TaxCure Blog

The school year is in full swing, and if you’re a teacher, you’ve probably already spent money out of your own pocket. Luckily, the IRS allows you to claim a deduction for many of these expenses. If you want to reduce your tax bill, here are some tax breaks for teachers you need to know.

If you requested an extension on filing your federal income tax return, your due date is just around the corner on October 16th, 2017. You must have your tax return postmarked or electronically submitted by that date. If you don’t file on time, you face a very serious failure-to-file penalty.

The estimated tax penalty is technically called an underpayment penalty. More than ten million taxpayers paid underpayment tax penalties in the 2016 tax year, compared to the 8.9 million who paid them in 2014. That increase may have something to do with the estimated 30% of working-age people the Chicago Tribune reports are now part of the so-called “gig economy.”

The IRS is offering tax relief for Hurricane Harvey victims. Specifically, it is giving affected taxpayers extensions on certain tax returns and payments. The extensions apply to most returns or payments due between August 23, 2017 and January 31, 2018. At the time of writing, most of these deadlines have moved to January 31, 2018.

If you owe the Internal Revenue Service tax money, you may know that some of the penalties for non-payment can become pricey: The IRS can impose additional late or underpayment penalties, and apply interest rate charges on amounts owed until the taxpayer resolves their taxes.  If the IRS fails to collect on the taxes through voluntary action, more extreme collection measures may take place. For example,  garnishment of a person’s wages or even imprisonment.