Unclaimed Property Blog

The IRS has lost a lawsuit regarding a tax on phone bills. The result is that taxpayers will no longer have to pay this tax and will also be getting money back.

A while back there was a blog on this tax. You may recall that telephone bills had a 3% federal excise tax on long-distance services. The bill permitting this tax was originally enacted in 1898 to fund the Spanish-American War. Several lawsuits were filed regarding this tax be abolished and refunded. The IRS has lost the right to charge this and the Treasury now has to refund approximately $13 billion to taxpayers.

Back-to-school shopping can be costly. Some states have decided to waive the sales tax on particular purchases.

Thirteen states and the District of Columbia are offering shoppers a sales tax holiday this year. The majority of states will be doing this on the first weekend of August.

Be sure to schedule your shopping trip during these times for extra savings. And before you bring your purchases to the register, make sure the items qualify. Some purchases will save you sales-tax dollars, others will not. Participating states have a detailed list of their sales-tax-exempt items. Each state can and does have varying products and dates of the sale, so be sure you know before you go.

Last week it was the Veterans Affairs computer with personal data. Today we are informed that data from the Department of Energy is now at risk.

Officials told a House oversight committee that a hacker stole a computer file containing the names and Social Security numbers of 1,500 employees of the Energy Department’s nuclear weapons agency. Good that we are being informed. What I would like to know is why are we being informed on June 9th when the theft occurred in September?

Identity theft seems to be all around. Most Americans look at it as something we just have to deal with. Is this really true?

Upon further investigation it was discovered we needed something to compare our theft situation with. Turning to Europe seemed logical. However, determining the rate of identity theft in Europe was difficult. Per data security experts it isn’t enough of a problem to warrant a comprehensive survey.

Digging into this a little further found there was an exception; the United Kingdom (U.K.).

The IRS has agreed to forgive about 400 taxpayers in Ohio a late filing fee.

Wondering about the reason for such generosity and if this could happen to you? It is probably a once in a million type of error on the part of Ohio’s largest newspaper, The Plain Dealer.

On Monday, tax due date, the paper printed a list of the post offices staying open until midnight to postmark the tax returns. It turns out that several of the post offices listed did not stay open.

Ever think that it would be good if people did what they were supposed to, like pay taxes. You didn’t ask for the data, but someone proudly states that he didn’t pay taxes on his last job because he was paid under the table. What do you do? Do you keep this information to yourself? Do you tell someone? Who? For further information read on.

There are people who have been paid by the IRS to inform them of tax criminals. The IRS has a civil and criminal investigation team. This team does want information from all sources, including John Q. Public.

What a deal — you increase your education and you tax liability may decrease.

You have a student loan for furthering your education which is a valuable commodity. The education can pay off later with a good job at a higher income for your knowledge.

With tax time approaching the student loan may make you eligible to deduct up to $2,500 of the interest you paid on the loan last year. This deduction will help reduce your taxable income, possibly giving you a smaller tax bill.

The ever increasing popularity of gift cards is also increasing legal actions. More states are finding concern over consumer protection on the usage of gift cards. The latest are Nebraska and Iowa.

Nebraska state Senator Carol Hudkins wants to make sure consumers understand fees and expiration dates on gift cards. Some businesses have expirations dates as early as 60 days from purchase. Others have hidden fees.

According to the state treasurer’s office there is only a handful of businesses that routinely turns in unclaimed property. Hudkins wants to change the law so that businesses have an incentive to let customers know what the rules are.

The IRS has millions of dollars to return to tax payers for the 2002 tax year.

To collect, though, they must file a return for 2002 with an IRS office by April 17, the date the three-year window to file will end. There is no penalty assessed for filing a late return that qualifies for a refund.

The IRS reminds taxpayers seeking a 2002 refund that their checks will be held if they have not filed tax returns for 2003 or 2004. In addition, the refund will be applied to any amounts still owed to the IRS and may be used to satisfy unpaid child support or past due federal debts such as student loans.

This is a true story. The IRS is searching for residents to give them money.

A recent article informed residents of Morris, Sussex and Warren Counties, New Jersey, who have not yet filed their 2002 tax returns that there is still time to do so and claim returns. Time is running out, according to the Internal Revenue Service, they stand to lose $6.9 million in uncollected refunds if they don’t file within the next several weeks. To collect the refunds, tax returns must be filed no later than April 17th.