Buckle up, ladies and gents, we’re just days away from one of the most aggravating days of the year for many people - tax day! Doing your taxes can be one of the most frustrating and confusing things you do in any given year, and boy, if you don’t get it right you could have some massive headaches! So…we wanted to provide a few tips for how to nail ‘em and keep the tax man away.
Here are Five Fast Tips on nailing your taxes:
- 🔍 The Lay Of The Land - For most folks, it takes about nine hours to do taxes, so don’t wait until 11pm on April 14th to get started! The most common mistakes are forgetting to report interest (YOU CHEATER, says the government) or just making simple math mistakes…because math is hard. While there is no way to 100% guarantee your taxes will be correct, there are things you can do to improve your odds of not messing them up.
- 👍 Must Haves - The first thing you need to be sure you have is all of your income. This includes W2s and all the various 1099 forms that you might need depending on the kind of income you have. The IRS has these things on file, so it’s not like they won’t know if you don’t provide them. And nothing makes the IRS more twitchy than thinking you’re trying to cheat them out of tax dollars.
- 🤏 Deduct Wisely - Another big problem is inflated deductions to make your income look smaller. The trick here is that the IRS doesn’t publish its thresholds so it’s a bit of guesswork. Do your best Goldilocks imitation here.
- 👋 Get In Front Of It - If you do find a problem or mistake, it’s always best to bring it up yourself. In most cases, you can simply file a superseded return, which calls out the needed change(s) before the IRS catches them. You usually avoid penalties or other hassles that way. If the IRS finds the problem, though, they may assume you’re being shady and decide to make your life miserable about it.
- 😣 Busted - If the IRS finds something that doesn’t add up in your taxes, they may graciously and kindly just send you a corrected return with the new amount you need to pay. Or, they could pick one or more specific issues that they want you to address through answering questions, providing more documentation, or clarifying some details. In the worst case scenario, they’ll slap you with the financial enema known as an audit. This means they can request (i.e. demand) you provide any and every piece of information or documentation they think they need to nail you…I mean, get to the root of the issue. Fail to comply, and you could face penalties, fines, or even jail time.
🔥Bottom line: Taxes aren’t for the faint of heart! But since you cannot avoid them, you’ve gotta find some way to do them correctly. Whether you take this on yourself or get the help of a tax professional, make sure you pay attention to detail, get things done ahead of time, and do your best to be complete and accurate. Hopefully they won’t find any reason to come after you!
What’s your best tax return advice?
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