Make it easy on yourself and get the money you deserve.
1. If basically all your income is from a regular job that provides a W-2 form, you don't need to go to a tax preparer.
2. You can file your taxes easily with programs like TurboTax and TaxACT.
3. And these programs are (sometimes) free to use.
4. Still want someone to help with your taxes? See if there's a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site in your area.
5. If you're under 24, ask your parents if they're claiming you as a dependent.
6. If you're still in college, take advantage of opportunity credits that can give you a bigger return.
7. Even if you only made a small amount of money last year, it's worth filing your taxes.
8. Know the differences between a standard default deduction and itemized deductions.
9. If you do want to itemize deductions, have your receipts ready.
10. You can get a bigger refund if you've been paying down a student loan.
11. Having or not having health insurance can impact your return because of Obamacare.
There are 20,000 pages to the Affordable Care Act (better known as Obamacare), and trying to dig through them to figure out how having or not having health insurance affects your taxes would be ridiculous. Here's what you need to know:
1. If you could have gotten health insurance and didn't last year, you may have to pay a penalty of up to $95 for yourself or $285 or your family.
2. But, if you were uninsured for less than three consecutive months, you won't have to pay a penalty.
3. A tax penalty would be directly deducted from your refund or added to your tax bill.
4. If you don't have health insurance and need help paying for it, you can qualify for a premium tax credit and get a reduced bill for health insurance or cash back on your return.
Keep in mind, if you're under 26 years old and your parents have health insurance, you can still be covered by their policy. And you don't have to worry too much about knowing the details of the law, since programs like H&R Block and TurboTax include all of the changes and will calculate your taxes accordingly.
12. If you paid money to move for a job in the past year, you can deduct that from your taxes.
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Let's say you finished college, went home for a bit, and now you're finally moving somewhere to start your dream job. The silver lining of all the schlepping is that if you had to do it for work, you can deduct relocation expenses like flights, U-Haul trucks, gas for driving, storage units, and more. Of course, your new workplace has to be at least 50 miles from home and you had to have worked at least 39 weeks in the past year, but you can take pride in knowing that the move was worth it.
13. You can get your tax return faster with a direct deposit, or use some of it for savings bonds.
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It's always nice to see that big check when it comes time to receive your tax refund, but there are a number of ways to get your cash faster or more efficiently. You can have your tax return directly deposited into your bank account faster, or even purchase a United States Savings Bonds which gain interest, never lose their value, and are free from state, local, and some federal taxes.
14. You can also choose to receive some of your return as gift cards with bonuses, but it might not be the best idea.
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Services like H&R Block and TurboTax offer an extra 5% to 10% on gift cards to places like Amazon or Starbucks if you put some of your return toward them.
But think about it: This is your tax return, and maybe even the biggest amount of money you'll see in one check all year. I know getting free iced white chocolate mochas for the next year seems tempting, but you'll be better off in the long run putting that money toward something that matters, like a car or retirement.
15. Anxious to see your refund? Check its status online or with the IRS2Go App.
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When you're an adult, waiting for a big tax refund might as well be like waiting for Christmas morning. if you're getting anxious, you can check the status of your federal refund by going on the IRS's "Where's My Refund" service online, or downloading the the IRS2Go mobile app for iPhone or Android. A lot of states also offer the ability to track a state refund online, as you can check the rules for your own state by following the links here.
16. Beware of scammers claiming they're the IRS and requesting your tax information.
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Unfortunately, there are sad souls out there who will try and take advantage of the hectic tax season by scamming people. The IRS has posted a list of these scams on its website, with the most common ones being sketchy emails asking for your username and password or a phone call from a phony IRS agent who asks for immediate payments. Remember that the IRS will never call you about a bill or email you asking for a password, and you will be totally fine.
17. Rushing to do your taxes and need more time? You can ask for a free time extension.
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For some reason, our biggest responsibilities are the ones that tend to make us procrastinate the most. By all means, you should not procrastinate on your taxes, but if you run out of time for any reason, you can file for an federal tax extension by April 15 to make your new federal tax due date October 15. You can also file for a state tax extension, although each state has different rules for how to get more time. You can extend the time for your federal return by filling out a form from the IRS, or doing it through TurboTax.
18. Most of all: Be honest on your taxes and you'll be just fine.
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The worst thing that can happen when it comes to your taxes is if the IRS triggers an audit, which allows them to ask you questions about your expenses and potentially take away from a bigger return. The chances of this happening to you however are very, very slim, as the IRS only audited less than 1% of all tax returns last year.
Most of those audited are people making over $1,000,000 or those who greatly lie about their expenses, so if you're working a job or going to school as a twentysomething, you'll be fine. Keep your receipts close, be realistic when entering your expenses, and you'll more than likely to get a good amount of money back.