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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 13, 2000)
Tkrxfe. NATION THE BATTALION Thursday, April 13,2000 irch tijncle Sam offers alternate [)1 actiinethods to pay, file taxes man’s late-night talksk. name Million Mom Marcl the success of the Million MAS I UNCiTON (Al>) — For mil- 'of last-minute taxpay ers who sud- yreali/e they owe money to Uncle iali\ loi Mack empowem don’t i-jave the cash on hand, it melon in I and thesiit j jjL ^me to whip out the credit cards lion Nouth March. [ia l<|c an installment payment deal The campaign has gron® [j^§ by woid id mouth- yccjountants say there are ways to working out of lliaiH,^, c ] 1 an unpleasant surprise next out ol an office in Washir. an d even people who get refunds ()reani/ers ha\e recnii, dd Consider changes to avoid giving by calline parent-teachers government use of their money for cs, "A piisjt'iiucs kind women ujjg csch yc&r supporl. l)ees-lhomasew..[^ year’s income tax filing dead- " It is a tme instinct ol: j s midnight Monday, except for lecting iheir children, 4’ .;^ of New England and New York, it is toially primitive. ;re jt’ s a (j a y i a ter because a major filing center located in Andover, ir march i§ Kl to participate m a jit ihington. DC..andma ities where rallies, calf s day or the previous si Owing Uncle Sam If you owe money to the IRS but cannot be bothered to send a check or money order, or are short on cash, you have options. E-file your return by computer or phone. You may authorize the Department of the Treasury to electronically withdraw the balance due directly from your checking or savings account. Charge by credit card. Anyone may call 1|888-2PAY-TAX or file online to charge the balance due to a MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card. Pay using an installment plan. The IRS offers a streamlined approval process, as long as the balance : Jamestown may have? due is less than $25,000 and can Dned with arsenic — pr be paid within five years. apt. John Smith himself . Dr. Frank Hancock fOurce. Internal Revenue Service £ 'itings by Smith andothe. 'tilers in Jamestm u arch of a medicto# ly so many colonists o years after the first iglish settlement in tablished in 1607. His conclusion: lonists may been pell ixpert says settlers poiso RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)- ould be a macabre seqir! ocahontas story, a pa: ays many of the settlers Mass., will be closed because of the lo cal Patriot’s Day holiday. As of last week, the Internal Revenue Service had received about 70 million of the 127 million individual returns ex pected this year — meaning millions of people, as usual, are waiting until the last possible minute. Charging tax bills via credit is be coming an increasingly popular choice. As of March 31, about 16,700 people had charged payments averaging $ 1,362 this year by calling a toll-free number — 1- 800-2PAYTAX — and putting their tax es on their MasterCard, American Ex press or Discover cards. Visa isn’t taking part in the program. Last year, more than 53,000 feder al tax payments were made with cred it cards. “What we’re doing is adding an op tion for people to pay their taxes and manage their resources on their own terms,” said Bruce Zanca, senior vice president at Official Payments Corp., a publicly traded company contracted by the IRS to run the service. IRS officials hasten to add that they don’t collect or keep credit card numbers and do not collect any fees for use of credit cards. An average fee of 2.5 per cent is charged by Official Payments, which keeps part of it. Another payment option is an in stallment agreement with the IRS, which now will approve virtually any arrange ment as long as the amount owed is less than $25,000 and the bill can be paid within five years. There is a one-time $43 fee for an in stallment deal, and the IRS charges a late payment penalty that drops to a quarter-percent per month as long as the tax return itself was filed on time. This year’s IRS installment interest rate is 9 percent, which might be higher than a taxpayer could get by taking out a loan to pay off the tax bill. The IRS has a calculator on its Inter net Website that helps taxpayers figure out their monthly payment amount, and they can print out an installment agree ment form to file with the agency. After the tax return is filed, financial advisers say it’s smart to see if changes would improve the picture next year. That includes people who get big re funds, who are essentially giving the gov ernment the use of their money interest- free for several months each year — money that could be invested, put in a savings account, or used for a purchase. Taxpayers should examine and adjust the amount of taxes that are withheld from their paychecks if either their re fund or payment was too large. “Keep your withholding down to a legal minimum,” say advisers at H&R Block, the nation’s biggest tax prepara tion firm. “The point is for you to get the use and enjoyment of your money when you earn it, rather than making an unintentional interest-free loan to the government.” From the RIA Group consulting firm, here are some other tips on reducing tax es next year: • I f a balance was owed on the 1040 form, consider increasing tax withhold ing and making estimated tax payments to avoid an underpayment penalty. Most people can avoid that penalty by ensur- • ing that withholding or estimated pay ments equal the lesser of 90 percent of the 2000 tax bill or 100 percent of the 1999 tax bill. • For a married couple filing jointly with adjusted gross income over $ 150,000, es timated tax payments equal to the lesser of 108.6 percent of the 1999 tax or 90 percent of the 2000 tax must be made. • Married couples who have a child in 2000 can count on a $2,800 dependency exemption, a $500 credit if gross income isn’t above $ 110,000 and possibly a child care credit of $480 or more. • Taxpayers can get a home equity loan for major purchases, projects or oth er needs. Interest on up to $100,000 of home equity debt is generally tax de ductible, but interest on regular bank loans or credit cards isn’t. cert Bai ■ I ]ly present tkii| >rt A. s $3 tertaining must m, ic I MAKE MY B AN D FAMOUS SO I CAN BE A ySSELL OUT. 5? 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