An Enrolled Agent (EA) is a federally-authorized tax practitioner who has technical expertise in the field of taxation and who is empowered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to represent taxpayers before all administrative levels of the Internal Revenue Service for audits, collections, and appeals.
What does the term “Enrolled Agent” mean?
“Enrolled” means to be licensed to practice by the federal government, and “Agent” means authorized to appear in the place of the taxpayer at the IRS. Only Enrolled Agents, attorneys, and CPAs may represent taxpayers before the IRS. The Enrolled Agent profession dates back to 1884 when, after questionable claims had been presented for Civil War losses, Congress acted to regulate persons who represented citizens in their dealings with the U.S. Treasury Department.
How does one become an Enrolled Agent?
The license is earned in one of two ways, by passing a comprehensive examination that covers all aspects of the tax code or by having worked at the IRS for five years in a position that regularly interpreted and applied the tax code and its regulations. All candidates are subjected to a rigorous background check conducted by the IRS.
How can Enrolled Agent help me?
Enrolled Agents advise, represent, and prepare tax returns for individuals, partnerships, corporations, estates, trusts, and any entities with tax-reporting requirements. Enrolled Agents’ expertise in the continually changing field of taxation enables them to effectively represent taxpayers audited by the IRS.
Loeffler Financial Group has a team of Tax Advisors, CPA’s and EA’s to help assist with your taxes each year. Our team of experts stays up-to-date on all the tax laws and changes for the upcoming tax season.
Schedule your tax return appointment online here, or call our office at 717-393-7366!
To read more about our tax office and tax advisors click here.
Taxpayers should file their tax return by the deadline even if they cannot pay their full tax bill. Taxpayers who owe tax and don’t file on time, maybe charged a failure-to-file penalty. This penalty is usually five percent of the tax owed for each month, or part of a month that the tax return is late, up to 25%.
If an individual taxpayer owes taxes, but can’t pay in full by April 18, 2022, deadline, they should:
File their tax return or request an extension of time to file by the April 18 deadline.
To get an extension to file, taxpayers must do one of the following:
Pay as much as possible by the April 18 due date.
Set up a payment plan as soon as possible.
Interest is based on the amount of tax owed and for each day it’s not paid in full. Interest rates are determined every three months and can vary, based on type of tax; for example, individual or business-tax liabilities. Loeffler Financial Group is here to assist you with any tax questions you have.
Need to file your tax return still? Call 717-393-7366 to book your appointment with one of our tax experts.
Right about now you’re probably wading through tax records and filling out your tax return. But it’s a daunting task – one that can be frustrating and eat up more hours than you have to devote to it.
But you don’t have to go it alone. Loeffler Financial Group continues to keep up with the tax code. Our expertise can help ensure that you get all the deductions and credits you are eligible to receive.
Here are the top 10 reasons why you may want to hire a professional tax professional:
If you plan to hire a tax professional to prepare your taxes, you do need to gather and organize your records, including W-2 forms, 1099 forms, mortgage and bank statements, charitable contributions, and so forth. Being organized saves your tax preparer time and keeps the fees down. Loeffler Financial Group is here to help every step of the way. Call 717-393-7366 to schedule your tax appointment today.
Year-round tax planning is for everyone. An important part of that is recordkeeping. Gathering tax documents throughout the year and having an organized recordkeeping system can make it easier when it comes to filing a tax return or understanding a letter from the IRS.
Good records help:
In general, the IRS, and the experts at Loeffler Financial Group suggest that taxpayers keep records for three years from the date they filed the tax return. Taxpayers should develop a system that keeps all their important information together. They can use a software program for electronic recordkeeping. They could also store paper documents in labeled folders.
Records to keep include:
Contact Loeffler Financial Group for additional questions on recordkeeping or what additional paperwork you should keep on file. 717-393-7366.
Taxpayers receiving Social Security benefits may have to pay federal income tax on a portion of those benefits. Social Security benefits include monthly retirement, survivor, and disability benefits. They don’t include supplemental security income payments, which aren’t taxable.
The portion of benefits that are taxable depends on the taxpayer’s income and filing status.
To find out if their benefits are taxable, taxpayers should take half of the Social Security money they collected during the year and add it to their other income. Other income includes pensions, wages, interest, dividends, and capital gains.
Fifty percent of a taxpayer’s benefits may be taxable if they are:
Up to 85% of a taxpayer’s benefits may be taxable if they are:
Still have questions, our tax accountants at Loeffler Financial Group are here to help!
The Interactive Tax Assistant on IRS.gov can help taxpayers answer the question Are My Social Security or Railroad Retirement Tier I Benefits Taxable?
Call Loeffler Financial Group today to learn more about Social Security and your tax benefits, 717-393-7366!
For most individual taxpayers the tax filing and payment deadline was postponed to May 17, 2021. Those who need more time to file beyond the postponed date, can request an eextension to file.
Taxpayers must request an extension to file by May 17, or they may face a failure to file penalty. This extension gives them until October 15, 2021 to file their tax return. An extension to file is not an extension to pay. Taxes must be paid by May 17 to avoid penalties and interest on the amount owed after that date.
How to request an extension to file:
To get an extension to file, the IRS urges taxpayers to do one of the following:
An automatic extension of time to file will process when taxpayers pay all or part of their taxes electronically by the Monday, May 17 due date.
If you are still panicking to get all your documentations organized and ready for taxes to be prepared, contact Loeffler Financial Group to file an extension before the May 17th deadline.
Tax filing time is an ideal time to review your financial affairs. You have to gather information to prepare your tax return at this time. Why not take one more step and do something positive for your financial well-being?
The following suggestions will get you started on your financial review:
Hold a discussion with your family. Spouses and children need to share and prioritize their financial aspirations.
Take steps to protect what you already have. Goals may become instantly unobtainable if you lose your present assets or your income potential.
Review your will and your estate plan. Did your situation change during the year (marriage, divorce, births, deaths, move to another state, for example)? If so, make appropriate changes to your will and estate plan.
Review your credit use. Keep your credit card bills current. If you’re finding that hard to do, it’s probably time to cut up some of those credit cards and get your debt under control.
Organize your records. If you had trouble assembling data for your financial review, you need a better system. Set one up.
Tax credits are one of the most powerful ways to lower your income taxes. A tax credit reduces your tax bill dollar for dollar. A tax deduction, on the other hand, only reduces your taxable income, so your benefit is determined by your tax bracket.
For example, a tax deduction of $1,000 will lower your tax bill by $320 if you are in the 32% tax bracket. A $1,000 tax credit will lower your tax bill by $1,000.
Here are some of the most common tax credits; most are subject to income limits.
Don’t overlook valuable credits that could reduce your taxes. For details on the credits for which you might qualify, call Loeffler Financial Group today at 717.393.7366 for a review of your situation.
The adoption process can be expensive. Fortunately, the adoption tax credit can help offset some those expenses Taxpayers who adopted or started the adoption process in 2020 should review the rules for this credit.
Here are some facts to help people understand the credit and if they can claim it when filing their taxes:
Have additional questions? We’re here to help! Contact Loeffler Financial Group today at 717-393-7366, or email info@loefflerfinancial.com with any questions you may have. Our tax experts and accountants can help break down the steps in order to one, understand the tax credit, and two see if the tax credit will benefit you for your 2020 tax return.
The Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service announced they are disbursing approximately 37 million payments in the second batch of Economic Impact Payments from the American Rescue Plan. This brings the total disbursed payments from the American Rescue Plan to approximately 127 million payments worth approximately $325 billion.
As announced on March 12, Economic Impact Payments will continue to roll out in batches to millions of Americans in the coming weeks.
The second batch of payments includes direct deposits, as well as paper checks and debit cards being sent through the mail. Here is additional information on the second batch of payments:
As announced last week, the first batch of payments was mostly sent by direct deposit. Here is additional information on the first batch of payments:
Additional batches of payments will be sent in the coming weeks as direct deposits and through the mail as paper checks or debit cards. The vast majority of all Economic Impact Payments will be issued by direct deposit. No action is needed by most taxpayers.
Many federal beneficiaries who filed 2019 or 2020 returns or used the Non-Filers tool were included in these first two batches of payments, if eligible. For federal beneficiaries who did not file a 2019 or 2020 tax return or did not use the Non-Filers tool, the IRS is working directly with the Social Security Administration, the Railroad Retirement Board, and the Veterans Administration to obtain updated 2021 information to ensure that as many people as possible are sent fast, automatic payments. More information about when these payments will be made will be provided on IRS. gov as soon as it becomes available.
Individuals can check the “Get My Payment” tool on IRS.gov to see the payment status of these payments.
Learn more about the third round of the Stimulus payment and see who is eligible for the Economic Impact Payment check out our blog post here.
Need to still schedule a tax appointment? Book online, or call Loeffler Financial Group today at 717-393-7366.