No doubt, we all have a measure of respect for the IRS regardless of any personal feelings. However, if you ever get a call from the IRS, hang up.

Hearing a voice on the other end of the phone claiming to be the IRS can send chills up the average person’s spine. If you get the call, tell the caller that you don’t do IRS transactions over the phone. Ask them to send you any relevant information in the mail. Don’t give your out mailing address. If they were legitimate, they would already have it.

You have to be strong in your resolve. Some people actually cave into the scammers’ demands and send hard-earned cash.

You have to be strong in your resolve. Some people actually cave into the scammers’ demands and send hard-earned cash. America’s seniors lose billions of dollars due to such scams each year. Seniors, especially, are advised not to answer phone calls from numbers they don’t recognize.

​Realizing that the IRS doesn’t sue people is a good start for protecting your money and assets.
Find out more at www.irs.gov.

For tax  forms and information on IRS payments, visit www.irs.gov. 

Do you work from home? If so, you may be familiar with the home office deduction, available for taxpayers who use their home for business. Beginning last year, here was a new, simpler option to figure the business use of your home and complete the IRS tax forms.

This simplified option does not change the rules for who may claim a home office deduction...it merely simplifies the calculation and record keeping requirements. The new option can save you a lot of time and requires less paperwork and record keeping.

Here are six facts the IRS wants you to know about to claim the home office deduction and complete your IRS tax forms:

1. You may use the simplified method when you file your tax return. If you use this method to claim the home office deduction, you will not need to calculate your deduction based on actual expenses. You may instead multiply the square footage of your home office by a prescribed rate.
2. The rate is $5 per square foot of the part of your home used for business. The maximum footage allowed is 300 square feet. This means the most you can deduct using the new method is $1,500 per year.
3. You may choose either the simplified method or the actual expense method for any tax year. Once you use a method for a specific tax year, you cannot later change to the other method for that same year.
4. If you use the simplified method and you own your home, you cannot depreciate your home office. You can still deduct other qualified home expenses, such as mortgage interest and real estate taxes. You will not need to allocate these expenses between personal and business use. This allocation is required if you use the actual expense method. You’ll claim these deductions on Schedule A, Itemized Deductions of the IRS tax forms.
5. You can still fully deduct business expenses that are unrelated to the home if you use the simplified method. These may include costs such as advertising, supplies and wages paid to employees.
6. If you use more than one home with a qualified home office in the same year, you can use the simplified method for only one in that year. However, you may use the simplified method for one and actual expenses for any others in that year.

Visit IRS.gov for IRS tax forms and for more information this easier way to deduct your home office. Remember that you can find a great deal of helpful information on IRS forms, IRS payment and refunds at www.irs.gov.