Tax Matters - The Top Tax Defenders Blog

Like many taxpayers, you may wonder what it is going to cost you to file your taxes this year. The expense associated with filing a return can depend on a number of different factors. You may be able to anticipate your own expenses by knowing what circumstances most commonly affect taxpayers' tax filing costs.

People who owe the IRS money often find that they owe more than they can pay in one lump sum. Rather than allowing their wages to be garnished or their assets to be seized, debtors can now take advantage of one of the IRS' installment plans.

People who work as employees have the good fortune of their employer withholding and paying in taxes for them. All they have to typically do is await their W-2s in the mail each year, file a simple 1040 form, and await any refund that might be owed to them.

You need your W-2 to file your income taxes. Your employer has until January 31 to get it into the mail to you. It typically will arrive in your mailbox just a few days later.

Taxpayers typically want to do everything in their power to avoid an IRS audit. Because the IRS is not entirely forthcoming about how some returns are chosen over others, it can be difficult for you to know how to audit-proof your returns.

When the IRS finds questionable information on your tax return, it could decide to audit you. An audit could lead to you paying more money or incurring expensive penalties and fines. Using these five important strategies, you can file your taxes and make your returns as audit-proof as possible.

The Affordable Care Act was passed to encourage Americans to purchase and maintain health insurance policies for themselves and their families. Since its passage, however, many people either refuse or cannot afford to buy coverage. 

Scammers and hackers are always on the lookout for the perfect opportunity to steal people's private information. As people rush to file taxes and cash in on substantial refunds they are often unaware that they leave themselves open to scams that could jeopardize their identities and their tax returns.

It is perfectly legal to keep money in an overseas bank account. In fact, many Americans do simply because they work and live abroad.

While it is legal to open and maintain international bank accounts, it is illegal to avoid reporting this money to the IRS. You can obey current U.S. tax laws and still keep your overseas accounts by keeping in mind these tips about reporting this money to the IRS.

The IRS collects more than $2 trillion in tax revenue each year. Despite this massive sum of money, the IRS will at some point notice if you do not report your own income to the government.