Author: Steve Black

Free H&R Block Tax Calculator – Get Your Refund Now!

Get your maximum tax refund with the Free H&R Block Tax Calculator. Use the easy-to-navigate estimator to quickly receive your potential refund in minutes.

Calculating your taxes has never been easier with H&R Block’s free tax calculator. This easy-to-use estimator quickly determines your maximum potential refund in minutes, providing you with peace of mind and helping to maximize your return.

Free H&R Block Tax Calculator
Free H&R Block Tax Calculator

Input your Taxes Easily.

With H&R Block’s free tax calculator, you don’t need a ton of experience with taxes or filing to get your maximum potential refund. Just input the details of your filings into the calculator, including income, credits and deductions, and let H&R Block do the rest. In no time, you will know exactly how much money you can expect back in return.

Monitor Your Refund Status.

After completing all of your required tax filing information, H&R Block’s free tax calculator will give you an estimate of how much you can expect to receive in return. From there, you can set up an alert policy with the calculator that will keep you notify of any changes that occur in your refund status. This way, you can easily stay on top of your taxes and ensure that everything is going as planned.

Use Expert Advice to Optimize Your Tax Refunds.

Not sure which deductions to claim or best strategies for filing? H&R Block’s free tax calculator provides easy access to tailored expert advice on how to optimize your return. Our professionals know the ins and outs of taxes and can help you take advantage of every opportunity that applies. With our useful guidance, you could be getting a larger refund or lower taxes in just minutes.

Get an Early Start on Filing Next Year’s Return.

You don’t need to wait until next tax season to start preparation! With the H&R Block free tax calculator, you can get a head start on filing your return and maximize your refund or minimize your taxes. Our easy-to-use estimator will help you plan ahead and develop strategies that can be implemented each year. Don’t wait to get started—start enjoying the benefits of our tax advice now!

Receive Expert Guidance for Complex Refund Situations.

Do you have complex investments, rental properties, or other earnings that make filing complicated? With H&R Block tax calculator services, experienced professionals are here to ensure that all your income sources are accounted for and properly interpreted to get your maximum refund. With expert guidance and years of experience in tax preparation, our advisors can create optimized strategies to save you money now and over the long term.

IRS Refund Status – Where Can I See the Status of My IRS Refund?

Get an instant status update on your tax refund or request a paper copy from the IRS. The IRS Refund Status page is one way for taxpayers and tax payers to keep track of their refunds as they are processed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has made changes to its online services that will affect taxpayers filing for refunds.

IRS Refund Status

The IRS is an agency that handles the tax year for the United States. They provide a variety of online services to taxpayers and tax payers. The IRS Refund Status section on their website provides information on the status of your tax refund.

The Tax Refund Status page is a part of the IRS Online Services website which allows you to check your refund status in real time. You can also find out if there has been any change in your refund status and when you should expect it to be delivered to you.

Go to irs.gov/refundstatus.

Taxpayers who filed electronically with the IRS before January 1, 2018, should see their refund within two weeks after submitting their return. If you file by mail, you should receive your refund within six weeks after filing.

Enter your Social Security Number (SSN).

To check the status of your refund, enter your SSN at . You will need your last four digits of your SSN.

Click “Get Status”.

If you have not received your refund yet, you should receive a message stating that your application has been processed. Once you do receive your refund, you can print out a copy by clicking on the link provided.

You will receive a confirmation email with your refund information.

To check the status of your refund, visit https://www.irs.gov/refunds. This site provides a list of all the states where you can expect to receive your refund.

Enter your Social Security Number (SSN) and Tax Year.

If you need more information about your refund, you can also call 1-800-829-1954. You will need to provide your SSN and the last four digits of your social security number.

6 Cheapest States To Live For 2022

Find out where you can live cheaply in the United States with our list of the 6 cheapest states to live for 2022.

Cheapest States To Live For 2022
Cheapest States To Live For 2022

The cost of living varies widely across the United States. Some areas are expensive, while others are cheap. This page shows how much money you need to earn to afford housing, food, transportation, healthcare, and other necessities.

Arizona

Arizona has been ranked as one of the top ten places to retire by Money Magazine. It also ranks high in terms of cost of living. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual salary in Arizona was $43,000 in 2017. That’s lower than the national average of $45,000.

Colorado

Colorado was ranked No. 1 on the list because of its low cost of living, high quality of life, and relatively safe environment. It also has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country.

Wyoming

Wyoming has the lowest average cost of living in the U.S., according to the Council for Community and Economic Research (CCER). In fact, the state ranks first in affordability among states with populations under 100,000 people.

Montana

CCER says that the median household income in Wyoming was $51,971 in 2017, compared to $53,849 in Montana. However, the cost of living in Wyoming is lower than in other states. According to CCER, the cost of living index in Wyoming is 79.5, while the national average is 100.

North Dakota

In addition to having the lowest cost of living, North Dakota also has the highest median household income at $61,724. This means that residents there earn more money than people in any other state.

South Dakota

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average annual cost of living in South Dakota was $48,988 in 2016. That’s lower than the national average of $51,856. However, the cost of living in South Dakotans’ home state is still higher than the national average.

Top 10 CHEAPEST STATES to Live in America

H&R Block Tax Calculator for Homeowners, Businesses & More

Doing your taxes is a tedious task that nobody enjoys. But if you have a business, it becomes even more complicated and time-consuming. The H&R Block tax calculator software makes calculating your taxes quick and easy. You don’t have to be an accountant or even know anything about taxes to use it.

Taxes are the most important and often the most confusing part of our financial lives. It is important to know how much we owe in taxes and how to pay them. The H&R Block Tax Calculator helps you calculate your federal income tax liability for the current year. It also provides estimates for future years based on your estimated taxable income.

H&R Block Tax Calculator
H&R Block Tax Calculator

Calculate your federal income tax liability.

The H&R block tax calculator is designed to help you quickly estimate how much you owe in federal income taxes. Simply enter your annual gross income and select one of our pre-built scenarios.

Find out how much you owe in state and local taxes.

If you’re self-employed, you’ll need to calculate both your business’s and personal income taxes. To do so, simply enter your annual gross income, choose whether you’re filing as a sole proprietor or partnership, and then select either “Business” or “Personal.”

See what deductions you may qualify for.

Once you’ve entered your income, you’ll see how much you owe in federal and state taxes. You can also view your estimated refund by entering your total income and subtracting any applicable credits.

Print your return.

If you’re filing as a business owner, you can print out your return right away. If you’re not sure whether you qualify as a small business, check with the IRS.

File electronically with the IRS.

It’s free to file your taxes online through the IRS website. You’ll need to provide your Social Security number (SSN) and bank account information. Once you’ve filed, you’ll receive a confirmation email with a link to download your W-2 forms.

The IRS has made it easier for US taxpayers to submit their tax returns electronically. The IRS offers a free e-file service, which is available to any taxpayer with a valid social security number and mailing address in the United States.

What is an e-file? An e-file is an electronic version of a paper tax return submitted through the internet. This means that you do not have to print and mail your taxes, as you would have done in the past. Instead, you can use an electronic tax software to complete your return and then submit it electronically to the IRS.

If you are looking for more information on how to file your taxes electronically, there are many helpful resources available on the IRS website or through various other websites and services.

In addition, if you want help filling out your taxes, there are various places that offer professional assistance with this process for a fee.

IRS Tax Estimator

If you’re like most Americans, you’re probably wondering how much of a tax refund you’ll get this year. The best way to find out is by using the free tax estimator from the IRS.

The estimator will estimate your federal and state taxes, as well as give you an estimate of your potential refund. All that’s required is some basic information about yourself and your family, such as age, income, marital status, and number of dependents.

It’s important to note that the estimator only provides an estimate for the amount of taxes owed. It does not calculate whether or not a taxpayer qualifies for any deductions or credits that could lower their total tax liability.

Refund Scam Alert From The IRS

Refund Scam Alert
Alexas_Fotos / Pixabay

The IRS is warning taxpayers about a new scam that is playing out this year in relation to individual tax returns being filed. This IRS Refund Scam Alert is about deposits being made into bank accounts and then requests being made to reclaim the funds. Don’t fall for this one.

The problems being when your personal computer is hacked and the tax information for the year is stolen. This personal information is used to file a tax return in your name before you file your own taxes. This next part was new in 2018, the money from the return is deposited into the tax payers own bank account instead of stolen right away. At this point, the taxpayer is contacted and a request is made to return the incorrectly deposited refund. That’s pretty inguieness.

The taxpayer might receive a call from an IRS collection agency requesting the funds, but IRS never calls individual tax payers. Or he/she could receive an automated call from the IRS fraud department with a case number and instructions on returning the money. Both of these kinds of calls are not from the IRS but from those performing the hack and following scam. Don’t return these calls, ignore them right off.

Funds sent from the IRS in error can be returned to a mailing address provided by the IRS on their website if this ever actually happens. Take a look at 2018 Tax Topic #161 on the IRS website.

If you happen to experience this most recent IRS Refund Scam, discuss the situation with your bank as closing the account might be in order.

Finally, a phone call to your tax preparer would be advisable to discuss what you should do with erroneously deposited tax refunds. You’ll have to work with the IRS also to file your real return for the year and get identity protection in the future.

H and R Block Invests In Youth For National Financial Literacy Month

The H and R Block Budget Challenge is an online simulated experience tool available to educators. The program, which seems like a game to most young adults which they really like, and portrays the financial pressures of adulthood. Although the Budget Challenge is available year-round, it holds special importance this April, which is National Financial Literacy Month in America. To celebrate the holiday, the financial software and planning company H And R Block will award over $1.3 million in scholarship money to Budget Challenge participants. Make sure to apply as soon as you can.

National Financial Literacy Month
Photo by vthokiejd National Financial Literacy Month

According to the Council for Economic Education, financial literacy classes are only required for high school graduation in seven states. This might explain why H And R Block has discovered that 58 percent of teens worry that they will experience more financial hardship than their parents have. Unfortunately, there are few outlets from which teenagers can get sound financial information. There is a great need for programs like this one by H&R Block.

The H and R Block Budget Challenge works to change this fact. The platform offers real world financial education to 155,000 high school students across every state during National Financial Literacy Month. Over the month of April, H And R Block will monitor the top Budget Challenge performers and award them with scholarships for higher education. Students who do not win a scholarship will still see improvement in their financial confidence through the program. Over 95 percent of participating educators attest to the effectiveness of the Budget Challenge in teaching teens financial literacy. Hopefully your young student will learn a lot of participating this year.

Ways Tax Prep Companies Are Fighting Tax Identity Theft

The New Steps TurboTax and H&R Block are taking to keep you safe this tax season should help you avoid tax identity theft. Taxpayers are planning to get their finances organized in time for the April 18 filing deadline. Unfortunately, tax security theft is causing a challenge. Identity thieves are also planning to file fraudulent returns.

Tax Identity Theft photo
Photo by akachela Tax Identity Theft

For many years, phony tax returns have been a critical challenge for the Internal Revenue Service. According to the Government Accountability Office, IRS provides that it issued approximately $5.8 tax year in fraudulent tax refunds in 2013 alone. A 2012 approximation from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration also established that due to identity theft over the subsequent five years, IRS could issue $21 billion in potentially fraudulent tax returns. Recent high-profile cyber security incidents have kept taxpayer on the edge.

New guidelines are in place to sort out this problem.  H&R Block and Intuit and other companies will share more data with the government to try to identify and rule out suspicious returns.

Tax filing companies will also enhance and add security features this year.  The guidelines require passwords to have more complex combinations of characters.  Users who exceed a specific number of failed login attempts will be locked out. Companies will use a two-factor authentication to help reduce the security breaches.

Some of these features are not new to tax prep software.  Nonetheless, some firms are changing how they operate. TurboTax now allows users to turn on two-factor authentication each time they log in the service. Hackers often rely on knowledge of the victim’s personal life to trick companies to given them targets’ login details by answering security questions. According to Intuit Vice President Julie Miller, Turbo and other software will actively notify users whenever changes are made to their accounts so as to sort out this threat and others.

H&R Block’s Ciaramitaro says the company will aggressively send more and new data to the government than it has done in the past to solve the tax identity theft problem caused by using outdated systems that identity thieves have mastered to outwit easily.

2015 Tax Changes for the Tax Season

The Internal Revenue Service announced on 30th October, 2014 that there was an annual inflation in the United States of America and they made more than 40 adjustments on the tax provisions. The following 2015 tax changes have been outlined on the Revenue Procedure 2014-61. If you unsure how to file your taxes with these new changes, consider using a tax program like TaxAct 2014.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, 39.6% of the new tax rate affects unmarried individuals whose income is more than $413,200 as well as married couples whose income exceeds $413,200. In addition to this, the standard deduction for the unmarried will rise to $6,300 while for the married couples whose returns are not the same will rise to $12,600. On the other hand, standard deduction for married couples who fill the same returns will have their standard deduction rise from $6,200 to $12,400. On the same note, each household head will have his/her standard deduction increased from $9.250 to $9,100.

When it comes to personal exemption, as compared to $3,950 that was for the year 2014 it will be expected that in 2015 this will rise to $4,000. However, this will not be realized at once and it will be subjected to a number of phases starting from $258,250 for the unmarried and $309,900 for married couples who fill the same tax returns. The last phase will be $380,750 for the unmarried and $432,400 for couples who are married and they fill the same tax returns.

In terms of the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption, it will be $53,600 for the unmarried and $83,400 for married couples filling the same tax returns for the year 2015. This shows that there is a significant increase as compared to 2014 which was $52,800 for the unmarried and $82,100 for the married couples filling the same tax returns. The Alternative Maximum Earned Income Credit for the year 2015 will be $6,242 for tax payers with more than three children. This is a significant increase as compared to the year 2014 whereby the Alternative Maximum Earned Income Credit was $6,143 for taxpayers with more than three children.

2015 Tax Changes photo
Photo by DonkeyHotey 2015 Tax Changes

Furthermore as compared to 2014 whereby Estates of Decedents who died were given a basic exclusion of $5,340,000 this basic exclusion for Estates of Decedents who will die in 2014 fiscal year will be increased to $5,430,000. In addition to this, the exclusion from tax on a gift for non-US spouse will be increased from $145,000 (2014) to $147,000 in the year 2015. In addition to this, $99,200 foreign earned income exclusion for the year 2014 will rise significantly in 2015 to $100,800. Furthermore, the maximum credit will be phased out depending on the number of full-time employees. Lastly, the annual dollar limit of employee contribution to Flexible Spending Arrangements will rise from $50 to $2,550 in 2015 fiscal year.

Choosing Tax Preparation Software

There are many factors online tax preparers need to figure in when choosing the correct Tax Preparation Software for them to file their taxes in 2015. A few of these concerns are safety, tools provided by the various companies, and pricing.

TurboTax 2015 has provided a tremendous example of safety measures when it comes to your online tax preparation. Regrettably, many companies do not take the same measures that TurboTax did with Turbo Tax 2013 and more recent versions. Because certain companies do not take security features as one of their top priorities, a rise has been seen in tax refund theft. To ensure that you receive your tax refund and it does not fall into the hands of someone else, you should look for tax software that includes security features and use a cryptic password for your tax preparation software.

Tax Preparation Software photo
Photo by citizens4taxjustice

Once you have located a few preparation software packages with high security features, look at the tools featured in each version of the tax preparation software in your line up. Are the tools listed with the software what you will need for your specific tax preparation and will they lead to an ease of preparation or are there too many for your tax preparation and will lead to little more than jumbling up the process of your tax preparation. Tools should provide convenience and efficiency, not confuse consumers.

Once the tools and security features have been looked into, you should look into the price of the tax preparation software that you still have on your list. If they have made it through your security and tools checklist, each should provide just what you need for your tax preparation needs so you can, hopefully, pick from a variety of prices.

Easy Tax Filing With TaxAct

The trademarked TaxAct Express allows taxpayers to enjoy the maximum guaranteed refund when they e-file their 2014 taxes. Take a look at Tax Filing With TaxAct.

TaxAct Express, an app for smart phones, also offers free federal and state tax filing, the first company to do so. Everything required to file a straightforward tax return is included in the app, including the standard forms such as the 1040 and 1040EZ.

Tax Filing With TaxAct

Other scenarios affecting your 2014 or 2015 taxes are also included and covered in the TaxAct app, including unemployment and dividend income, interest and deductions for families on a lower income, education and dependents. The app asks a series of simple questions and as these are answered, the amount due or owed will update itself, along with a summary allowing users to see in detail how that figure was arrived at. TaxAct double checks the accuracy of the information and looks for mistakes once the questions have all been answered.

IOS and Android users can take advantage of TaxAct to file their 2014 taxes and when completed, a tablet, desktop or smart phone can be used to submit your tax return.

Taxpayers can potentially receive their refund by early February, as TaxAct will start to submit 2014 tax returns to the IRS as early as the 20th January.

TaxAct Express also allows filers to track the status of their return and guarantees a maximum refund, price lock and IRS accuracy. Go to www.taxact.com/apps for more information.

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