Too Many Estimated Tax Vouchers?

When your 2008 tax return was prepared, this office may have provided you with estimated tax vouchers for you to use in filing and paying your 2009 estimated tax liability. If you owed a significant amount of tax on your 2008 return or have filed estimates in the past, the IRS may send you yet another set of payment vouchers without any payment amounts shown. This leaves some taxpayers confused on which set of vouchers to use and how much they should pay, if any. Here is some guidance:

• If this office provided you with vouchers, continue to use those vouchers and pay the amount indicated unless you feel that there will be a significant change in tax liability either up or down. In some cases, your estimates may have been established to provide a “safe harbor” payment amount to avoid any potential underestimated penalty. Arbitrarily tinkering with the payment amount could jeopardize the “safe harbor” exception to the penalty.

• If during your tax appointment estimates were discussed, and this office advised you that you did not need to pay estimates, you can probably disregard the vouchers the IRS sent unless there has been a significant change in income, withholding, marital status or some other tax situation has changed. If any of these have occurred, you might wish to consult with this office to make sure that your withholding amount and estimates are adequate.

Even if estimates were not discussed or vouchers were not provided at your appointment, it may be appropriate for you to come in for a consultation appointment if your tax situation has significantly changed since your appointment.

If you have taken advantage of any of the tax incentive deductions and credits, you may be able to reduce your estimated tax payments.

Word of Caution: If you decide to discard an extra set of vouchers, remember that the forms include your name, address and Social Security number. Make sure that you properly dispose of them so that no one has access to your personal information.

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