- Submit your question: What do you need to know about filing your taxes in 2023?
It may be hard to hear, but: Tax season is here again.
That means it's time to get the income forms ready, and try to catch up with all the changes at the federal and state levels before the April 18 deadline.
But for those of us juggling jobs, family responsibilities, school or health issues, preparing to file and knowing what exemptions and credits you qualify for is not easy — especially without the help of a professional tax filer.
Hiring a tax filer can be out of reach for many who are already struggling with the cost of living in the Bay Area. However, there's a large network of community tax clinics who will help you file for free if you make below certain income limits.
In previous years, KQED has worked with these sites to understand what questions they are hearing from community members. And this year, we want to expand this conversation to include you: our audiences.
Tell us: What questions do you have about filing this year? And what changes are you most confused about?
Some of the tax filing changes to look out for this year
If you claim the child tax credit ...
Back in 2021, the American Rescue Plan increased the child tax credit from $2,000 to $3,600 for qualifying children under 6, and $3,000 for other children under 18. However, this enhanced tax credit has ended and the credit has returned to $2,000 per child. Additionally, the age eligibility was brought down from under 18 to under 17.
If you were affected by the winter storms and floods ...
The IRS has pushed back the filing deadline to May 15 for those whose homes or businesses were affected by the winter storms and floods in any of the nine Bay Area counties. The IRS has also included 32 other California counties in the extension list.
If you received a tax refund or stimulus payment from the state in the last year ...
On Feb. 3, the IRS released a statement saying they are working with state officials across the country to decide how state-level tax refunds and stimulus payments (which would include California's middle class tax refund, also known as the "inflation relief check") should be filed. However, a week later, the IRS released a second statement clarifying that taxpayers in several states, including California, will not need to report these payments on their 2022 tax returns.
Submit your question about filing your taxes in 2023
We'll be collecting questions from audience members and sharing them with community tax aid clinics, so we can make their expert insight more widely available to you, our audiences. Share your question with us in the Google Form below. You may also see your question featured — and answered — on KQED.org, KQED Public Radio or our social media. You can stay anonymous if you want to.
Remember: Neither KQED nor the tax aid groups we're speaking to are able to give specialized advice to individuals — so we ask that you don't go into deep specifics about your personal situation in your question. Additionally, we want to prioritize the information needs of residents and families who have limited access to expert tax help due to limited time or financial resources.