The 2020 tax season is in the books, but looking ahead to next year, with more programs and technological advances out there than ever before, doing your own taxes—depending on the complexity of your finances—could be easier than ever before. If you’re used to shelling out a couple hundred bucks to a tax professional to help you file, read on to see how you might be able to cut that expense to a small amount or even get your taxes done for free.
Carthage Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing has five tips for self-preparing your taxes for 2021 and beyond.
- Pick Your Virtual Tax Expert
In recent years, the IRS reports that close to 90 percent of tax returns are prepared and filed electronically now. There are a number of programs—whether it be software or apps—to prepare and file your returns. Some, such as Turbo Tax software, can run you around $50; you can get Credit Karma for free, but you’ll have to watch some ads and deal with some offers sent to your email. But no matter which program you choose, the calculations are accurate, you can get a degree of audit support, and your refund will be processed faster.
- Go Through Your Files
If not much changes year-by-year, check the documents you turned in to your tax professional for 2020 and make a checklist to gather those for next year to make sure that you’re ready to go once you’ve compiled all of those documents, ranging from a W-2, 1099, Social Security, and retirement account information.
- Know What Changes Were Made
Most programs will walk you through changes that have been made to tax law, but you may want to do a quick Google search before you prepare to file to see if you need anything else to file.
- Stimulus Not Included as Income
Just like the stimulus packages you received in 2020, the one from early 2021 acts as a tax credit that was given to you in advance, so you don’t have to do anything regarding the stimulus payment.
- More Help Is Available
The programs will do all key calculations for you, and it will even alert you if it believes you may have inputted a number incorrectly. But if you’re stuck, these programs come with customer support and they can even connect you to a tax professional, but there may be a fee associated with that.
To learn more about Carthage Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing and all of the services they offer, visit http://carthage-center.facilities.centershealthcare.org/.
