You may have seen them on television and the internet companies promising to reduce your tax debt, stop garnishments, remove tax liens, or settle your debt.
Individuals in debt to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are regularly preyed upon by scam tax relief companies who charge thousands of dollars and deliver nothing. In many cases these scams involve a personal tax evaluation costing several thousand dollars only for the taxpayer to be told that there is nothing that can be done. The IRS has issued warnings about these companies.
If you cannot pay your taxes by the April 15 deadline, you should contact the IRS as soon as possible, as they will listen to your case and offer the best solution to your situation.
The IRS has many options for you to pay your taxes, including:
1. The IRS may give you an extension of time to pay from 30 to 120 days.
2. An installment plan that allows you make regular monthly payments until your tax bill is resolved.
3. Request an offer in compromise, an agreement between you and the IRS to settle your tax debt for less than you owe.
4. Plan ahead for next tax season: Adjust your withholding or increase your estimated tax payments so you will have a lesser tax obligation next year.
For more information about your personal income taxes and/or tax relief, contact:
Barbara Anthony, Undersecretary 10 Park Plaza Suite 5170 Boston, MA 02116
Hotline 617-973-8787 888-283-3757 www.mass.gov/consumer
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Phone: toll-free (800) 829-1040
Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR)
Phone: toll-free in MA (800) 392-6089, (617) 887-MDOR
DOR’s customer service call center hours for tax help are 10 am - 1 pm and 1:30 pm - 4 pm, Monday through Friday.
Mar 28, 2010
Mar 22, 2010
How the new Health Reform legislation will affect seniors.
The Medicare prescription-drug benefit would be improved substantially. This year, seniors who enter the Part D coverage gap, known as the "doughnut hole," each would get $250 to help pay for their medications.
Beyond that, drug-company discounts on brand-name drugs and federal subsidies and discounts for all drugs would reduce the gap gradually, eliminating it by 2020. That means that seniors, who now pay 100 percent of their drug costs while they're in the doughnut hole, would pay 25 percent.
Further, as under current law, once seniors spend a certain amount on medications, they'd get "catastrophic" coverage and pay only 5 percent of the cost of their medications.
Government payments to Medicare Advantage, the private-plan part of Medicare, would be cut sharply starting next year. If you're one of the 10 million enrollees, you could lose extra benefits that many of the plans offer, such as free eyeglasses, hearing aids and gym memberships. To cushion the blow to beneficiaries, the cuts to health plans in high-cost areas of the country such as New York City and South Florida — where seniors have enjoyed the richest benefits — would be phased in over as many as seven years.
Beginning this year, the bill would make all Medicare preventive services, such as screenings for colon, prostate and breast cancer, free to beneficiaries.
Beyond that, drug-company discounts on brand-name drugs and federal subsidies and discounts for all drugs would reduce the gap gradually, eliminating it by 2020. That means that seniors, who now pay 100 percent of their drug costs while they're in the doughnut hole, would pay 25 percent.
Further, as under current law, once seniors spend a certain amount on medications, they'd get "catastrophic" coverage and pay only 5 percent of the cost of their medications.
Government payments to Medicare Advantage, the private-plan part of Medicare, would be cut sharply starting next year. If you're one of the 10 million enrollees, you could lose extra benefits that many of the plans offer, such as free eyeglasses, hearing aids and gym memberships. To cushion the blow to beneficiaries, the cuts to health plans in high-cost areas of the country such as New York City and South Florida — where seniors have enjoyed the richest benefits — would be phased in over as many as seven years.
Beginning this year, the bill would make all Medicare preventive services, such as screenings for colon, prostate and breast cancer, free to beneficiaries.
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