Tag Archives: irs

Kent County Sheriff Dept. warns of phone scams

August 17, 20173-bottom, Citizen Journalismfraud, irs, Kent County Sheriff Department, Phone scamsJoanne

By the Kent County Sheriff Department

Residents of Kent County are again being contacted by individuals claiming to be from the IRS. Below is an example of one of the voicemails:

“Hello, we have been trying to reach you. This call is officially a final notice from the IRS (Internal Revenue Service). The reason of this call is to inform you that the IRS is filing a lawsuit against you. To get more information about this case file, please call immediately on our department number (gives number). Thank you.”

If you call the number provided, they will often ask you to obtain a prepaid credit card from a local store and provide them the credit card number.

This is another reminder that these are scams. Once the money is taken from the credit card, there is very little law enforcement can do to identify the suspect and recover the money. The suspect(s) are often not from the area and are difficult to identify because they use spoofed phone numbers that change frequently and are problematic to trace.

Other common scams include the following:

A stranger sends you a check and asks you to cash the check and keep some of the money. A different variation of this is a Craig’s List transaction where the buyer “accidentally” overpays and asks you to cash the check and send them the amount of the overpayment. The banks will most likely cash the check and not realize the check is forged until several days later. You are then financially responsible for the amount of the bad check.
We are also getting complaints of residents being contacted by a person saying they have found a virus on the resident’s computer. They ask for remote access to the computer and then hold the computer hostage until a ransom is paid.
A person contacts you over the phone and claims to be your relative who has been arrested. They ask you to provide them with the number off a prepaid credit card for bond money.

If a stranger asks you to provide them with a prepaid credit number or iTunes card, it is a scam.

The best way to avoid these scams is to avoid talking to them on the phone. We are aware of all of these scams and the many variations in our area, and there is no reason to report them to law enforcement unless you are a victim who suffers a loss as a result of one of these calls.

Tax prep assistance available for low-income Kent County residents

January 6, 20173-bottom, Non-Profits, Our CitiesASCET, Community Action Agency (CAA), Community in Action, free income tax prep, irsJoanne

Your Community in Action!

By Area Community Services Employment & Training Council (ACSET)

The New Year is here! It’s also the beginning of tax season. For many, income tax preparation can be an overwhelming process.

What tax credits am I eligible for? What if I make a mistake?

There are plenty of services that can prepare your taxes for you, but if you’re on a limited budget, that might not be an option. Did you know that ACSET Community Action Agency (CAA) provides free income tax preparation and filing for qualifying residents of Kent County?

According to the IRS, last year in the State of Michigan, $2 billion dollars was received by low-income workers in the form of the Earned Income Tax Credit or EITC. This averaged out to $2,488 in tax refunds per qualifying household. However, it is estimated that 20% of eligible workers in the United States do not claim the EITC. Are you one of those missing out on a larger tax refund?

To benefit from the EITC, you must file a tax return for 2016. If you are not sure where to begin, the CAA Tax Preparation Assistance program can help. The program was developed to increase the number of low-income families receiving the EITC.

Want to know if you qualify for a larger refund in 2017?

Find out if you meet the EITC basic qualifications. Visit the EITC website to learn more.
See if your income meets the limits required by the program. Visit the IRS website to find out the 2016 tax year limits.
Contact ACSET CAA’s Tax Preparation Assistance program at 616-336-4000 for additional assistance.

Your Community in Action! is provided by ASCET Community Action Agency. To learn more about how they help meet emergency needs and assist with areas of self-sufficiency, visit www.communityactionkent.org.

It’s Tax Day! Do you know what your deductions are?

April 15, 20163-bottom, Educationapril 15, april 18, deadline extended, emancipation day, internal revenue service, irs, taxes, U.S. capital, Victoria MullenJoanne

By Victoria Mullen

Well, thanks to good ol’ Honest Abe, we have a couple of extra days to file tax returns this year.

As 99.9% of us already know, Tax Day is usually April 15, but because the date coincides with Emancipation Day—the Washington D.C. holiday that celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S. capital—this year, we’ve been granted a reprieve, until April 18. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), D.C. holidays are considered federal holidays for tax-filing purposes.

Emancipation Day usually is celebrated April 16, the date in 1862 when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act, which freed about 3,100 slaves living in the District.

OK, so, goody, we have a couple more days to do what we all loathe doing. I know of absolutely no one who likes to pay taxes. Perhaps that’s because there are way too many rich people and corporations who don’t pay their fair share.

I’ve always thought that the IRS could take at least some of the sting away if each person were allowed to designate where we wanted our tax dollars to go. You know, like a checklist included with the 1040 form—we’d each check off where our individual dollars would go: Defense, Medicaid, Congress’s salaries (ha!), etc. At least that way, we’d feel more invested in the process and would be truly represented. It just seems fairer to me.

Perhaps one saving grace is that we can (in some cases) take deductions. All well and good, but that list needs some serious revising to give everybody a chance to lower their taxes.

Herewith are my suggestions.

Old meds. I don’t know about you, but there are times when I no longer have to take medication for whatever it was that ailed me because it ails me no more. So, there are numerous pill bottles in my medication drawer that are way past their expiration date. Seems such a waste. Sure, many communities offer “give back a pill day” (you know, return unused meds to a community center for disposal), but that doesn’t help reduce our taxes. Why can’t we claim a deduction for this?
Bad luck. This one is a no-brainer. There’s enough bad luck to go around the world for ages and ages. Or miles and miles. Whatever. A deduction for bad luck would serve to lift up the citizenry of every economic stratus. To make it bona fide, the IRS could require proof of that broken mirror, black cat, cast on your leg, or whatever. Photos should suffice. Of course, there will always be people who will take advantage of a good thing and purposely jinx their lives by living with five black cats, but I’m sure they’ll be in the minority.
Expired mayonnaise. Sure, you meant to use it. You had the best of intentions when you purchased it. You wanted to save money. It was a gallant effort, but you fell for that two-for-three jumbo con and purchased way more mayonnaise than you could ever hope to use in your lifetime. Did you save money? No. So there the jars sit, on your shelf, neglected, sad and lonely. I’d wager that they’re even dusty. Surely there should be a deduction for that.
Fur, lint, fuzz, dust bunnies and the like. You know the routine: No matter how often you brush Fluffy or Fido that fur piles up. Same with lint: You can clean the dryer’s lint trap til you’re blue in the face, but there will always be more. Fuzz, too. The stuff breeds. If you don’t live with cats, you can’t possibly understand how upsetting this is. You’ll vacuum. You’ll put the vacuum away. And the minute you close the closet door and turn around—poof!—there it is, a clump of fur, right in the middle of the floor where you just vacuumed not two minutes before. Where was it hiding when you were vacuuming? Why did it wait until you were all done before making its appearance? The nasty little thing did it on purpose. This happens to millions of people daily, we suffer for it and we ought to be able to claim a deduction for it.
Clothes hangers (on the floor). Seriously. Turn your back for a minute, and these things will multiply like rabbits. And they make you clumsy—even the plastic ones get tangled up. We ought to deduct something for each hanger that falls to the floor of its own volition. Because for each hanger that falls on the floor, there is a corresponding likelihood of throwing out your back trying to pick it up. A deduction could help pay for those back massages. Maybe we could add this to the Obamacare plan.
Tasteful body art. It’s important to qualify this puppy because we all know the world is ugly enough as it is, and there is some seriously awful body art out there. A deduction for fabulous body art would be a great incentive for people to beautify themselves and, by extension, their surroundings. Maybe we could have the National Endowment for the Arts offer grants to fund the education of aspiring tattoo curators.