Here’s a way to make good on that New Year’s resolution to save money with a little help from the IRS. This year the IRS is offering to split your refund among two or three checking or savings accounts when you use direct deposit.

If you are due a refund, simply file IRS’ Form 8888, Direct Deposit of Refund to More Than One Account, to divide your refund among two or three different accounts. You can specify how much of the refund you want sent to each account. The amount sent to any one account must be at least $1.

If you are filing a joint return, the IRS will deposit it to a joint account or one held in either filer’s name but check with your bank to make sure they will accept a joint refund deposit to an individual account.

You can still elect to have your refund deposited to a single account by filling out the direct deposit lines on your form 1040 or 1040a. You need file a separate form 8888 if you wish to split the deposit among two or three accounts.

So why not earmark part of your refund for your savings account this year? It might be a great boost to start saving in 2007.

For more information on splitting your direct deposit refund see the FAQ page at the IRS website.

The IRS estimates that 25% of taxpayers who are eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit fail to claim it. The EITC was created in 1975 to offset the burden of Social Security taxes and to serve as a work incentive. The amount of the credit varies but it is generally determined by income and family size.

A taxpayer may be able to take the credit for tax year 2006 if the taxpayer:

* has more than one qualifying child and earns less than $36,348 ($38,348 if married filing jointly),

* has one qualifying child and earns less than $32,001 ($34,001 if married filing jointly), or

* does not have a qualifying child and earns less than $12,120 ($14,120 if married filing jointly).

To help taxpayers and tax preparers to determine eligibility for the EITC, the IRS has an interactive tool, the EITC Assistant. Basically if the EITC exceeds the amount of taxes owed, then a refund is due. You may be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit even if you didn’t earn enough income to be required to file a return. But if you do qualify, you will have to file to receive your refund.

Early returns received by the IRS indicate many taxpayers are making mistakes when requesting the telephone tax refund. The telephone tax was institued in 1898 as a “luxury tax” but was recently ruled to be unconstitutional. Taxpayers are entitled to a refund equalling three years of actual Telephone Excise Tax paid or may claim the standard amount on the IRS forms.

Early mistakes found on a sample of 2006 returns filed during January include:

* Filling out the Form 1040EZ-T, Request for Refund of Federal Telephone Excise Tax, incorrectly by failing to show a refund amount on Line 1a. Designed exclusively for requesting the telephone-tax refund, this simple form is for people who don’t need to file a regular income-tax return. Filing an incomplete form typically delays a refund and often leads to follow-up correspondence with the IRS. More than 10 million low-income people, many of them senior citizens, are expected to file this form.

* Failing to request the telephone tax refund on a regular federal income-tax return in situations where the taxpayer appears to qualify. More than one-third of early filers did not request the telephone tax refund. This includes filers on Forms 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ, 1040NR and 1040NR-EZ. About 136 million individuals and couples are expected to file one of these forms, and most will, likely, qualify for the telephone-tax refund. Anyone who files one of these forms cannot file Form 1040EZ-T.

* Filing duplicate requests. Usually, this involves filing both Form 1040EZ-T and a regular income-tax return. Anyone who files a regular return cannot file Form 1040EZ-T. Doing so will delay any refund for months and result in a phone call or letter from the IRS.

* Requesting a refund that appears to be based on the entire amount of the taxpayer’s phone bills, rather than just the three-percent tax on long-distance and bundled service.

* Requesting a refund in the thousands of dollars, suggesting that the taxpayer paid more for telephone service than they received in income.

The IRS is investigating potential abuses among early filers who requested large and apparently improper amounts for the telephone tax refund. They will take prompt action against taxpayers who request improper refund amounts and the return preparers who help them.

For help in filing for the telephone tax refund, see the IRS website.

It’s tax season and a new crop of scammers are “phishing” across the internet. Many scams involve the scammer posing as representatives of the IRS. These scams have a higher success rate than some others. Not everyone receiving a scam email will have a Paypal or Ebay account nor do they bank at a particular financial institution. But everyone pays taxes (with a few exceptions).

Last year’s tax scam is still going strong. The taxpayer receives an email alerting him to a tax refund he is owed and directed to a site where he is asked to input personal information. The scammer then has what he was phishing for.

This year taxpayers are receiving emails stating that the recipient has been selected for an “e-audit”. Again, the purpose of the email is identity theft. The IRS states it does not conduct audits online and has no such program.

The IRS wants taxpayers to know that the IRS does not use e-mail to initiate contact with taxpayers about issues related to their accounts.

These scams are for the sole purpose of collecting sensitive personal identification about the recipient and often ask for social security numbers and credit card numbers. If you receive an email that purports to be from the IRS or if you have any questions regarding contact from the IRS, call 1-800-829-1040 to confirm it.