Last minute tax filing tips for concerned consumers

With slightly more than a month remaining before the federal income tax filing deadline that so many consumers worry about, many are scrambling to make sure they have all their documents in order ahead of that final push to get things done. However, at this time it’s also important to note that there are certainly right and wrong ways to go about the process when it gets down to crunch time.

Perhaps chief among these is that taxpayers will have to be able to budget their filing time wisely, according to a report from Bloomberg Businessweek. While it can be tempting to squeeze every dollar out of a specific deduction for which one qualifies, trying to find a larger and therefore more beneficial one instead of fidgeting with a few decimals here or there might be a better use of the hours left available. Moreover, it’s very important for consumers to make sure they know that what they’re trying to claim is actually available to them; after all, many tax breaks expire every year, and one that a person has counted on for years in the past simply might not exist any more
                                                                                                                                                                   

“Do some homework, so you know what is deductible and what is not,” Wenli Wang, a partner at Moss Adams in San Francisco, told the news agency. “When you understand what is relevant to your tax prep, you’ll have a game plan.”

Make sure things are easy

One of the biggest causes of issues related to tax filings coming back to many Americans with errors – even those that can trigger an audit – is that there are simple errors made as a result of people filling out their forms by hand, rather than using a computer program to do it for them, the report said. Relying on software to file is often the best idea for those who are filing as quickly as possible, especially because such hurry could end up resulting in a failure to carry a one, or another simple error.

In addition, it’s usually a good idea to bring all documents to a tax professional before filing, as this may help to further reduce the likelihood of errors, or even uncover additional deductions that may have been missed on the first pass.