1. You must buy – or enter into a binding contract to buy – a principal residence located in the United States on or before April 30, 2010. If you enter into a binding contract by April 30, 2010, you must close on the home on or before June 30, 2010.
2. To be considered a first-time homebuyer, you and your spouse – if you are married – must not have jointly or separately owned another principal residence during the three years prior to the date of purchase.
3. To be considered a long-time resident homebuyer, you and your spouse – if you are married – must have lived in the same principal residence for any consecutive five-year period during the eight-year period that ended on the date the new home is purchased. Additionally, your settlement date must be after November 6, 2009.
4. The maximum credit for a first-time homebuyer is $8,000. The maximum credit for a long-time resident homebuyer is $6,500.
5. You must file a paper return and attach Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit and Repayment of the Credit with additional documents to verify the purchase. Though you cannot file electronically, you can still use IRS Free File or tax-preparation software to prepare your return. The return must then be printed out and sent to the IRS, along with all required documentation.
6. If before May 1, 2010, you enter into a binding contract to purchase a home before July 1, 2010, and you are claiming the credit, attach a copy of the pages from the signed binding contract to make a purchase showing all parties’ names and signatures, the property address, the purchase price and the date of the contract.
7. New homebuyers must attach a copy of a properly executed settlement statement used to complete such purchase. Generally, a properly executed settlement statement shows all parties’ names and signatures, property address, sales price and date of purchase. However, settlement documents, including the Form HUD-1, can vary from one location to another and may not include the signatures of both the buyer and seller. In areas where signatures are not required on the settlement document, the IRS encourages buyers to sign the settlement statement when they file their tax return — even in cases where the settlement form does not include a signature line.
8. Buyers of a newly constructed home, where a settlement statement is not available, must attach a copy of the certificate of occupancy showing the owner’s name, property address and date of the certificate.
9. Purchasers of mobile homes who are unable to get a settlement statement must attach a copy of the executed retail sales contract showing all parties’ names and signatures, property address, purchase price and date of purchase.
10. If you are a long-time resident claiming the credit, the IRS recommends that you also attach documentation covering the five-consecutive-year period such as Form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement or substitute mortgage interest statements, property tax records or homeowner’s insurance records.

For more information about the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit and the documentation requirements, visit IRS.gov/recovery.
Links:

• The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Information Center
• First-Time Homebuyer Credit Information Center

YouTube Video:

New Homebuyer Credit – Claim It:  English | Spanish | ASL

Here are seven things you need to know about filing an extension:

1. Extra time to file An extension will give you extra time to get your paperwork to the IRS, but it does not extend the time you have to pay any tax due. You will owe interest on any amount not paid by the April 15 deadline, plus a late payment penalty if you have not paid at least 90 percent of your total tax by that date.
2. File on time even if you can’t pay If your return is completed but you are unable to pay the full amount of tax due, do not request an extension. File your return on time and pay as much as you can. The IRS will send you a bill or notice for the balance due.To apply online for a payment agreement, go to IRS.gov and click “Online Payment Agreement Application” at the left side of the home page under Online Services. If you are unable to make payments, call the IRS at 800-829-1040 to discuss your options.
3. Form to file Request an extension to file by submitting Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return to the IRS by April 15, 2010, or make an extension-related electronic credit card payment. For more information about extension-related credit card payments, see Form 4868.
4. E-file extension You can e-file an extension request using tax preparation software with your own computer or by going to a tax preparer who has the software. The IRS will acknowledge receipt of the extension request if you file by computer.
5. Traditional Free File and Free File Fillable Forms You can use both Free File options to file an extension. Access the Free File page at IRS.gov.
6. Electronic funds withdrawal If you ask for an extension via computer, you can also choose to pay any expected balance due by authorizing an electronic funds withdrawal from a checking or savings account. You will need the appropriate bank routing and account numbers.For information about these and other methods of payment, visit IRS.gov or call 800-TAX-1040 (800-829-1040).
7. How to get forms Form 4868 is available for download at IRS.gov or may be ordered by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).You can also obtain the form at your local IRS office. Telephone requests normally take 10 days to fill.

Links:

• Form 4868, Application for Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return (PDF 50K)
• Form 9465, Installment Agreement Request (PDF 100K)
• Publication 54, Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad (PDF 348K)
• Publication 3, Armed Forces’ Tax Guide (PDF 206K)
• Official Payments Corporation
• Link2 Gov Corporation

Filing and Paying on Time Saves Money

If you have a balance due and do not pay by April 15, you are subject to a failure-to-pay penalty. If you cannot complete your return and file it by April 15, you may request an extension of time to file. However, an extension of time to file is not an extension of time to pay.

If you cannot pay the full amount you owe, you will still benefit from filing your return and paying as much as you can by April 15 because interest and failure-to-pay penalties are due only on the unpaid balance.

Members of the military and some others currently serving in combat zones can wait until after April 15 to file and pay. Those eligible get the extra time penalty- and interest-free without having to ask for it. Normally, the filing and payment deadline is postponed until 180 days after the service member leaves the combat zone. Victims of recent natural disasters, listed on IRS.gov, also have extra time.

Electronic Options

A number of electronic payment options are available to taxpayers.

Payments can be made online, by phone using a credit or debit card or through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. Taxpayers who e-file their returns may use the electronic funds withdrawal option for submitting an electronic payment. It’s possible, for example, to e-file in February or March but schedule the payment for withdrawal as late as April 15.

Information on these options can be found on the Electronic Payment Options Home Page of IRS.gov.

Some taxpayers who itemize may now deduct the convenience fee charged for paying individual income taxes with a credit or debit card as a miscellaneous itemized deduction. The deduction is subject to the 2-percent limit on Form 1040, Schedule A.

Taxpayers may also pay any taxes by check made out to the “United States Treasury.” Include Form 1040-V, Payment Voucher, along with the payment and tax return. If you have already submitted your tax return but still need to pay all or some of the balance, you may mail the check to the IRS with Form 1040-V.

Installment Agreements and Online Applications

If you can’t pay in full by April 15, consider applying for an installment agreement.

An installment agreement allows you to pay any remaining balance in monthly pieces. Taxpayers who owe $25,000 or less may apply electronically, using the Online Payment Agreement application. Or attach Form 9465, Installment Agreement Request, to the front of your tax return. You must show the amount of your proposed monthly payment and the date you intend to pay each month. The IRS charges $105 for setting up the agreement, or $52 if the payments are deducted directly from your bank account. Qualified lower-income taxpayers pay $43.

You will be required to pay interest plus a late payment penalty on the unpaid taxes for each month or partial month after the due date.

Offers in Compromise

This filing season the IRS has given its personnel additional flexibility on offers in compromise for struggling taxpayers. For some taxpayers, an offer in compromise, an agreement between a taxpayer and the IRS that settles the taxpayer’s debt for less than the full amount owed, is a viable option.

Specifically, IRS employees will be permitted to consider a taxpayer’s current income and potential for future income when deciding on an offer in compromise. Normally, the standard practice is to judge an offer amount on a taxpayer’s earnings in prior years. This new step provides greater flexibility when considering offers in compromise from the unemployed. The IRS may require that a taxpayer entering into such an offer agree to pay more if the taxpayer’s financial situation improves significantly.

Videos:
Owe Taxes But Can’t Pay?: English | Spanish
For this and other videos: YouTube/IRSVideos

New Form W-11, Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act Employee Affidavit, is now posted on IRS.gov, along with answers to frequently-asked questions about the payroll tax exemption and the related new hire retention credit. The new law requires that employers get a statement from each eligible new hire, certifying under penalties of perjury, that he or she was unemployed during the 60 days before beginning work or, alternatively, worked fewer than a total of 40 hours for anyone during the 60-day period. Employers can use Form W-11 to meet this requirement.

Most eligible employers then use Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return, to claim the payroll tax exemption for eligible new hires. This form, revised for use beginning with the second calendar quarter of 2010, is currently posted as a draft form on IRS.gov and will be released next month as a final along with the form’s instructions.

Though employers need this certification to claim both the payroll tax exemption and the new hire retention credit, they do not file these statements with the IRS. Instead, they must retain them along with other payroll and income tax records.

The HIRE Act created two new tax benefits designed to encourage employers to hire and retain new workers. As a result, employers who hire unemployed workers this year (after Feb. 3, 2010, and before Jan. 1, 2011) may qualify for a 6.2-percent payroll tax incentive, in effect exempting them from the employer’s share of social security tax on wages paid to these workers after March 18. This reduction will have no effect on the employee’s future Social Security benefits, and employers would still need to withhold the employee’s 6.2-percent share of Social Security taxes, as well as income taxes. In addition, for each unemployed worker retained for at least a year, businesses may claim a new hire retention credit of up to $1,000 per worker when they file their 2011 income tax returns.

These two tax benefits are especially helpful to employers who are adding positions to their payrolls. New hires filling existing positions also qualify but only if the workers they are replacing left voluntarily or for cause. Family members and other relatives do not qualify for either of these tax incentives.

Businesses, agricultural employers, tax-exempt organizations, tribal governments and public colleges and universities all qualify to claim the payroll tax exemption for eligible newly-hired employees. Household employers and federal, state and local government employers, other than public colleges and universities, are not eligible. IRS.gov has more details.

Related Item: IR-2010-33, Two New Tax Benefits Aid Employers Who Hire and Retain Unemployed Workers

Announcement 2010-22 will appear in IRB 2010-16, dated April 19, 2010.

Taxpayers can file the request for extension with traditional Free File or Free File Fillable Forms. Using Free File to prepare and electronically submit Form 4868 is free to everyone.

In addition, taxpayers can use paid preparers or purchased software to electronically file Form 4868. A paper version is also available for download from the IRS Web site, IRS.gov. However, you will only receive an acknowledgement that the IRS received your request, if you e-file or Free File the request.

Free File and Free File Fillable Forms will be available through Oct. 15.

An Extension to File, Not to Pay

An extension of time to file is not an extension of time to pay. You need to estimate your tax liability and pay any balance due when you request the extension. Several payment options are available, including electronic funds withdrawal, credit card and check.

If you are unable to pay the total balance due, you should pay as much as possible and then contact the IRS about an installment plan. Even if you cannot pay the balance due, it is important to either file a return or request an extension to avoid the failure-to-file penalty.

The IRS expects to receive approximately 10 million extension requests in 2010, which is about the same as last year. Some taxpayers automatically receive extensions to file. For example, military personnel serving in a combat zone have 180 days after leaving the combat zone to file their returns. Victims of recent natural disasters in certain federally declared disaster areas also have extra time.

Videos:
Extension to File Your Tax Return: English
For this and other videos: YouTube/IRSVideos

1. Additional Time to Pay Based on your circumstances, you may be granted a short additional time to pay your tax in full. A brief additional amount of time to pay can be requested through the Online Payment Agreement application at IRS.gov or by calling 800-829-1040. Taxpayers who request and are granted an additional 30 to 120 days to pay the tax in full generally will pay less in penalties and interest than if the debt were repaid through an installment agreement over a greater period of time.
2. Installment Agreement You can apply for an IRS installment agreement using the Web-based Online Payment Agreement application on IRS.gov. This Web-based application allows taxpayers who owe $25,000 or less in combined tax, penalties and interestto self-qualify, apply for, and receive immediate notification of approval. You can also request an installment agreement before your current tax liabilities are actually assessed by using OPA. The OPA option provides you with a simple and convenient way to establish an installment agreement and eliminates the need for personal interaction with IRS and reduces paper processing. You may also complete and submit a Form 9465, make your request in writing, or call 1-800-829-1040 to make your request. For balances over $25,000, you are required to complete a financial statement to determine the monthly payment amount for an installment plan. For more complete information see Tax Topic 202, Tax Payment Options on IRS.gov.
3. Pay by Credit Card or Debit Card You can charge your taxes on your American Express, MasterCard, Visa or Discover credit cards. Additionally, you can pay by using your debit card. However, the debit card must be a Visa Consumer Debit Card, or a NYCE, Pulse or Star Debit Card. To pay by credit card or debit card, contact one of the service providers at its telephone number or Web site listed below and follow the instructions. There is no IRS fee for credit or debit card payments, but the processing companies charge a convenience fee or flat fee. If you are paying by credit card, the service providers charge a convenience fee based on the amount you are paying. If you are paying by debit card, the service providers charge a flat fee of $3.89 to $3.95.Do not add the convenience fee or flat fee to your tax payment.

The processing companies are:

Official Payments Corporation:
To pay by debit or credit card: 888-UPAY-TAX (888-872-9829),
www.officialpayments.com/fed

Link2Gov Corporation:
To pay by debit or credit card: 888-PAY-1040 (888-729-1040),
www.pay1040.com

RBS WorldPay, Inc.
To pay by debit or credit card: 888-9PAY-TAX (888-972-9829),
www.payUSAtax.com

For more information about filing and paying your taxes, visit IRS.gov and choose 1040 Central or refer to the Form 1040 Instructions or IRS Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax. You can download forms and publications at IRS.gov or request a free copy by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).
Links:

• Online Payment Agreement Application
• Electronic Payment Options
• www.officialpayments.com
• www.pay1040.com
• www.payUSAtax.com
• Form 9465, Installment Agreement Request (PDF 100K)
• Installment payment process
• Partial Pay Installment Agreements
• What is an Offer in Compromise?
• Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax (PDF 2,072K)

The IRS said it has conducted more than 5,000 field visits to tax return preparers this fiscal year. In addition, the IRS has worked with the Department of Justice to pursue questionable return preparers, an effort that has led to 56 indictments, 25 convictions and 21 civil injunctions since Jan. 1, 2010.

“We are working to help ensure taxpayers receive competent and ethical service from qualified tax professionals,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. “Our efforts this tax season are part of a longer-term effort to improve the oversight of this critical part of the tax system. The vast majority of tax return preparers provide solid service, but we need to do more to protect taxpayers.”

Shulman announced in January the results of a six-month study of the tax return preparer industry, which proposed new registration, testing and continuing education of tax return preparers. With more than 80 percent of American households using a tax preparer or tax software to help them prepare and file their taxes, higher standards for the tax return preparer community will significantly enhance protections and service for taxpayers, increase confidence in the tax system and result in greater compliance with tax laws over the long term. While this longer-term effort is underway, the IRS has taken several immediate steps this filing season to assist taxpayers.

Enforcement Efforts

The IRS has worked closely with the Justice Department this tax season to increase legal actions against unscrupulous tax return preparers, obtaining 21 civil injunctions, 56 indictments and 25 convictions of return preparers so far in 2010. More information is available at the IRS Civil and Criminal Actions page on irs.gov. and at the Department of Justice Tax Division page on DOJ.gov.

“The IRS appreciates the strong support of the Justice Department for its efforts to pursue and shut down bad actors in the tax return industry,” Shulman said. “This effort makes a real difference for the nation’s taxpayers and helps protect the many tax professionals who play by the rules.”

“While the majority of return preparers provide excellent service to their clients, a few unscrupulous tax preparers file false and fraudulent returns to defraud the government and the tax-paying public. Those actions are illegal, and can result in substantial civil penalties as well as criminal prosecution, for both the return preparers and their customers who knew or should have known better. Taxpayers should choose carefully when hiring a tax preparer,” said John A. DiCicco, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

Also during this filing season, the IRS used investigative tools on a broad basis, including agents posing as taxpayers, to seek out and stop unscrupulous preparers from filing inaccurate returns. To date, the IRS conducted 230 undercover visits to tax return preparers. In addition, dozens of search warrants have been completed.

The IRS will continue to work closely with the Department of Justice to pursue civil and criminal action as appropriate.

Education Efforts

In January, the IRS sent more than 10,000 letters to tax return preparers. These letters reminded them of their obligation to prepare accurate returns for their clients, reviewed common errors, and outlined the consequences of filing incorrect returns. The letters went to preparers with large volumes of specific tax returns where the IRS typically sees frequent errors, although simply receiving a letter was not an indication the preparer had problems.

The IRS followed up with field visits to about 2,400 tax return preparers who received these letters to discuss many of the issues mentioned in the letter. Separately, the IRS conducted other compliance and educational visits with return preparers on a variety of other issues. All told, IRS representatives visited more than 5,000 paid preparers to encourage and help them avoid filing incorrect or fraudulent returns for their clients.

The IRS will be reviewing the results of these letters and visits to determine steps for future filing seasons.

Future Efforts

The IRS has recently begun to implement a number of steps to increase oversight of federal tax return preparers. This includes proposed regulations that would require paid tax return preparers to obtain and use a preparer tax identification number (PTIN). Later this year, the IRS will propose additional regulations requiring competency tests and continuing professional education for paid tax return preparers who are not attorneys, certified public accountants and enrolled agents.

Setting higher standards for the tax preparer community will significantly enhance protections and services for taxpayers, increase confidence in the tax system and result in greater compliance with tax laws over the long term. Other measures the IRS anticipates taking are highlighted in Publication 4832, Return Preparer Review, issued earlier this year.

Help for Taxpayers before April 15

As the tax deadline approaches, the IRS reminds taxpayers that most tax return preparers are professional, honest and provide excellent service to their clients. But a few simple steps can help people choose a good tax return preparer and avoid fraud:

• Be wary of tax preparers who claim they can obtain larger refunds than others.
• Avoid tax preparers who base their fees on a percentage of the refund.
• Use a reputable tax professional who signs the tax return and provides a copy. Consider whether the individual or firm will be around months or years after the return has been filed to answer questions about the preparation of the tax return.
• Check the person’s credentials. Only attorneys, CPAs and enrolled agents can represent taxpayers before the IRS in all matters, including audits, collection and appeals. Other return preparers may only represent taxpayers for audits of returns they actually prepared.
• Find out if the return preparer is affiliated with a professional organization that provides its members with continuing education and other resources and holds them to a code of ethics.

More information is available on IRS.gov, including IRS Fact Sheet 2010-03, How to Choose a Tax Preparer and Avoid Tax Fraud.