- 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!!

How to be eligible for Earned Income Credit:
To be eligible for the earned income credit, your earned income and adjusted gross income has to be within certain range. The amount of the tax credit varies based on your earned income and the number of qualifying children you are supporting in your household. The following data is the criteria for eligibility as per income range:

 For the year 2012, to be eligible for EIC, both earned income and adjusted gross income (AGI) must each be less than the following amounts:

• $45,060 ($50,270 married filing jointly) with 3 or more qualifying children
• $41,952 ($47,162 married filing jointly) with 2 qualifying children;
• $36,920 ($42,130 married filing jointly) with 1 qualifying child; or
• $13,980 ($19,190 married filing jointly) with no qualifying children.

For the year 2011, both earned income and adjusted gross income (AGI) must each be less than the following amounts:

• $43,998 ($49,078 married filing jointly) with 3 or more qualifying children
• $40,964 ($46,044 married filing jointly) with 2 qualifying children;
• $36,052 ($41,132 married filing jointly) with 1 qualifying child; or
• $13,660 ($18,740 married filing jointly) with no qualifying children.

Now, let's see what is the amount of credit you can receive from Earned Income Credit:

For the year 2012, the maximum earned income credit is as following:

• $5,891 with three or more qualifying children;
• $5,236 with two qualifying children;
• $3,169 with one qualifying child; and
• $475 with no qualifying children.

For the year 2011, the maximum earned income credit for 2011 is as follows:

• $5,751 with three or more qualifying children;
• $5,112 with two qualifying children;
• $3,094 with one qualifying child; and
• $464 with no qualifying children.

So, with all the above information on Earned Income Credit 2011-12, just grab a big refund & keep in mind its a refundable credit!!

So, now the question arises that who is qualified to claim first-time home buyer credit in year 2011 tax returns. Well, here we go:

- To claim the credit, you have to serve on extended duty outside the United States for at least 90 days. Remember, this duty has to occur after December 31, 2008 and end before May 1, 2010.

-You have to purchase your home before May 1, 2011. If you enter into a binding agreement before May 1st and eventually purchase the property before July 1st, you

do qualify for the First Time Homebuyer Credit."

- If you build a house, its ok if you make commitment before May 1st 2011 and move in prior to July 1st. (oh! by the way check my article on how to select best tax preparation software for 2011)

- The First Time Homebuyer Credit puts another condition that the main home has to be in the United States. Partial credit is awarded if the house is a duplex or its a house with a detached building used for business purposes. Its okay if "House" is a houseboat, mobile home, cooperative apartment or condominium.

- The taxpayer can't make more than $125,000 or $245,000(married filing jointly). The deduction phases out at $145,000 or $245,000(married filing jointly).

- Another condition is that the home cannot cost more than $800,000.

- The taxpayer and the spouse both have to be first-time homebuyers. This means that you are not allowed to own a home for the three years before you buy this time.

- You are not eligible for first time homebuyer credit if you are:

      under 18 years of age,

      nonresident alien,

      dependent on someone's tax return,

      house is inheritance & is bought from a relative or  from business you own more than half.

Now, the question is what is the amount of Credit:

10% of purchase price of the home, but a maximum upto $8,000 when you file jointly.

So, go ahead & take advantage of the First Time Homebuyer Credit 2011. Remember, it requires you to get into a binding agreement on a house prior to May 1, 2011. All the best for a big refund!!

Prerequisites to claim this tax credit: For claiming the child & dependent care credit, you must meet each of following criteria:

• Your daycare provider must meet certain qualifications,
• Your child or dependent must meet certain qualifications,
• You must have earned income,
• With the care provided, you must be able to work or to look for work, and
• You must reduce your eligible daycare expenses by any amount/s provided by a dependent care benefits plan sponsored by your employer.

Now, who is the "Qualifying Child or Dependent"

For the child to be "qualifying", he/she must be your dependent, age 12 or younger. If your child is age 13 or older, the child must be physically or mentally unable to care for himself/herself. You can also claim adult daycare expenses for a dependent age 13 or older/for a spouse, if that person is physically or mentally unable to care for himself/ herself. Other qualifying criteria include that you must provide a home for the dependent, and pay over half the costs of maintaining a home for your dependent. You cannot claim childcare or adult daycare expenses for someone who does not live with you.generally, the child must also be your dependent & If the child is not your dependent just because you allow the non-custodial parent to claim the child as a dependent, then you may be able to claim the child care credit even though you aren't claiming the child as your dependent. Only the custodial parent can take the child care credit, however.

Amount of Child & Dependent care credit:

1. The credit can be up to 35 percent of your qualifying expenses, depending upon your adjusted gross income.
2. For 2010, you may use up to $3,000 of expenses paid in a year for one qualifying individual or $6,000 for two or more qualifying individuals to figure the credit.

Remember, the child & the dependent care credit are "CREDITS" so they are a dollar for dollar deduction from the amount of TAX. So you can expect a bigger refund with these credits.

• For the year 2012, the annual deductible amounts for Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) have been increased  from the tax year 2011 amounts; as below:

 Some additional information on phaseouts is that the amount of $2,500, which is the maximum deduction for interest paid on student loans starts to phase out for a married taxpayers filing a joint returns at $125,000 and phases out completely at $155,000, this is an increase of $5,000 from the phase out limits for tax year 2011.

• For tax year 2012, the maximum earned income tax credit (EITC)(remember this is a credit which is directly deducted from your amount of tax, so its a big deal) for low- and moderate- income workers and working families rises to $5,891, up which was $5,751 in 2011. The maximum income limit also rises for the EITC rises to $50,270, up from $49,078 in 2011. Always keep an eye on the qualifying criteria of this credit before making its use.The credit differs by characteristics like family size, filing status and other factors, with the maximum credit going to joint filers who have three or more qualifying children.
• There is also a change in modified adjusted gross income threshold related to lifetime learning credit. The new amount of phasing out for lifetime learning credit is $104,000 for joint filers, up from $102,000, and $52,000 for singles and heads of household, up from $51,000.

• The foreign earned income deduction rises to $95,100, which is an increase of $2,200 from the maximum deduction for tax year 2011

So, for preparing your tax returns on time & without hassle, here are a few preparations that will help you.

For filing a Tax form, you need to consider various things like:

-The filing status: Resident Alien, Non-Resident Alien or Dual-Status Alien

There can be various circumstantial outcomes when you are a resident alien, non-resident alien or dual-status alien. In most cases non-resident aliens and dual-status aliens need to use different forms. You may need to use the 1040NR or the 1040NR EZ. For more detailed information on that you may want to take a look at Publication 519. This tax publication will help you to understand the requirements needed for you to comply with the United States tax laws.

-1040 Federal Income Tax Form Due Date is April 17th, 2012

Generally, by the due date you have to file an income tax return . But what if I didn’t get it done in time, you can file for an extension using tax Form 4868. You must file this tax form by the original due date. But, a very important thing to remember is that if you owe tax, you can't extend that. You must pay on time with the extension. The extension will give you six months to send in the paperwork but, if you owe, you must pay on time or else you will incur penalties and interest on what monies you owe.

- If you need help in filing tax form 1040 or any other tax form

There is whole lot of information available on the website irs.gov, but even then if you need information & help in filing, you can always choose softwares like Turbotax which not only helps you make your tax return, but also provides you with 24*7 help for any question you have and guarantees you the best refund!! the features are endless!

So, gear up & file your tax returns or extensions by April 17, 2012 & all the best for the biggest refund!!

Tip#1- The first $2,400 in unemployment benefits is tax-free
Remember, the 2009 stimulus bill exempts the first few unemployment amounts from taxes. For this you will need a Form 1099-G that lists your benefits. The trick is to subtract $2,400 from the total to figure out how much is taxable and if the taxpayers are married couple filing a joint return and they are out of work, the tax-free amount doubles up to $4,800.

Tip#2- The gifts you received from anyone are not taxable
A very important & helpful thing for unemployed is that if you received any gifts you are not taxed on those gifts. Basically, it means that they are not treated as your income. So you can absolutely enjoy your Christmas gifts this year!!

Tip#3- Qualify for Earned Income tax credit
For year 2011, to qualify for Earned Income tax credit, the earned income and AGI needs to be within certain ranges. The amount of the tax credit varies based on your earned income and how many qualifying children you are supporting in your household.Following are the number limits:

• $43,998 ($49,078 married filing jointly) with 3 or more qualifying children
• $40,964 ($46,044 married filing jointly) with 2 qualifying children;
• $36,052 ($41,132 married filing jointly) with 1 qualifying child; or
• $13,660 ($18,740 married filing jointly) with no qualifying children.

The maximum earned income credit for 2011 is:

• $5,751 with three or more qualifying children;
• $5,112 with two qualifying children;
• $3,094 with one qualifying child; and
• $464 with no qualifying children.

Besides having a Social Security Number, there are 4 tests you need to pass for a qualifying child:

• Relationship test,
• Age test,
• Residency test, and
• Joint return test.

Tip#4- As an unemployed, you may be able to file your return for free 

If your adjusted gross income is $57,000 or less, you can file electronically for free.Not only this will help you efile for free but also get your refund as fast as 72 hours The Free File program provides the software through a partnership tax software companies. It involves the following steps:

• e-file with Free File.
  Transmit your return electronically by using secure IRS e-file.
• Use direct deposit.
  Get your tax refund quickly and safely, and you can track your tax refund status within 72 hours after you e-file.
• Pay electronically if you need to.

Tip #5- Keep in mind about filing as self employed:

Many people who have been laid off have tried to explore online work from home options for work. So, if you are one of them & you had any earnings past year, don't forget to get 1099 for your earnings & you need to file self employment earnings & pay self employment tax. For the year 2011 only, government has reduced the self-employment tax. Self-employment persons will pay Social Security tax of 10.4% on the net self-employment income up to the Social Security wage base of $106,800, and the same 2.9% Medicare tax on their total self-employment income. Self-employed persons will take a deduction for the 6.2% employer's share of Social Security along with 1.45% employer's share of Medicare as an above-the-line deduction.

So, with all the above 5 tips, hope the unemployed shall be helped for planning their taxes for this tax season in 2011. So giddy up & get the best refund & not to forget, by efiling.

When you receive your W2- when you receive your W2 from all your employers, you can prepare & submit your tax return anytime before April 15 without filing an extension. But if your are not able to file a tax return by April 15, then to avoid interest & penalty etc, you should file an extension and never forget to pay the amount of tax due, if any with your extension. This shall give you an extension of 6 months & if you have paid the amount of tax with your extension that is higer than the amount of tax due with your tax return, you won't be hit by interest & penalty, infarct you will get the extra amount paid back by IRS with interest.

When you receive Form 1099- You must file a tax return on receiving a Form 1099 & you can file it any time after receiving it & after your receive proof of all other incomes like W2. It is very important to file a tax return after receiving a Form 1099 because one copy of 1099 is submitted to the IRS by your payer. So IRS already has your proof of income. There can be various types of Form 1099:

    Form 1099-B
    Form 1099-C
    Form 1099-DIV
    Form 1099-G
    Form 1099-INT
    Form 1099-MISC
    Form 1099-MSA
    Form 1099-OID
    Form 1099-PATR
    Form 1099-R
    Form 1099-S
    Form SSA-1099
    Form RRB-1099

So, with this above listed information in your hand, go ahead & file your tax return on time before April 15 or after April 15 with an extension.

• Item name
• Invoice for rent due
• Expenses incurred on the properties(listed below in tax deductible expenses)
• Payment of rent received
• Deposit made in the bank

Also, for recording rental income from accounting point of view, you can make the following journal entry:

Entry when rent is due:

DR: rent receivables CR rent income

Entry when payment has been received: 

DR cash or cash on bank Cr to rent receivables, this way you will close the rent receivables account because you received the expected amount.

Rental Income reporting in your tax return Form 1040

In taxation, if you have rented out your property, its considered to be a passive activity. In a way it means that even if you devote a substantial amount of time to selecting the right tenants, in repairs & inspection of the rental unit,still it is considered to be passive. The IRS has limited your losses from rental business to a maximum $25,000 per annum which includes losses from all your rental properties.

How the landlords should treat rental income property expenses on tax return Form 1040

The landlords can claim the following expense tax deductions:

• Interest
• Depreciation
• Travel
• Travel-long distance
• Repairs
• Employees costs
• Theft losses
• Insurance
• Legal fee

So, general expenses faced by landlords such as repairing or replacing a roof, or cleaning an apartment after a long-term tenant leaves. But whatever the expense is, even if it is more than $25,000 it can be deducted but at the max upto $ 25,000 from all the properties.The balance loss will be carried over to next year, which can be set off against any incomes in the next year.

There are several very good rental income softwares in the market that allow you to keep appropriate records for rental income reporting & Turbo tax is such a tax software that allows you to handle any kind of income reporting on your Form 1040. It helps you get more & over & above deductions against your rental income that you might have missed to take into account.

There can be lot of areas where the tax deductions can be claimed each year. Last year federal government was givig a lot of benefits to car owners as well as home owners. I guess there are people who were able to reducw their liability by 1000s of $$ by just claiming home owner deductions.

This year the IRS schemes don't look to be as strong as last year, but in 2012 tax return filing, the homeowner tax deduction is still a very popular area where a person can claim substantial tax deductions and reduce their liability towards IRS.

Click on this link to know more about 2012 Tax deductions for homeowners