The U.S. Internal Revenue Service, more commonly referred to as simply the IRS, is an agency of the United States federal government that is in charge of the collection of federal taxes and the enforcement of the Internal Revenue Code. Briefly, the Internal Revenue Code is the main source of law that governs federal taxes in the United States.
For example, if you are a salaried employee, then you may notice that every time that you receive a paycheck that there is a certain percentage of funds missing from each paycheck. The portion of funds missing usually indicates the percentage of federal taxes that are being taken out from each of your paychecks in order to reduce the amount you owe to the government when it comes time to file your federal income tax return.
The percentage of funds being withheld from a paycheck can be adjusted by modifying the documents you receive as part of your new hire package. Specifically, your W-4 and I-9 tax forms can be adjusted to either reduce or increase the amount of taxes you have taken out from each of your paychecks.
However, it is important to note that if you do not permit your employer to withhold a large enough percentage of federal taxes from your paychecks, then you may owe the IRS money when you file your federal tax return.
Some other factors that may affect how much money gets deducted from your paycheck may include the number of dependents you can claim (if any), your annual earned income or salary, and your tax filing status (e.g., single, head of household, etc.).
Why Does the IRS Give Refunds?
In general, an employer is required to give certain tax forms to each employee they hire and continues to work for them. An employee will be required to complete these forms and hand them back to their employer, so that their employer will know what percentage to withhold from each of their paychecks. Most salaried employees will receive what is known as a W-2 form. Employers are required to return these forms to employees before it is time to file taxes.
The reason for this is because when an employee goes to file their federal income taxes for what they earned in the prior calendar year, the amount they owe in federal taxes will be based on the information they provided in their W-2 form. The information provided in the W-2 form that gets returned to an employee from their employer will also give the IRS insight into calculating how much a taxpayer may owe in taxes for the year.
The exact amount of taxes that a person owes to the federal government will depend on a number of factors that are unique to each individual taxpayer. That amount can change based on certain conditions, such as whether a person received a raise, owed back taxes, or were terminated from their job.
For example, if a person had a large percentage of taxes being taken out per each paycheck and they get fired from their job in the middle of the year, then the IRS will most likely owe them a refund on their taxes when they file their federal income tax return. The reason for this is because the individual might have had too much withheld from their paycheck in the beginning of the year when they still had a job, but now no longer have that salary.
In addition, it should be noted that the tax laws and related tax forms will be slightly different for persons who are independent contractors or are self-employed. The type of tax form that an individual is required to file will be determined by their specific job and income. Similar to taxes that are calculated based on the information supplied by individuals on their W-2 forms, the IRS will use these other tax forms, such as 1099 forms, to calculate taxes.
An individual who is self-employed will also need to file special tax forms in order to determine the amount that they should be withholding from each of their paychecks. In some instances, an individual may need to pay quarterly taxes if they are an independent contractor and their employer does not withhold taxes from their paychecks.
Thus, in any of the above scenarios, if the amount that has been being taken out of an individual’s paycheck or has been paid towards quarterly taxes exceeds the amount that an individual actually owes in taxes, the IRS will be required to issue that individual a refund on their taxes.
How Can I Get an IRS Refund?
An individual may be able to obtain a tax refund from the IRS by correctly filing their income tax return and by paying the amount of federal taxes they owe each year. If an individual is eligible for a tax refund, they will have the option of telling the IRS to issue their tax refund either as a direct deposit into their bank account or having it mailed to them in the form of a check.
In some instances, an individual may select an option when filing their tax return that allows the IRS to keep the tax refund and apply it to either any future tax filings or on taxes and/or penalties still owed to the IRS on their federal taxes.
In other cases, if a person is already on an installment payment plan for back taxes or if they owe any other debts to the IRS, then the IRS may apply the tax refund directly to their debt and not send it to the individual as a separate payment.
In addition, there are some situations where getting a tax refund will be a simple process. However, there are other times when it will be much harder for a person to obtain a tax refund.
For example, a person’s estate taxes include a combination of various elements. Thus, it can be very difficult to determine whether or not a person will receive a tax refund on estate taxes until all of those elements are calculated and plugged into a particular type of tax form.
Therefore, an individual who is having trouble getting a tax refund they believe they might be owed by the IRS, should contact a local tax or estate tax lawyer to advise them on whether or not they might be eligible for a tax refund and/or a refund on their estate taxes.
Do I Need a Lawyer?
Issues concerning tax refunds can be very difficult to resolve without the help of a tax professional, such as a certified public accountant (i.e., a CPA) or a tax lawyer. This is because many tax laws are confusing and may contain specific technical requirements that the average person may not be aware of without having the proper knowledge or receiving special training.
Therefore, you may want to consider speaking to a local tax lawyer if you have any questions or concerns regarding an IRS tax refund. An experienced tax lawyer will be able to assist you in obtaining a tax refund from the IRS. Your lawyer can also review your tax documents and provide tax advice about items on your tax form to ensure that you fill it out properly before you file such forms with the IRS.
In addition, your lawyer can help you to avoid receiving a penalty on your tax return by making sure you comply with federal tax deadlines and that you file your taxes in accordance with federal tax laws.
Finally, if you need to appear before a judge due to an issue or dispute over your tax forms and/or an IRS tax refund, your lawyer will be able to provide legal representation in court as well.
