Income Tax Help For Seniors

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You will need to know about your senior loved ones assets and income to be able to help you will the income tax help for seniors. There are many tax forms to fill out for seniors, and this can all be quite confusing for you or your senior loved one. Knowing how much is coming in and what is being received by your senior loved one can help you figure out the taxes. Account statements can help guide you, as well a bank deposit slips. If you are caring for a senior loved one that needs assistance with their taxes, you can help them by doing it yourself, by getting senior tax assistance, or by contacting a financial manager for your senior loved one.

Some seniors may be receiving income from a few various sources. Usually seniors receive social security benefits, disability benefits, dependent benefits, or survivor benefits. The bank statement should show the income; to determine the amount of the benefits, you can check with the Social Security Administration. Some seniors receive a pension from work, 401k’s, IRA’s, veterans benefits, investment payments, previous business income, loans, ...
... annuities, or reverse mortgages. Seniors who have had ownership in their own business may still have a connection to regular income from that business.

Your senior loved one may have liquid assets or interests in real estate as well. Bank checking and savings accounts are liquid assets, which are typical assets. However, seniors may have stocks and bonds, brokerage accounts, or other investments. These will all have monthly statements showing the amounts of these assets. You can compile a list of these investments with the names and account numbers, along with other income and assets. Your senior may also have real estate interest in property. You will need to have access to the deeds and other titles, mortgage documents, liens against the property, tax bills, insurance on the property, common property agreements, bills for utilities and services, as well as rental agreements.

Knowing the information to have available for income tax is the first step in preparing senior tax income information. You will need to take note that seniors receive benefit check from the government in the mail each May. This rebate check offers seniors a minimum rebate of $300 for individuals, or $600 for couples. In order to receive this rebate check, seniors must file a return during the year.

Starting in May, taxpayers will start eagerly looking for their rebate checks in the mail. But some of our parents won’t get their check for one simple reason: They haven’t filed their taxes in years and don’t know that they need to do so in order to get their rebate check. You can get a senior the 1040 form either at your post office, local library, or at the IRS. If the senior normally does not file a tax return, make sure to write “stimulus payment” at the top of the tax form. Unfortunately, Supplemental Security Income SSI, cannot be used to count as income for this rebate.

If you have tax issues while preparing your income tax for seniors, there are many free publications and forms, and assistance available to you. Taxpayer Advocate Services are available within the IRS to assist taxpayers who need help with tax issues. It is a free service that can also provide professional representation if needed. Visit http://www.taxtoolkit.irs.gov for more information about this great senior income tax resource.

Low income seniors can gather assistance with their taxes from the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic program. This programs services individuals who have problems with the IRS or whose income is below a certain amount. There are a lot of free services available, as well as multilingual information. Your local IRS will be able to provide the necessary information needed to receive this helpful service. Other free tax services can be found by calling, mailing, going to the local IRS office in your area.