On January 24, the IRS unveiled its first smartphone application, called IRS2Go. The phone application provides tax help by letting taxpayers check the status of their tax refund and obtain helpful tax information.

“This new smart phone app reflects our commitment to modernizing the agency and engaging taxpayers where they want when they want it,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. “As technology evolves and younger taxpayers get their information in new ways, we will keep innovating to make it easy for all taxpayers to access helpful information.”

The IRS2Go phone app gives people a convenient way of checking on their federal refund. It also gives people a quick way of obtaining easy-to-understand tax tips.

Apple users can download the free IRS2Go application by visiting the Apple App Store. Android users can visit the Android Marketplace to download the free IRS2Go app.

“This phone app is a first step for us,” Shulman said. “We will look for additional ways to expand and refine our use of smartphones and other new technologies to help meet the needs of taxpayers.”

The mobile app, among a handful in the federal government, offers a number of safe and secure ways to help taxpayers. Features of the first release of the IRS2Go app include:

Get Your Refund Status
Taxpayers can check the status of their federal refund through the new phone app with a few basic pieces of information. First, taxpayers enter a Social Security number, which is masked and encrypted for security purposes. Next, taxpayers pick the filing status they used on their tax return. Finally, taxpayers enter the amount of the refund they expect from their 2010 tax return.

For people who e-file, the refund function of the phone app will work within about 72 hours after taxpayers receive an e-mail acknowledgement saying the IRS received their tax return.
For people filing paper tax returns, longer processing times mean they will need to wait three to four weeks before they can check their refund status.

About 70 percent of the 142 million individual tax returns were filed electronically last year.

Get Tax Updates
Phone app users enter their e-mail address to automatically get daily tax tips. Tax Tips are simple, straightforward tips and reminders to help with tax planning and preparation. Tax Tips are issued daily during the tax filing season and periodically during the rest of the year. The plain English updates cover topics such as free tax help, child tax credits, the Earned Income Tax Credit, education credits and other topics.

The new tax smartphone application illustrates the IRS’s commitment to provide information to taxpayers beyond traditional channels.

For more tax help and additional tax tips visit the IRS website.

Source: irs.gov

Federal tax help is now available for American taxpayers for the 2009 federal income tax season. The Internal Revenue Service has updated the 2009 IRS Tax Guide on it’s website www.irs.gov.

Taxpayers can look forward to getting their income tax questions answered and discovering the various tax breaks and deductions available this year. Many of these federal income tax breaks and tax changes are due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The newly revised Publication 17, “Your Federal Income Tax”, is a comprehensive guide that features details on all the new tax-saving opportunities, such as the Making Work Pay credit, the education credit for parents with youngsters in college, the energy credits for homeowners going green, and those for first-time homebuyers.

The 308-page guide provides almost 7,000 interactive links to help taxpayers quickly get answers to their federal tax questions.

Publication 17 has been produced annually by the IRS for more than 65 years and has been available on-line since 1996. As always,, the tax guide is packed with tax-filing information and tips on what income to report and how to report it, figuring capital gains and losses, claiming dependents, and some basics such as choosing the standard deduction versus itemizing deductions.

To get Publication 17, go to www.irs.gov and enter “17″ in the search box in the upper right corner of the home page or use this link 2009 IRS Tax Guide.

Printed copies of the tax guide will be made available in January 2010. To request a copy or need federal tax help - call 1-800-829-3676.

source: tallahassee.com, irs.gov

The global recession has put millions of American out of work in 2009. If you are one them, you need to know the answer to the following federal tax questions:

1. Are there tax breaks or tax exemptions for unemployment compensation when filing my 2009 Federal income tax return?

2. Where can I get the tax help to answer this federal tax question?

To get the answer you could search the IRS website, contact an IRS agent for federal tax help, consult an income tax attorney, talk to your tax accountant or wade through the 2009 federal income tax manual and get the answer yourself.

Or you can get this important tax information below:

Yes, there is a tax benefit for those who received unemployment compensation in 2009.

The first $2,400 of 2009 Unemployment Compensation is TAX-FREE.

This is a one-year federal income tax exemption granted by the stimulus act.

Unemployment benefits above the $2,400 limit will still count as taxable income.

source: smartmoney