Refund and Amount of Tax Owed

Time Requirement: 30 minutes

Purpose

Review the Refund and Amount You Owe sections of the return. There are several options for taxpayers to get their refund or pay any tax they owe. It is important that volunteers are familiar with those options to better help taxpayers understand their refund and payment choices.

Objectives

• Identify the applicable section and lines of Form 1040 for the refund or amount owed
• Report the correct refund amount or amount owed
• Identify the refund options available, including the purchase of savings bonds
• Describe the different payment options for an amount owed
• Explain how to adjust the amount of tax withheld or make estimated tax payments to avoid underpayment of taxes
• Identify the purpose and determine how to complete the Third Party Designee portion of the tax 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 Income.

• Explain the choices a taxpayer has for refunds
• Discuss the process of buying savings bonds with a refund
• List the types of payments that are acceptable for a balance due
• Provide options for a taxpayer who cannot pay by the filing due date
• Discuss the general type of situations that could cause a taxpayer to owe a tax penalty

Refer students who may want to work independently to Publication 4491, Refund and Amount of Tax Owed.

Key References

This lesson refers to the following publications and forms:

• Form 13614-C, Page 2
• Pub 4012, Finishing the Return tab and Partner Resources tab
• Pub 17, Your Rights as a Taxpayer, Collections and Refunds
• Form 8888, Allocation of Refund
• Form 1040-V, Payment Voucher
• Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate
• Form W-4P, Withholding Certificate for Periodic Pension or Annuity Payments
• Form W-4R, Withholding Certificate for Nonperiodic Payments and Eligible Rollover Distributions
• Form W-4S, Request for Federal Income Tax Withholding From Sick Pay
• Form W-4V, Voluntary Withholding Request

All references to materials can be found by clicking the Job Aids and Media buttons. There are also links to helpful tools that can be found on the irs.gov public portal. For this lesson, students can link to the following sites for additional help:

• Online Tool - Where's My Refund?
• FAQs - Refund Inquiries
• Tax Topics - Refund Information
• Tax Topics - The Collection Process
• Tax Topics - Tax Payment Options
• Tax Topics - Penalty for Underpayment of Estimated Tax
• Tax Topics - Disclosure Authorizations
• Tax Tip - Use Your Federal Tax Refund to Buy Savings Bonds

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 the link for TaxSlayer IRS training.

Publication 4012, Finishing the Return tab and Partner Resources tab, includes information on refunds and balance due returns in TaxSlayer.