Taxes: What You Need to Know

Welcome to Taxes: What You Need to Know -- Responsibilities & Benefits! This toolkit is available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week and makes it easier for you to:

• Understand basic tax information
• Determine if you need an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
• Learn about special tax credits
• Help prevent identity theft
• Understand why it’s important to follow the tax laws
• Learn more about the tax end of starting a small business
• Understand your options when you owe the IRS money
• Get your tax refund quickly and fairly

Filing and paying your federal taxes the right way is an important part of living and working in the United States. Understanding the way taxes work, and the role of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), can make it easier to get, and stay, out of tax trouble.

The IRS and the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) worked together to develop this toolkit. TAS is an independent organization within the IRS whose employees assist taxpayers who are experiencing economic harm, who are seeking help in resolving tax problems that have not been resolved through normal channels, or who believe that an IRS system or procedure is not working as it should.

For information on specific topics, click the links on the left.