The IRS is a very big place, and trying to get answers to your tax questions can be a daunting task. But if you know who to call at the Internal Revenue Service, you can get expert tax advice and answers to your tax questions via live telephone assistance.

Here is a list of IRS phone numbers and/or websites to get expert tax advice and/or answers to your tax questions:

For tax help and answers to tax questions for Individuals, call toll-free 1-800-829-1040, Monday - Friday, 7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. your local time.

For phone assistance with tax questions for Businesses, call toll-free 1-800-4933, Monday - Friday, 7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

To get answers to tax questions for Exempt Organizations, Retirement Plan Administrators and Government Entities, call toll-free 1-877-829-5500, Monday – Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Central Time.

For tax assistance for Individuals who believe they may be a victim of Identify Theft, call 1-800-908-4490 (Automated and live assistance) 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 pm. your local time.

There’s live telephone assistance available to people who live outside the United States, too! The phone numbers for tax help is available at http://www.irs.gov/localcontacts/article/0,,id=101292,00.html

The IRS even offers face-to-face tax assistance in certain areas. They also have local offices you may visit to get tax assistance.

Finally, the IRS offers Taxpayer Assistance Centers at locations throughout the country. The IRS will extend hours of service at selected locations from January 31 through April 9.

As a taxpayer you have a right to get expert tax advice and answers to your tax questions directly from the source - the Internal Revenue Service.

source: irs.gov

Many taxpayers aren’t aware that the Internal Revenue Service offers taxpayers free help on federal tax questions and with filing a return. You can get the free tax help along with tax tips and answers to your tax questions by visiting the IRS website, by telephone and in person.

When seeking tax help online make certain that you go to the authentic IRS website. A great tax tip is to understand that the official IRS site does not end in .com, .net., .org or any other designation. The official site ends in .gov

The IRS website offers free tax help through applications available through its Online Services section. Tax tips and answers to your tax questions can be ascertained through the following:

• Free File a program available exclusively at IRS.gov in English and Spanish, offers brand-name tax software or online fillable forms. Everyone can find an option to prepare and e-file their tax returns for free. Taxpayers who earned $58,000 or less qualify for free software through a private-public partnership with manufacturers. Taxpayers who earned more or who are comfortable preparing their returns can use Free File Fillable Forms, the electronic versions of IRS paper forms.
• Find an Authorized e-file Provider helps individual taxpayers find someone who can electronically file their tax return.
• EITC Assistant, available in English and Spanish, helps taxpayers find out if they are eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit.
• Interactive Tax Assistant guides taxpayers through a series of questions and provides responses on credits, deductions and general filing questions.
• Electronic Federal Tax Payment System enables taxpayers to pay their tax online.
• Online Payment Agreement for taxpayers who cannot pay their tax completely by April 18, 2011.
• IRS Withholding Calculator helps taxpayers make sure the amount of income tax they have withheld from their pay isn’t too high or too low.

The IRS also offers free tax help with free tax preparation available through it’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistant (VITA) program.

Taxpayers can also get resolution to tax questions and issues that cannot be answered online or by phone, and who need face-to-face assistance via the Taxpayer Assistance Center.
Another free tax help offering provided by the IRS include tax forms and publications walk-in service, low income taxpayer clinics, Braille tax material and a taxpayer advocate service. For information on these IRS services, or to get more tax tips, tax facts, or answers to your tax questions visit the IRS website.

source: irs.gov

Are you aware that medical expenses may be deductible on your income tax return? If you itemize your deductions using the 1040 Schedule A income tax form, you can deduct medical and dental expenses for yourself, your spouse and your dependents.

Here are six tax facts you should know about medical and dental expenses before you file your income tax return:

1. You may deduct only the amount by which your total medical care expenses for the year exceed 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income. You do this calculation on Form 1040, Schedule A in computing the amount deductible.
2. You can only include the medical expenses you paid during the year. Your total medical expenses for the year must be reduced by any reimbursement. It makes no difference if you receive the reimbursement or if it is paid directly to the doctor or hospital.
3. You may include qualified medical expenses you pay for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents, including a person you claim as a dependent under a multiple support agreement. If either parent claims a child as a dependent under the rules for divorced or separated parents, each parent may deduct the medical expenses he or she actually pays for the child. You can also deduct medical expenses you paid for someone who would have qualified as your dependent except that the person didn’t meet the gross income or joint return test.
4. A deduction is allowed only for expenses primarily paid for the prevention or alleviation of a physical or mental defect or illness. Medical care expenses include payments for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or treatment affecting any structure or function of the body. The cost of drugs is deductible only for drugs that require a prescription except for insulin.
5. You may deduct transportation costs primarily for and essential to medical care that qualify as medical expenses. The actual fare for a taxi, bus, train, or ambulance may be deducted. If you use your car for medical transportation, you can deduct actual out-of-pocket expenses such as gas and oil, or you can deduct the standard mileage rate for medical expenses. With either method you may include tolls and parking fees.
6. Distributions from Health Savings Accounts and withdrawals from Flexible Spending Arrangements may be tax free if you pay qualified medical expenses.

For additional information on medical deductions and benefits, see Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses or Publication 969, Health Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Favored Health Plans.

Visit the IRS website for more tax facts, tax tips and answers to your tax questions.

source: irs.gov