Tax Tips

Few people actually enjoy doing their taxes, but that doesn't mean they need to be a chore. As long as you give yourself a little time to prepare and use all the free, online resources available to you, filing your taxes can be a relatively simple exercise. This page contains several Tax Tips covering the preparation and filing of your state and federal income tax returns.
For a complete walkthrough of the glorious tax-filing process, please visit our page on How to Do Your Taxes or How to Do Your Taxes Online.
Disclaimer

The content of this page is intended for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional financial advice.
Contact the IRS or a professional financial advisor for the most up-to-date and complete information regarding state and federal tax law.

Tips for Doing Your Taxes
- Understand the basic premise behind your tax return. Don't be intimidated by the idea of doing your taxes. You are essentially accounting for how much money you made in a year and subtracting any allowable deductions from that amount. The tax you owe is based on the resultant number. If you already had taxes withheld from your paycheck, you may not owe the government anything at all. They may owe you.
- File electronically. Filing electronically comes with numerous benefits, including increased accuracy when your return is processed and increased efficiency in the filing process efficiency of your return. Your state and federal returns will also be filed simultaneously, and online services like TurboTax are available to walk you through the whole process in plain English.
- Use tax assistance programs. Qualified individuals can receive free tax preparation assistance from the AARP's Tax-Aide program and the IRS' own Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Consult each organization's website to find out if you qualify.
- Organize your tax records before you begin. Before you sit down with an accountant, sign-up for TurboTax or put pencil to paper, you should pull together all the documents you're going to need to fill out your return.
- *Consult MSN Money's What You Really Need to Do Your Taxes for a complete list of all the paperwork you'll need to complete your tax return.
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Tax Tips Questions
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- Use the IRS website to figure out your filing status and which forms you're going to need. Despite their reputation for being needlessly bureaucratic and confusing, the IRS maintains an especially useful website. The site can help you figure out your filing status and download every form you might possibly need.
- Account for all of your income. You've added up your W-2s and 1099s, but don't forget tips, gambling winnings, jury duty pay, alimony received, fellowships and all the other different forms of income that must be accounted for on your tax return. See Tax Topic 400: Types of Income for additional information.
- Don't forget the most common tax credits. A tax credit is an adjustment you're allowed to make to your gross income whether you're itemizing your deductions or not. The most common tax credits include those for taking care of children under the age of 17, adopting a child and making energy savings to your home.
- *Check out Yahoo! Personal Finance's list of the most Common Tax Credits for more information.
  Work from home? Consider itemizing. (Creative Commons photo by Fernanda Mancini)
- Figure out whether you should itemize. The IRS lets everyone take a "standard" deduction from their yearly income to arrive at their "taxable income." Your tax is calculated on the basis of your "taxable income" so it stands to reason that you want to take as large a deduction as possible so that your "taxable income" and resultant "tax" is a smaller, rather than larger, figure. Sometimes, itemizing your deductions will allow you to subtract a larger amount from your yearly income than just taking the standard deduction would. What can you write-off as an itemized deduction? All kinds of things from education and business-related expenditures to medical costs.
- *To figure out whether your standard or itemized deduction would be larger, consult an online calculator like TurboTax's Deduction Finder.
- Deduct charitable contributions. If you are itemizing your deductions, you can deduct charitable contributions from your tax bill. Your gift must meet certain criteria to be tax-deductible including its amount and the type of organization it was made to. You must have a written acknowledgment of the contribution from the organization to claim the deduction. Consult IRS Publication 526: Charitable Contributions for additional information, and fill out IRS Form Section A to claim the donation as a deduction.
- Deduct home office expenses. If you are self-employed, you might consider deducting your home office expenses. In order to claim these expenses, your business must meet an especially rigid set of criteria set out by the IRS. Consult IRS Publication 587: Business Use of Your Home for additional information. IRS Form 8829: Expenses for Business Use of Your Home to account for your home office use and expenses.
- Triple check your return. Even if you've prepared your return online, you should print it out and read through it carefully. You want your form to be complete and accurate cause nobody likes hearing from the IRS a few months later. If you are mailing in your return, don't forget to sign it.
- Have your refund sent via Direct Deposit. If you are owed a refund, consider using Direct Deposit. By giving the IRS your bank routing and account number, your refund will be quickly and safely deposited into your checking or savings account. Why wait for a paper check if you don't have to?
- Get an extension. If you can't file your return by April 15th, get an extension. By filing IRS Form 4868, you are automatically granted a six month extension. You don't even have to tell them why you need it. Just file the form on time. Keep in mind, however, that this is an extension of time to file your return, not an extension of time to pay your taxes.
- Request an installment plan. If you owe more taxes than you can afford to pay, don't panic. Apply for an installment plan. You qualify for this plan if you don't owe more than $25,000 and are able to pay off your bill within five years. To apply for an Installment Agreement Request, you must fill out and submit Form 9465.
- Avoid an audit. There's no way to guarantee that you won't be audited as a certain number of returns are chosen every year at random for the honor. However, you can avoid raising any red flags and be sure that any audit you are subjected to goes smoothly by not rushing when you do your return, staying honest, keeping good records and asking for help when you need it.
- Plan for next year. Get a jump on next year's taxes by filing your receipts in envelopes marked with the types of deductions people usually take—business meals, business travel, medical, etc. Consult MSN Money's "Putting the Envelope System to Work" article for more organizational tips.
- For more information, please see Mahalo's Guide to How to Do Your Taxes.
IRS Forms