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Payments
Time Requirement: 30 minutes
Purpose
This lesson will explain how to determine and report income tax withheld, estimated tax payments, certain refundable credits, and other payments made by the taxpayer. Students will learn how to determine if the taxpayer can claim certain payments and refundable credits.
Objectives
Identify the following types of payments and credits that are applicable for most low- and moderate-income taxpayers:
- Federal income tax withheld from Forms W-2 and Forms 1099
- Estimated tax payments and amounts applied from the prior year's return
- Amount paid with a request for an extension to file
- Excess social security and tier 1 RRTA tax withheld
Report these payments and credits correctly on the taxpayer's return.
Teaching the Lesson
Refer to the Lesson Plan for helpful instructor notes, visual aids, TaxSlayer® demos, and Internet links. Prompt students to share what they know about determining what payments and refundable credits a taxpayer may claim.
Refer students who may want to work independently to Publication 4491, Payments.
Key References
This lesson refers to the following publications and forms:
- Publication 4012, Other Taxes and Payments, Other Returns, and Finishing the Return tabs
All references to materials can be found by clicking Job Aids and Media buttons. There are also links to helpful tool that can be found on the irs.gov public portal. For this lesson, the student can link to the following sites for additional help:
- Tax Topics - Excess Social Security and RRTA Tax Withheld
- FAQs: Top Frequently Asked Questions for Estimated Tax
- FAQs: Due Dates & Extension Dates for e-file
- IRS Withholding Estimator
TaxSlayer® Demos and Tutorials
It is recommended to go to the Practice Lab and access the latest TaxSlayer tutorial for this lesson. The TaxSlayer tutorials can be found by going to the Practice Lab and clicking on the link for TaxSlayer IRS training.
Publication 4012, Other Taxes and Payments, Other Returns, and Finishing the Return tabs, includes Payments and Filing an Extension.