If you plan on filing an extension, be careful. The due date for extended returns will be October 15, not 17.

While we’re at it, here’s another date for you: January 17. That’s the first day you can e-file your returns.

Now, at the risk of sounding like mother hen, there’s no reason you have to wait until any of these dates to actually prepare your return. And by all means, don’t wait until April 17 to call your tax accountant for an extension. It drives them crazy. Trust me on this.

Would you try to figure out why it was deposited into your account? Or whether the funds actually belonged to you?

Or would you say nothing and just hope no one would notice there was a mistake made?

Or would you go out and spend it on your student loans, car payment, and foreclosure debt?

If you asked Stephen McDow, he probably would have answer yes to that last one.

You see where I’m going with this, right? McDow had $110,000 deposited into his account. He wasn’t expecting the money, and I’m willing to bet that not so deep down he knew that the money didn’t belong to him. Turns out that the money that was deposited into Mr. McDow’s account was actually a refund belonging to another taxpayer. Apparently, that taxpayer provided her accountant with information for a Citibank account that was closed in 2004. Citibank later reissued that account number to Mr. McDow.

After obtaining an e-mail address for McDow, the taxpayer had her attorney send him an e-mail with instructions to return the money. To which he responded that he’s already spent some of it—on student loans, a car loan, and a home loan, to be specific.

Mr. McDow apparently offered to make monthly payments, but let’s just say that that offer wasn’t accepted since the rightful owner reported the theft to the police.

McDow has since been arrested.

Who knows what was going through his head, but I just find it hard to fathom that someone can have that much money deposited in their account and not try to ensure that it really did belong to them. It’s one thing if you’re expecting it, but quite another to have that money mysteriously appear in your bank account one day.

Also, I guess I also don’t understand how someone who is expecting such a significant refund doesn’t bother to verify that the account number is correct before giving it to her accountant. The account was closed in 2004. I get that nowadays we rarely use checks and payments are withdrawn from your account automatically, but it was closed in 2004. 2004.

Apparently finders aren’t keepers.

After that I needed a vacation.

After my vacation I needed motivation to get back to writing. And to work in general.

Now, I’m back. Refresh and renewed.

The 2010 tax season was probably my most hectic. That’s not a complaint, though. Believe me. It proved to be really difficult to keep up with blogging and answering questions while I had returns and engagements to deal with.

And after tax season was finished, I had even more work to do. After that was done, I finally took a much-needed vacation. We went to visit family in Italy for what had to be the shortest two weeks ever. As I said, I’m back now, refreshed, and ready. Vacation will do that do you (after you get over the jet-lag, of course).

I’m gotten quite a few e-mails with questions, and quite frankly I am a bit surprised by the amount of e-mail I’ve received. I’ve tried my best to respond to as many as I could, but I haven’t posted any of those questions here. If you’ve sent me an e-mail and I haven’t responded, my apologies. I’m working my way through my inbox… and will hopefully get to yours eventually. Please keep in mind that I could just be waiting for a more appropriate time to respond to your inquiry.

The app is called IRS2go, and is available on both the Android marketplace and the iPhone App Store.

The app currently allows you to check the status of your refund, subscribe to IRS news, follow them on Twitter, and it also provides their contact information. I suspect most people will be using it to check the status of their refund.

I’ve tried it, and I must say it’s really simple and easy to use. Not necessarily what I was expecting when I initially downloaded the app.

To check the status of your refund, you simply enter your SSN, filing status (single, head of household, etc.), and exact dollar amount of your refund.

I even used it to check the status of my 2009 refund (though the app prompts you to enter your information for your 2010 return—I suspect that it just pulls the last return you have on file).

The contact option is pretty useful; it not only gives you the contact number for each unit, but also gives you the hours of operation with a link that automatically dials the number (at least in the iphone version).

It’s a win-win situation: you can quickly check the status of your refund—even while waiting in the dentist office— and they get less calls inquiring about refund status.

The returns that are impacted are those that claim deductions on Schedule A (mortgage interest, property taxes, medical expenses, etc.), the higher education tuition and fees deduction on Form 8917, and the educator expense deduction.

Also as previously mentioned, just because the returns won’t be accepted by the IRS until February 14 doesn’t mean that you can’t prepare them before that; you or your tax preparer will just have to hang on to them until then.

The mileage rates are based on an annual study performed by Runzheimer International.  The study determines the cost of operating an automobile, and based on that amount we get the standard rates.

If you’re thinking that this wasn’t much of an increase, you’re right.  However, considering that we went from 55 cents in 2009 to 50 cents per business mile in 2010, I’m okay with the minor increase.

One quick tip: using the standard mileage rate isn’t always better. You get a choice (imagine that!) of using the standard rate or using your actual automobile expenses. Sometimes, the latter can amount to more of a deduction that using the standard rate. It, however, requires that you actually keep track of your expenses (repairs, insurance, gas, oil, registration fees, lease payments, etc.). Taking the standard deduction is easier, but sometimes a little hard work will pay off.  If you’re driving for business purposes, you should be keeping track of those expenses anyway.

This year, like all the others before it, the IRS is trying to return undeliverable refund checks to a few taxpayers. This time around they’re on a mission to return $164.6 million, with an average of $1,471 per check. Do the math; that’s 83 million cups of coffee or clean drinking water for 8.2 million people in Africa, in case you’re the charitable kind.

While that number represents only a small percentage of the total amount refunded by the IRS, it never ceases to amaze me.

Think some of that money belongs to you? Visit Where’s My Refund to find out. From there you can update your address, and from what I understand, the IRS should then automatically mail the check to you. You can also check the status of your refund by calling 800-829-1954.

Direct deposit is almost always faster and more reliable than getting a check mailed. Next time you’re getting a refund from the IRS, think about getting it direct deposited.

All return preparers who prepare all or substantially all of a tax return are required to register using the new system, and pay the $64.25 annual user fee.  If you can’t or don’t want to register online, you can submit a paper application via form W-12, which isn’t currently available, but should be shortly. Also note that the form will apparently take 4-6 weeks for processing. Ouch!

Because I’m sure some people are still unclear about this, let me just clarify: you are still required to register using the new online system even if you already have a PTIN. Yes, I agree, it doesn’t make sense to me either, especially since they will just end up reissuing the same PTIN you already have. I especially don’t like the fact that I’m going to have to pay a $64.25 fee for them to do it.

I tried to register myself, and I wish I could tell you it went through successfully, but it didn’t. The system has you verify your identity with your SSN, address, and filing status on last return. For some reason, it didn’t recognize one of these for me, and my identity couldn’t be verified. And, of course, I managed to lock my account (by unsuccessfully attempting to verify my identity too many times within a 24-hour period).

If you’re like me and you are having trouble registering, you can contact the PTIN customer service line at 877-613-PTIN (7846), which just rings a few times, then goes straight to hold music, with no indication of where or whom you’ve called. After waiting for over 10 minutes for someone to pick up, I hung up. I’m sure everyone else that’s been waiting to do this for months is either trying to register or is calling the IRS because they can’t. I’ll just wait until they’re not so busy.

If you’ve already registered or managed to get help from the IRS with registration, let me know how it went.

I’d like to think the majority of you have already heard about the 10% excise tax on tanning services that was pushed through with the health care reform bill.  No? C’mon, even Jersey Shore’s Snooki keeps up to date with her tax law.  (And apparently McCain watches Jersey Shore. Who knew.)

So here’s the deal.  Effective July 1 (just in time for season 2 premiere of the Jersey Shore 2), fees charged by indoor tanning salons specifically for tanning services will be subject to an excise tax of 10%.

Like to get your tanning on at the gym?  As long as your gym doesn’t charge you extra for tanning services, then the excise tax won’t affect you.

This tax is in addition to any excise tax assessed by a particular state. Which now means that New Jersey residents will pay a total of 17% since the garden state also charges a 7% excise tax on these services. < insert Jersey Shore joke here >

The excise tax was implemented in the hopes that it would be enough to persuade tanners get out of the tanning beds due to the associated health risks. But who are they kidding? It’s highly unlikely that the additional 10% will deter anyone from visiting a tanning salon. People that get tans aren’t necessarily choosing between tanning and groceries (dear God I hope not), so the 10% increase just isn’t a big enough jump in price for it to matter to a lot of people. Would you stop tanning if instead of $20 you were paying $22? Didn’t think so. After all, taxing cigarettes got people to quite smoking, right?

McCarthy was one of about 300 UBS clients whose names were turned over to the federal authorities this year as part of the federal court settlement. In this settlement, the bank agreed to provide financial data for clients whose accounts showed signs of tax evasion.

Since Mr. McCarthy agreed to plead gulity at his Sept. 14 hearing, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and $250,000 in fines. He is still be liable for back taxes and penalties due on the unreported income.

With that being said, I think this is as good a time as any for other tax evaders to come clean using the IRS’ voluntary disclosure program.

Let’s take a look at the basic details surrounding this voluntary disclosure program. It essentially allows US taxpayers who are not currently under investigation (let’s face it, you can’t be under investigation and then decide to voluntarily disclose your offshore income) and have not reported taxable income in the past to come forward to avoid criminal prosecution and severe penalties. The tax liability relating to unreported offshore income that is voluntarily disclosed will be settled as follows:

• Taxes and interest due for the prior six years (2003 through 2008) will be assessed. The taxpayer must file or amend all returns and Form TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). I realize at this point, if you’re aware of the statute of limitations when it comes to tax matters, you may be asking yourself, just how can the IRS assess taxes and interest for a six-year period, isn’t there a three-year statute of limitations? Simple; it’s one of the resolutions offered by the IRS in resolving the offshore voluntary disclosures. Also, if the IRS can prove fraud, then there is no statue of limitations. Oh joy!

• The IRS will assess an accuracy or delinquent penalty for all affected years.

• The IRS will assess a penalty equal to 20 percent of the amount in a foreign bank account or asset value. Under certain circumstances, the penalty can be reduced to five percent.

Apparently, some taxpayers have been doing what the IRS refers to as “quiet disclosures.” They are filing amended returns, reporting the previously unreported offshore income and are paying the related tax and interest on this income all while avoiding penalties. Of course, the IRS warns against this and also states that if the return is selected for examination, the 20 percent penalty offer would not be available. It should also be said that the IRS has identified and will continue to identify amended returns that have been filed with increased income.

Sept 23, 2009 is the last day the program’s settlement offer will be in effect. Taxpayers have until that date to enter into voluntary disclosure agreements. I’ve heard talks of the IRS possibly extending that deadline, but dare I say don’t count on it.

Please see here for a list of FAQs provided by the IRS.