Refund Status and Tax Withholding Tools

07-23-2020Tax Information

The original tax filing deadline has passed.  Here are a couple of resources available for individual tax payers to get quick answers for yourself for free.

Refund Status
You can check on your refund using the IRS Where’s My Refund? tool. It is available on IRS.gov and the IRS2Go app.   If you do not have access to a computer can call 800-829-1954.  The tool updates once daily, so there’s no need to check more often.  You will need:

  • The first Social Security number on the tax return
  • The filing status and
  • The expected refund amount.

Paycheck Withholding Checkup
We encourage our clients to do a Paycheck Withholding Checkup.  The objective is to get your tax withholding close to the tax liability in order avoid underpayment penalties and to avoid giving the government too much of your cash.

The IRS website has a Tax Withholding Estimator.  This will help you withhold the right amount of tax from your paychecks.  Doing this now will help avoid an unexpected year-end tax bill and possibly a penalty.  You can use the results from the Estimator to help fill out your Form W-4 and adjust your income tax withholding with your employer.  If you are retired and receive pension income, you can use the results to complete a Form W-4P and give it to your payer.

To be most effective, you should have:

  • Your most recent income tax return
  • Your most recent pay stub
  • Summary of non-payroll income
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