11/05/2019
9 costly mistakes when filing your tax return – by Peter A. Christian, CPA
Here I will go over some of the common tax time mistakes and how you can correct them.
1) Paying for tax preparation services when you can file for free. Companies such as H&R Block, Turbo Tax and TaxAct offer free tax software. Volunteer Income Tax Assistance is available for free tax preparation by trained volunteers. Free File is a service offered by the IRS to file your taxes for free. Just be careful with the free filing because there are income limitations and whichever choice you wind up using might not turn out to be free!
2) Putting down wrong social security numbers. Trust me, when this happens, it usually means an immediate IRS audit. So be careful when you put down your and your dependents (and yes, each dependent must have one) social security numbers.
3) Spelling your name wrong. When it comes to IRS audits, this is probably the second way to get the IRS to come knocking. Make sure the name on your return matches the name as shown on your social security card.
4) Making math errors. Double check your math, and then check it again. Needless to say, if you use a tax program, the program does the math for you.
5) Forgetting your signature. You can forget to sign your return, or if you owe money to the IRS, you can forget to sign your check. Either way, if you do this, it could mean significant delays to the IRS processing your return.
6) Selecting the wrong filing status. This is mainly for single parents. Take note, if you are an unmarried parent, who provides more than 50% of the costs of a home might be able to file as Head of Household. In addition, widows and widowers can still use “married filing jointly (MFJ)” status for the year in which their spouse died. Also, if they have dependent children, they might be able to qualify as qualifying widow(er) for two more years, which confers on the recipient the same status as MFJ.
7) Missing deductions or credits. No one ever said that they want to pay more in income taxes than what they should. A tax professional will help you get all the benefits that you qualify for in order to lower your tax liability. Remember there is a difference between tax avoidance (legal) and tax evasion (illegal).
8) Failing to claim all of your income. You are supposed to claim all of the money that you earn during the year, like from side jobs and gambling winnings, not just the W-2 & 1099 income that you receive.
9) Sending your return through the mail. If you are able to file electronically, do it! If the post office loses your tax return, you will have to go though lots of hoops to refile it. Also, filing electronically will help with the other issues on this list.
