Top Tax-Time Tips!

03 January 2012 / Uncategorized / Comments Off on Top Tax-Time Tips!

Top Tax-Time Tips!

The income tax filing season has begun and important tax documents should be arriving in your mailbox soon. Even though your entity return is not due until March and your personal return is not due until April, you can make tax time easier on yourself with an early start. Here are Widget’s top tips to ensure a smooth tax-filing process.

1. Gather your records - Round up any documents you’ll need when filing your taxes: receipts, canceled checks and other documents that support income or deductions you’re claiming on your return.  Be on the lookout for W-2s, 1099s, 1098s and broker statements as they will be coming soon; you’ll need these to file your tax return.

2. If you have numerous stock transactions, give your broker a call and get a “gain/loss” schedule that reports the purchase date and cost basis for each of your stock transactions.  Even better – get this schedule electronically!

3. Ask your tax professional to E-file your return. E-file is the safe, easy and most common way to file a tax return. Last year, 79% of taxpayers - 106 million people – E-filed their returns.  Why? Many reasons – Less chance of an keypunch or math error, which will generate an annoying and costly notice, IRS confirmation of your return being received is received within 24 hours and IRS issues refunds to 98 percent of electronic filers by direct deposit within 14 days (most report less than one week).

4. Check out IRS Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax, on the IRS website. It’s a comprehensive resource for taxpayers, highlighting everything you’ll need to know when filing your return.

5. Hire a CPA to prepare your return.  We agree that the tax code should be simple enough for you to file your own return, however, that is simply not the case.  Every time Congress "simplifies" the tax code, it gets larger and more complex.  It is impossible to know that you are getting all the deductions and credits that you are entitled to without having some professional assistance.  In almost all but the simplest returns, the savings attained by using a CPA pays for the cost to prepare the return several times over and without all of the aggrevation!

If we can be of service to you during this tax season, please don't hesitate to call us.

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