Have you purchased your first home in 2010? If so, you may be eligible to claim the first-time homebuyer credit when filing your 2010 tax return, even if you are a long-time resident purchasing a new home. In order to claim the credit, you must have been at least 18 years old on the date when you purchased the home (for a married couple, only one spouse must meet this age requirement).

If you are not sure about the process of claiming the credit or whether you are eligible to receive the credit at all, the IRS has a list of things that you need to know when filing your return and claiming the credit.

1. You must have bought – or entered into a binding contract to buy – a principal residence located in the United States on or before April 30, 2010. If you entered into a binding contract by April 30, 2010, you must have closed on the home on or before September 30, 2010.
2. To be considered a first-time homebuyer, you and your spouse – if you are married – must not have jointly or separately owned another principal residence during the three years prior to the date of purchase.
3. To be considered a long-time resident homebuyer you and your spouse – if you are married – must have lived in the same principal residence for any consecutive five-year period during the eight-year period that ended on the date the new home is purchased.
4. The maximum credit for a first-time homebuyer is $8,000, half that amount for married individuals filing separately. The maximum credit for a long-time resident homebuyer is $6,500. Married individuals filing separately are limited to $3,250.
5. You must file a paper return and attach Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit and Repayment of the Credit with additional documents to verify the purchase. Therefore, if you claim the credit you will not be able to file electronically.
6. New homebuyers must attach a copy of a properly executed settlement statement used to complete such purchase. Buyers of a newly constructed home, where a settlement statement is not available, must attach a copy of the dated certificate of occupancy. Mobile home purchasers who are unable to get a settlement statement must attach a copy of the retail sales contract.
7. If you are a long-time resident claiming the credit, the IRS recommends that you also attach any documentation covering the five-consecutive-year period, including Form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement or substitute mortgage interest statements, property tax records or homeowner’s insurance records.
8. Members of the military and certain other federal employees serving outside the U.S. have an extra year to buy a principal residence in the U.S. and qualify for the credit.

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If you have received Social Security benefits in 2010, they may be subject to federal income taxes when you file your 2010 tax returns. You should receive a Form SSA1099 which will show the total amount of your benefits. To determine whether or not your benefits are taxable, the IRS has issued the following guideline to help taxpayers go through the process.

1. How much – if any – of your Social Security benefits are taxable depends on your total income and marital status.
2. Generally, if Social Security benefits were your only income for 2010, your benefits are not taxable and you probably do not need to file a federal income tax return.
3. If you received income from other sources, your benefits will not be taxed unless your modified adjusted gross income is more than the base amount for your filing status.
4. Your taxable benefits and modified adjusted gross income are figured on a worksheet in the Form 1040A or Form 1040 Instruction booklet.
5. You can do the following quick computation to determine whether some of your benefits may be taxable:
   • First, add one-half of the total Social Security benefits you received to all your other income, including any tax exempt interest and other exclusions from income.
   • Then, compare this total to the base amount for your filing status. If the total is more than your base amount, some of your benefits may be taxable.
6. The 2010 base amounts are:
   • $32,000 for married couples filing jointly.
   • $25,000 for single, head of household, qualifying widow/widower with a dependent child, or married individuals filing separately who did not live with their spouses at any time during the year.
   • $0 for married persons filing separately who lived together during the year.
7. For additional information on the taxability of Social Security benefits, see IRS Publication 915, Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits. Publication 915 is available on this website or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

While the above information from the IRS is helpful for taxpayers who plan to prepare and file their taxes on their own, it’s always a good idea to check with a tax professional for issues that you are not certain.

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Don’t panic. Even though W-2 is probably the most important document for filing your tax returns, there are handle the situation if you believe that your W-2 form was lost on its way to your residence (this makes an perfect argument to your W-2 delivered to you electronically).  If that turns out to be the case, then you can follow the these steps below from the IRS in case your W-2 is missing. And even if the W-2 is indeed lost, you still have to file your return.

So here what you can do:

1. Contact your employer If you have not received your W-2, contact your employer to inquire if and when the W-2 was mailed. If it was mailed, it may have been returned to the employer because of an incorrect or incomplete address. After contacting the employer, allow a reasonable amount of time for them to resend or to issue the W-2.

2. Contact the IRS If you do not receive your W-2 by February 16th, contact the IRS for assistance at 800-829-1040. When you call, you must provide your name, address, city and state, including zip code, Social Security number, phone number and have the following information:

• Employer’s name, address, city and state, including zip code and phone number
• Dates of employment
• An estimate of the wages you earned, the federal income tax withheld, and when you worked for that employer during 2009. The estimate should be based on year-to-date information from your final pay stub or leave-and-earnings statement, if possible.

3. File your return You still must file your tax return or request an extension to file by April 18, 2011, which is the deadline to file your 2010 federal income tax returns this year, even if you do not receive your Form W-2. If you have not received your Form W-2 by April 18th, and have completed steps 1 and 2, you may use Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement. Attach Form 4852 to the return, estimating income and withholding taxes as accurately as possible. There may be a delay in any refund due while the information is verified.

4. File a Form 1040X On occasion, you may receive your missing W-2 after you filed your return using Form 4852, and the information may be different from what you reported on your return. If this happens, you must amend your return by filing a Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. Form 4852, Form 1040X, and instructions are available on the IRS Web site or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

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By now, you should have received your W-2s and started to prepare to file your 2010 tax returns. If you have recently changed your name due to marriage or divorce, then there are some extra steps you need to take in order to ensure that the name on your tax return matches the name registered with the Social Security Administration (SSA). If the names on your return and the name on SSA’s record do not match, it could result in a delay in getting your refund.

The IRA has a simple procedure to make sure that you have taken all necessary steps to correctly register your name before filing your returns.

1. If you took your spouse’s last name or if both spouses hyphenate their last names, you may run into complications if you don’t notify the SSA. When newlyweds file a tax return using their new last names, IRS computers can’t match the new name with their Social Security Number.
2. If you were recently divorced and changed back to your previous last name, you’ll also need to notify the SSA of this name change.
3. Informing the SSA of a name change is easy; you’ll just need to file a Form SS-5, Application for a Social Security Card at your local SSA office and provide a recently issued document as proof of your legal name change.
4. Form SS-5 is available on Social Security Administration’s website or by calling 800-772-1213 or at local offices. Your new card will have the same number as your previous card, but will show your new name.
5. If you adopted your spouse’s children after getting married, you’ll want to make sure the children have an SSN. Taxpayers must provide an SSN for each dependent claimed on a tax return. For adopted children without SSNs, the parents can apply for an Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number – or ATIN – by filing Form W-7A, Application for Taxpayer Identification Number for Pending U.S. Adoptions with the IRS. The ATIN is a temporary number used in place of an SSN on the tax return. Form W-7A is available on the IRS website

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