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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.
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