Monthly News: May 2020

Be careful of scams involving the stimulus.  Con artists are calling and sending fake emails to people and claiming they will get their money faster if they provide their financial information.  The IRS normally not first contact people by phone or email.  The IRS sends letters to contact people.  The IRS will not ask for financial information by phone or email.

If you believe it is con artists let the IRS know.  The IRS Criminal Investigation Division is investigating these scams.  For more information go to www.treasury.gov/tigta/coronavirus.shtml.

There is currently no law requiring you to pay back any of your stimulus in the event that your 2020 adjusted gross income is too high or if your child become turns 17 this year.  However, dead people are not eligible for the return.  If stimulus was received for a dead person, the money is required to be returned. 

If you received the stimulus and had filed a joint return and your spouse died, you only need to return your deceased spouse’s portion of the stimulus.

The IRS is slowly beginning to reopen.  Employees are going into the office to process the mail, paper tax returns and issue refunds by check.  The IRS will also be answering phone calls on the toll-free line.

The IRS continued to receive mail when there were no employees working so there will be delays in processing tax returns and other forms.

Most of the recent tax news has been concerning the effects of the coronavirus, the stimulus and programs for businesses.  I have written over a half dozen articles recently concerning these issues for syndicated newspaper columns.  They are also available on the education tab of this website.  They provide lots of great information concerning these issues.