SC tax experts share tips to maximize refunds amid IRS backlog woes
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WACH) — Tax filing day is April 18, but people are already hustling to get their returns together. In doing that they can expect lots of changes. That is what experts tell WACH FOX News, with new regulations, including stops on monthly checks.
“Hopefully, I’ll get one back this year – not too sure if I’ll get one back or not,” one tax filer told WACH FOX News.
That uncertainty is a common feeling for 2022 tax filers across the Midlands waiting on their refunds.
“I’m not expecting a lot, with everything else inflating. Gas, food, and everything else hiking up,” said Gavin Seboe, another concerned tax filer.
The IRS is still combatting a major backlog in processing tax refunds due to the pandemic.
“Don’t expect them to be processed within three weeks,” said Elizabeth Batchelor, a Columbia tax attorney. “If you need to call the IRS the average wait time is 23 minutes, and unfortunately only one in nine calls are reaching an agent.”
A big change, which has stirred up some controversy is the IRS requiring Cash App and Venmo transactions of more than six hundred dollars to be reported.
“If you are a business owner, and you’re receiving payments through any of the Cash App, any of the merchant services, you want to be keeping really good profit and law statements and financial statements,” Batchelor also said.
Another big change is the federal stop on monthly checks from child tax credits.
“Congress has not reauthorized the tax credit so the only families that are eligible for the expanded tax credit are those that signed up prior to December 1st last year,” said Larry Salley, who serves as the executive director of the Greater Columbia Community Relations Council.
Salley says he is working with the NAACP to give lower-income families direction.
“We ask them to participate in the volunteer income tax assistance program or vita, because they’ll have the latest information, and be able to assist them at no cost to themselves,” Salley also said.
To maximize the refund – and see it as soon as possible, these tax experts also stress e-filing your taxes as soon as possible.
“At the beginning of every year, go ahead and start tax planning. There are things that businesses and individuals can be doing now that will save you down the road,” Batchelor also said.
Source: wach.com
