Tax Filing Deadline April 18th, Several Changes Affecting Families Refunds

(KNSI) – The tax filing deadline for individuals is four weeks away, and some changes affect thousands of area taxpayers.

Tax experts say the stimulus payments sent in March of 2021 are not taxable; however, the money needs to be accounted for on your taxes. Business Manager for Landwehr Tax and Accounting in St. Cloud Ashley Kerzman says the biggest surprise comes from people who took the advance child tax credit last year.

“What that means when you file taxes is, if you’re used to seeing a large refund, you’re likely to see that refund drop. Because you’re getting half of that credit paid in advance.”

Kerzman explained why Congress directed the IRS to offer the payments.

“The IRS said because many people are struggling, let us give half of that in advance to the parents, and we’ll take that half amount divided over six months.”

The advanced child tax credits were paid July through December in 2021. Ashley says there are some new tax benefits that people should be aware of.

“You can claim up to $600 in nonprofit charitable contributions if you don’t itemize deductions. That’s taken off on the federal return. The other big change that helps families is, if you fall within the guidelines, you could potentially get a 50% credit on dependent care expenses versus the normal 20% that we’re used to seeing in years prior.”

That helps on expenses for daycare preschool. She’s telling clients to expect their refund to take a little time.

“It is taking longer for the IRS to send out their refunds. They are still playing catch-up from previous years and through COVID and everything else they’ve got going on. I would expect that the federal returns are taking longer to receive.”

She’s advising anyone with questions about their taxes to talk with a tax professional.

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