Community Corner

IRS Twitter Account Offers Tax Help in 140 Characters

Last-minute filers can get tax tips via the popular social network.

Now in the final stretch of the 2012 tax filing season, the Internal Revenue Service reminds taxpayers that they can get last-minute tips by following the IRS on Twitter.

The IRS Twitter news feed, @IRSnews, provides the latest federal tax news and information for taxpayers. The focus of the IRS Twitter messages is on easy-to-use information, including tax tips, tax law changes, and important IRS programs such as e-file, getting a filing extension and “Where’s My Refund."

The IRS plans a special series of tweets in English and Spanish as the April 17 tax deadline approaches.

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Anyone with a Twitter account can follow @IRSnews by going to http://twitter.com/IRSnews. Taxpayers can also follow the IRS Twitter news feed using IRS2Go, a free smartphone application available for Apple and Android devices.

The IRS also tweets tax news and information in Spanish at @IRSenEspanol. Follow this Twitter feed by going to http://twitter.com/IRSenEspanol.

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Another IRS Twitter feed, @IRStaxpros, is designed for the tax professional community. Follow @IRStaxpros by going to http://twitter.com/IRStaxpros.

In addition to Twitter, the IRS provides additional social media tools, including YouTube videos, to help taxpayers before the tax deadline.

The IRS also has essential information online for those who have not filed their returns. Click here.

Taxpayers have two additional days this year to file. The regular April 15 deadline falls on a Sunday and Monday, April 16 is a holiday in the District of Columbia, so the deadline is Tuesday, April 17.

The District of Columbia will observe Emancipation Day April 16. By law, local holidays in the nation’s capital impact tax deadlines the same way federal holidays would, the IRS said.

Emancipation Day marks the occasion when President Abraham Lincoln signed into law a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia. Lincoln signed the bill on April 16, 1862, more than eight months before he signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which eventually led to all slaves being freed.

Illinois is following the same tax-filing schedule. Deadline to file 2011 state income taxes is April 17.


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