jan 18, there are chances that you may get the direct deposit in your account on or before Jan 25. This online tool by IRS is a very easy & user friendly service that requires the following very basic info:

- Your social Security Number
-Your filing status
- Refund Amount

This online refund status tool by IRS offers another very important feature which is the "Help" tab.It helps you to guide through the required information & many other required questions & other information, some of it I have tried to list below as-

1. Helping you that where can you find your Social Security Number or IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number on your tax return. The answer is something like-

• In case you filed a Form 1040, the Social Security Number is shown on Page 1 in the upper right hand corner of your tax form
• If case you filed a Form 1040EZ, the Social Security Number is shown on Page 1 in the upper right hand corner of your tax form.
• If case you filed a Form 1040A, the Social Security Number is shown on Page 1 in the upper right hand corner of your tax form.

2. Helping you with the question that where can you find your filing status- The answer help goes like this:

• In case you filed a Form 1040, the Filing Status is shown on Page 1, Boxes 1 through 5 on your tax form.
• If case you filed a Form 1040EZ, the Filing Status is either Single or Married Filing a Joint Return whatever you opted.
• In case you filed a Form 1040A, the Filing Status is shown on Page 1, Boxes 1 through 5 on your tax form.

3. "Where's my refund" online tool by IRS also helps you with the question that how can you find your refund amount- The help tab helps you in the following way with the following info:

• In case you filed a Form 1040, the Refund Amount is listed on Line 74a of your tax form.
• If you filed a Form 1040EZ, the Refund Amount is listed on Line 11a of your tax form
• If you filed a Form 1040A, the Refund Amount is listed on line 43a of your tax form.

4. Also,this feature helps you with the answer to a very important question that how long should you wait to check for your refund status- The answer gives you information that in case you chose e-file method, you should wait for 72 hours to check your status & in case you sent the paper return, then you should wait for 3-4 weeks.

In this way, the "Where's my refund" online tool by IRS is extremely helpful to all types of tax filers. Whether you are a tax filer who urgently needs the refund or one who has a curiosity of where your refund is, its for everybody!!