By Carole Feldman
Associated Press
WASHINGTON ó If you’re a first-time home buyer, victim of a natural disaster, or if you installed a small wind turbine in your backyard to generate electricity, you could find some tax relief when you file your 2008 return.There also are new incentives to save for retirement, and some popular tax breaks have been renewed.
Start filling out your taxes, in fact, and you might find, “The IRS really gives me an opportunity to save some money this year,” said Jeff Schnepper, MSN tax expert and author of books on taxes and finance.
Knowing what to look for is key. “The tax code is convoluted, complicated, and even the tax pros aren’t sure,” he said.The Internal Revenue Service makes this suggestion: “Just make sure you’re not overlooking anything,” said Terry Lemons, senior spokesman for the agency.
Some of the changes this year are aimed at helping homeowners ó and stimulating the economy during what some analysts say could become the longest recession since the Great Depression.
First-time homebuyers are eligible for a maximum credit of $7,500. But there’s a catch: The credit is actually an interest-free loan that must be paid back over 15 years. If you take the full credit, you will have to pay back $500 a year. If you sell the house before the 15 years is up, the full amount will be due.To qualify, taxpayers cannot have owned a home in the previous three years and must use the property as their principal residence. The home must have been purchased between April 8, 2008 and July 1, 2009.
A homeowner who doesn’t itemize will be able to get an additional standard deduction up to $500 ó or $1,000 for joint filers ó for state or local real estate taxes. Before, you could only take a deduction for these taxes if you itemized. This is expected to help the elderly and others who have paid off their mortgages and no longer have mortgage interest to deduct. That deduction often is the kicker for itemization.
If you were the victim of a federally declared natural disaster in 2008, you also can increase your standard deduction by your net loss.
For those saving for retirement and covered by a plan at work, there was an increase in how much you can earn and still take a deduction for IRA contributions.
Last year, more than 155 million individual tax returns were filed. More than half were filed electronically, either by a software preparer or from a home computer. The average refund was $2,429.The IRS expects e-filing to increase this year, especially as it expands its Free File program and providers of tax preparation software drop fees. To be eligible for Free File, you must have an adjusted gross income of $56,000 or less. The program in essence interviews you and helps walk you through filing.
However, there’s another option if your income is above that. Free File Fillable Tax Forms are basically paper tax forms on the computer. You put in the data on your own and the program does the basic math. You can file it electronically regardless of income.
“It may be just right for those who are comfortable with the tax law or those who use electronic software to prepare their returns but file using paper forms,” the IRS says.Electronic filing, experts say, has a couple of key advantages: more accurate returns and quicker refunds. The IRS says the system safeguards a taxpayer’s personal information, a view echoed by Bob Meighan, vice president of Intuit Inc.’s Consumer Tax Group. The company publishes the tax-preparation software TurboTax.
MSN’s Schnepper says he’s “less than secure with the system.” Still, he says, “e-filing is the wave of the future.”In any case, he advises, keep good records. “What I tell my clients is get receipts for everything that’s deductible,” he said. Although you don’t have to submit them to the IRS, you need a check or written receipt for every charitable contribution.
Keep an eye out for credits you may be entitled to, especially given the economic turmoil. “We could see people who qualify for those who wouldn’t in previous years,” says Lemons.
Consider the Recovery Rebate Credit. Most people probably know it as the stimulus checks distributed last year, based on income reported on 2007 returns.
People who lost their job or otherwise took a financial hit in 2008 may be eligible for the rebate now, even if they weren’t last year. Or, if they received less than the full rebate they may be able to collect the remainder.
The IRS will figure the rebate for you, or you can do it yourself, using the Recovery Rebate Credit Calculator on the IRS Web site or the worksheet included in instructions for Form 1040.
More people also could end up qualifying for the Earned Income Tax Credit, which is designed to offset the cost of Social Security contributions for low- and moderate-income workers. The credit is refundable ó you still can get it even if you owe no tax.
There’s also a tax break for people who lost homes to foreclosure. It used to be that the debt forgiven by the bank was taxed as income. Like last year, however, forgiven mortgage debt up to $2 million is not taxable.
Another credit has disappeared ó for one year only. You can no longer get a credit for energy efficient water heaters, furnaces, windows or other items. However, if you installed a small wind turbine, solar panels, fuel cells or a geothermal heat pump to generate energy you may be able to get a credit for part of the cost.Information about 2008 taxes, deductions and credits is available on the IRS Web site, www.irs.gov.
For the middle-class taxpayer, Congress once again has approved a patch for the Alternative Minimum Tax, raising the exemption to $69,950 for a married couple filing jointly, and $46,200 for singles and heads of households. The AMT was designed to make sure that the wealthiest Americans pay taxes, but ended up hitting middle-income taxpayers as well. Without the patch, which adjusts for inflation, more people would have been hit.
Those who try to shelter investment by putting it in their children’s names should beware. There’s a change in the kiddie tax. Previously, only children under age 18 were affected. That was expanded this year to affect children under 24. See Form 8615 for more information.
Forms can be printed out at http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/index.html or can be ordered by calling 1-800-829-3676. If you’re using tax-preparation software, be sure to follow the links for updated forms.