January - February 2008
Resources, Tools & Information for Workforce Centers and Partners. Disability Program Navigator’s promote Accessible Services for all Customers. Email: sinclair.hubard@drs.virginia.gov Office: 540-434-5981 Cell: 540-607-7375
Virginia Disability Program Navigator Initiative and IRS Partnership (VDIP) To integrate persons with disabilities into existing services.
Refund Information Available Online in English or Spanish
Where’s My Refund? - one of IRS’ most popular online features - gives taxpayers access to information about the status of their individual federal income tax refunds, regardless of whether they ask IRS to direct deposit their refunds to one, two or three accounts or request paper checks. Other features let taxpayers: Initiate a refund trace to re-issue lost or missing paper checks; and Update their mailing addresses if the Postal Service returned their checks to IRS as undeliverable. Taxpayers can access Where’s My Refund? www.irs.gov. Spanish-speaking taxpayers can access their refund information via the IRS.gov Espanol portal, beginning January 2008. (However the refund trace and address change features are only available on the English version.) Clients without internet access can get the same information by calling IRS’ Refund Hotline at 1-800-829-1954. Where’s My Refund? is: Fast: Check the status of your individual federal income tax refund virtually anytime, from anywhere. Easy: Simply enter your personal identification information—your Social Security number, filing status, and refund amount shown on your return. Safe: Interact online with the IRS through secure technology that protects the confidentiality of your personal information. Convenient: Check the status of a split refund; initiate a trace on a non-received paper check; and/or update your mailing address if your refund check was returned to IRS as undeliverable. Popular: Join others who visited Where’s My Refund? more than 32 million times last year.
A statewide effort to provide taxpayers with disabilities information on: free tax help, tax credits, deductions & financial planning resources. Contact your Disability Program Navigator for locations in your area.
VITA: toll free 1-800-906-9887
(Monday – Friday: 7 am - 10 pm) Certified volunteers help prepare basic tax returns & with special credits such as: Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Child Tax Credit & Credit for the Elderly. Some locations offer free electronic filing!
Family Income under $40,000 with children, elderly or disabled dependents Simple returns ONLY - NO Schedule C or E (business or rental income) Must have all tax documents including W-2 and 1099 Social Security cards required for self, spouse and all claimed dependents
AARP: toll free 1-888-227-7669
(Call for locations/hours) https://locator.aarp.org/vmis/sites/tax_aide _locator.jsp AARP Sites will provide tax preparation assistance for people with disabilities (folks over 60 served first). No income limits. Assistance with schedule A and disability related expenses.
IRS links for people with disabilities:
IRS.gov Disability Web site
www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=168530,00.html
AARP Tax-Aide Website Locator:
Accessible IRS Tax Products
www.irs.gov/formspubs/article/0,,id=96151,00.html
Businesses tax benefits Credits and deductions for businesses that accommodate people with disabilities
The Disabled Access Credit provides a nonrefundable credit for small businesses that incur expenditures for the purpose of providing access to persons with disabilities. An eligible small business is one that earned $1 million or less or had no more than 30 full time employees in the previous year; the business may take the credit each year they incur access expenditures. For information about eligible expenditures Refer to Form 8826, Disabled Access Credit (www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8826.pdf) The Architectural Barrier Removal Tax Deduction encourages businesses of any size to remove architectural and transportation barriers to the mobility of person with disabilities & the elderly. Businesses may claim a deduction of up to $15,000 a year for qualified expenses for items that normally must be capitalized. Businesses claim the deduction by listing it as a separate expense on their income tax return. Businesses may use the Disabled tax Credit and the architectural/transportation tax deduction together in the same tax year if the expenses meet the requirements of both sections. To use both, the deduction is equal to the difference between the total expenditures and the amount of the credit claimed. The Work Opportunity Credit provides eligible employers with a tax credit up to 40 percent of the first $6,000 of first-year wages of a new employee if the employee is part of a “targeted group.” An employee with a disability is one of the targeted groups for the Work Opportunity Credit provided the appropriate government agencies have certified the employee as disabled. The credit is available to the employer once the employee has worked for the employer for at least 120 hours or 90 days. Employers claim the credit on Form 5884, Work Opportunity Credit (www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5884.pdf). In 2007, new Work Opportunity Credit rules for veterans with a service-connected disability. The first year wages taken into account for qualified disabled veterans, who were hired after May 25, 2007, is increased to $12,000. See “What’s New” in Form 5884 for 2007.
Many times workers in a sheltered workshop are misclassified as independent contractors when they really are employees. Revenue Ruling 65-165 discusses the treatment of such workers, as summarized in the following categories:
Individuals in training in a rehabilitation program designed to prepare them for placement in private industry. The intent of the training, which averages 16 weeks in length, is to accustom the individual to working conditions. These individuals are not employees of the workshop for Federal employment tax purposes while they are being trained. Regular workshop employees who have completed training and are capable of performing one or more jobs in the sheltered workshop (while temporarily awaiting placement in private industry or permanently placed if unable to compete in regular industry). These individuals are paid by the workshop that provides working conditions and pay scales comparable to those in private industry, fixed working hours and production schedules so an employment relationship is intended. The trained workers in the workshop are employees for Federal employment tax purposes. Individuals working at home, who cannot work in the workshop and can produce salable items, which can be sold anywhere they please. These individuals are not considered employees as no employer-employee relationship exists under the usual common law rules.
Don’t forget about e-file for Individuals and Businesses! IRS e-file makes filing faster, more accurate and gets your refund to you in HALF the usual time... even faster with Direct Deposit!
http://www.irs.gov/efile/index.html