Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Tax Tips

Tax Saving
  • Does your withholding amount need to be adjusted? Use the Withholding Calculator at http://www.irs.gov/
  • Are you entitled to education or child care deductions?
  • Have you opened an IRA to save on taxed today and build for the future at the same time?
  • Are you a volunteer-PTA? Little League? Church? Record and deduct charitable mileage: you may be surprised at the miles you’ve chalked up.

Time Saving

  • Have one place to keep W-2’s, mortgage and interest statements and other tax-related forms as they arrive.
  • Use an electronic checkbook throughout the year. At tax time, reports in every category are at your fingertips.
  • Use tax preparation software. This step-by-step process catches almost every deduction or credit and does the calculating for you-error-free!
  • File early for a fast refund. E-file with direct deposit for a faster refund.
  • Take a minute today, save hours at tax time As you prepare your income tax return this year, get organized for future years. Are your files in disarray? Take a few minutes today and establish one spot to keep all tax deductable and tax reporting items. Label separate envelopes or folders to hold receipts for each category or account.
  • Are you required to track mileage or other expenses? Take a few minutes each month to add them up, and you will be less likely to overlook an important deduction. Having a dozen monthly subtotals will save hours of year-end calculating.