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IRS Installment Agreement Request -- Form 9465
Updated: December 26, 2013 :: 05:05 PM
For those of us who cannot pay Federal tax due by the due date of the return, this information may be helpful:

Form 9465 is used for requesting an installment agreement with the IRS. If you are able to pay the full amount within 120 days of the due date of the income tax return, consider not filing the form. Instead, you may call IRS at 1 800 829-1040 to state your intent to pay in full or go to www.irs.gov, using the menu item under \"I need to..\" and select \"Set up a payment plan\".

If you cannot pay your tax within 120 days, you may file Form 9465 Installment Agreement Request. If you haved not failed to file any prior tax returns, not failed to pay prior tax, are able to pay your tax within 3 years, and your tax due is $10,000 or under (among other requirements), the IRS is required to enter into an installment agreement with you. There is a fee of $105 for standard agreement; alternatively a $52 fee for direct debit agreements. Lower income levels can qaulify for a reduced fee of $43.

If you owe more than $10,000 but less than $25,000, you can still enter into an installment agreement. You must be able to pay your tax within 60 months, or 5 years.

With any plan to pay tax after the due date of the return, interest and penalties will apply, plus the fee for establishing the payment plan.

For unpaid tax liabilities that exceed $25,000 and cannot be paid within 5 years, an Offer in compromise may be an option.

Employer reimbursement arrangements for health insurance no longer allowed
Updated: October 05, 2020 :: 10:42 AM

Employers that give employees a cash reimbursement for health insurance may be penalized. Where an employer does not establish a health insurance plan for its employees, but instead reimburses the employees for their own individually obtained policy, the employer is considered to have a non-compliant plan, subject to penalties. This does not apply, at least through 2015, to S-Corp shareholders who engage this type of reimbursement for the shareholder only.

Standard mileage rates for 2020
Updated: October 05, 2020 :: 10:46 AM
The Internal Revenue Service revised the 2020 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. The standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:
  • 57 cents per mile for business miles
  • 18 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes
  • 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations
    • Requirement to buy Health Insurance under the Affordable Care Act
    Updated: July 31, 2015 :: 05:48 PM

    For 2015, Individuals must buy coverage unless you fall into an exempt category: Religiously opposed individuals, undocumented immigrants, incarcerated individuals, members of an Indian tribe, those who do not have to file returns, those who pay more than 8% of your income for health insurance after employer contributions. Also exempt are those have coverage under Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, VA health programs, an employer plan, self insured individuals at minimum levels, or participants in a grandfathered plan before the health reform act was enacted.

    The rest of us will pay a penalty for not buying health insurance. The penalty for 2015 is: $325 per adult and $162.50 per child up to $975 for a family or 2% of income, whichever is greater. Note: Federal subsidies are available in some cases.

    HSA contribution limits for 2020
    Updated: October 05, 2020 :: 10:47 AM
    These yearly limits are for the savings accounts established as a part of high deductible health insurance policies that qualify as HSAs:
  • Individuals $3,550
  • Families $7,000

    The catch-up amount for taxpayers 55 years of age or older is unchanged at $1,000.

    The penalty for non-medical withdrawals from an HSA savings account is 20%.

    • Vehicle Donations
    Updated: October 10, 2008 :: 12:11 PM
    Congress limited the deduction for vehicles contributed to charity. The amount of the deduction will depend on how the doner organization uses the vehicle. If the charity sells the vehicle without using the vehicle in any significant way, the amount of the charitable deduction cannot exceed the gross proceeds from the sale. The taxpayer also must produce an acknowledgment as to value from the charity if the charity keeps the vehicle for it own use.