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business Tuesday 22 March 2022
Liz Weston: How to keep your tax return from getting hung up

By LIZ WESTON of NerdWal- from a paper return into MATCH sending corrected forms a PROPERLY REPORT CHILD
let the agency's computer The IRS' automated match- month or so later. If you rely TAX CREDIT AND STIMULUS
There may never be a system. Electronic filing, by ing system looks for dis- on the preliminary form, PAYMENTS
good time to draw the IRS' contrast, won't let you file a crepancies between the you may end up having Your return also could be
attention, but this year you derailed by a mismatch
really want to avoid extra between the child tax
scrutiny. credit or stimulus payments
The IRS is so understaffed you report versus what the
and overwhelmed that IRS says you got last year,
even a tiny mistake could Walker says.
delay your refund for Taxpayers who received
months. monthly child tax credit
A return that requires "man- payments in 2021 will have
ual processing" — basi- to reconcile those pay-
cally, any action by an IRS ments with the amount for
employee — could join a which they were actually
massive queue that started eligible.
building at the beginning of The IRS based the pay-
the pandemic and has yet ments on income data
to be resolved. If something from a prior year, so some
goes wrong, good luck get- families may have received
ting through to a human: too much while others will
The IRS answered about 1 qualify for additional mon-
in 10 calls last year, down ey when they file their re-
from about 1 in 3 before turns, Han says. In addition,
the pandemic, according eligible people who didn't
to the National Taxpayer receive the third stimulus
Advocate. payment, or who qualified
To avoid tax hassles, the for more than they got, can
best approach is to be claim the recovery rebate
careful, thorough and digi- credit on this year's tax re-
tal when you file your re- turn.
turn. In January, the IRS began
sending out notices to tax-
DON'T FILE A PAPER RE- payers who had received
TURN OR ASK FOR A PAPER payments in 2021: Let-
CHECK ter 6475 summarized how
Let's start with the basics: much stimulus money the
File electronically and re- taxpayer got, while Letter
quest direct deposit of 6419 reported total ad-
any refund you might be vance child tax credit pay-
due, says April Walker, lead ments.
manager for tax practice If you're married and re-
and ethics with the Ameri- ceived the payments, you
can Institute of CPAs. If your likely received two letters
income was $73,000 or less about the child tax pay-
in 2021, you can use the IRS' ments — one for each
Free File tax preparation spouse, Walker says.
option. If your family has one child
If you file electronically, you and received $300 a month
can begin tracking the sta- for six months for a total of
tus of your refund on the $1,800, for example, you
IRS site within 24 hours , says typically would get two
CPA Lei Han, associate pro- IRS letters, each reporting
fessor of accounting at Ni- $900.
agara University in Niagara "Some people thought the
Falls, New York. If you file a return with many common income you report and to file an amended return second letter was a dupli-
paper return, tracking typi- mistakes such as mathe- forms filed by your employ- , which would have to be cate, and so they might
cally won't be available for matical errors or failing to er and financial institutions. manually processed and have thrown it away,"
four weeks, Han says. sign your return. You have A mismatch can cause the could delay your refund for Walker says.
Paper returns don't just to fix those before you can agency to freeze your re- months. If you're missing any of this
take longer to process, submit the return, Lugrand fund and trigger a notice Sometimes the W-2 or 1099 paperwork, don't just rely
notes Kent Lugrand, presi- says. demanding more informa- forms you get contain er- on your memory or your
dent and chief executive E-filing software may not tion. rors. If that's the case, try to bank records, Walker says.
of InTouch Credit Union in detect other problems, If you invest outside a re- get the error corrected and You can create an ac-
Plano, Texas. such as incorrect Social tirement account, beware: the form reissued before count on the IRS site and
Paper returns are also Security, bank routing or Brokerages are notorious you file, Han recommends. view IRS records to find the
much more likely to con- bank account numbers, for sending out "preliminary" Consider filing an extension correct figures.
tain errors — either that a so check all numbers care- 1099-B forms — which track if you need more time to "If you just wing it on that
taxpayer made or that an fully, Walker recommends. investors' gains and losses get the issue resolved, she number, it's probably going
IRS employee introduced — to meet the IRS mid-Feb- says. to cause a delay," Walker
while transferring the data MAKE SURE YOUR NUMBERS ruary deadline , and then says.q