New Year, New IRS tax services

Jan 08

In addition to all of the tax changes this year, the IRS is also planning on introducing new online services for some of the more common taxpayer inquiries which have a tendency to flood their phone lines. Two of the new services set to be offered online include the ability to review your tax transcript and review the status of your refund.

The new service ‘ Where’s my refund‘ will allow taxpayers to review the status of their refund online on the irs.gov or via an automated telephone service, however, to conserve resources (as some individuals like to call about their refund on daily basis), the IRS will no longer answer questions about refunds in person or by phone. The IRS expects to issue more than 9 out 10 refunds in less than 21 calendar days after receiving your tax return. They indicate that you should be able to check the status of your refund online from either 24 hours after they’ve received your e-filed tax return or 4 weeks after you mail in your paper return. To check the status of your tax refund you will need to provide you Social Security number, filing status and exact refund amount.

For more information on “Where’s my refund” click here: http://www.irs.gov/Refunds/Where’s-My-Refund-It’s-Quick,-Easy,-and-Secure.

To check the status of your IRS tax refund click here: https://sa2.www4.irs.gov/irfof/lang/en/irfofgetstatus.jsp

The other new online service is the ability to check the transcript of your tax return. The check your transcript service will allow taxpayers to instantly view and print a copy of their tax transcripts. There are multiple options which will be available including the ability the print your tax return, review your tax account, review wage and income and verify non-filing.

This ‘check the transcript’ service isn’t up yet on the IRS site but should be up later this month.

Beginning in 2014, you will no longer be able to obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) over the phone. In 2013, the majority of the requests were made online; however, for the new year The IRS has indicated that your only option to obtain an EIN number is through the online service. The only catch being that foreign individuals who do not have an ITIN cannot obtain an EIN online or if you were incorporated outside of the United States you can also not use the online service. So for foreigners looking to obtain an EIN number, your options haven’t really changed for 2014.

Here is a link for applying for an EIN number: http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-%26-Self-Employed/Apply-for-an-Employer-Identification-Number-(EIN)-Online