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New tax rules cause major confusion for tax preparers
When it comes to the fiscal cliff deal the sweat and the fear of what's next, it isn't over.
In fact, the last minute decision to avert the fiscal cliff will impact how fast you get your tax refund. If you thought filing for your tax return was a pain before, this year expect the stress to multiply. "One big thing for farmers or self-employed is if they purchased some new equipment we can depreciate that property for them and that is a form that actually the IRS just started taking yesterday," said Stacey Stocker, H&R Block. Stacey Stocker owner of the H & R Franchise in Grand Island says disgruntled tax payers are confused about what to do for this year's filing. "The IRS was ready to go finally on January 30th and we started submitting tax returns but there's still some forms that they are not ready to accept," said Stocker. The education form for the American opportunity or lifetime credits has been delayed. "Thursday the IRS is supposed to open up and start accepting those tax returns," said Stocker. While, Congress avoided going over the fiscal cliff, the last minute deal will have a direct effect on how quickly you get your refund. "If somebody did a direct deposit with like their tax refund we were looking at 8-15 days for their refund to come back, in direct deposit this year the IRS is telling us 8-21 days," said Stocker. For tax preparers the biggest challenge will be ensuring returns get processed. But, leading into the spring the economy could face another devastating blow if across the board spending cuts hit in March. Those could total 1.2 trillion dollars over the next 10 years. "Pay attention because they can make some changes for the 2013 year changes going forward," said Stocker. In 2014 the Affordable Healthcare Act will also welcome new changes. A line for health insurance will be added to the tax forms you fill out. If tax payers don't have a plan they'll face a steep penalty. |
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