Breeze Through Your Taxes Through Preparation And TaxACT

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Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This post is part of the TaxACT #BeatTheDeadline blog tour which shares tips on how to make tax time a smooth and easy process before the April 15 deadline. TaxACT provides the tools and guidance to help you confidently file taxes easy and fast. Do your own taxes today at TaxACT. You got this.

When you think about doing your taxes, what picture immediately forms in your head? Is it one of sitting in front of the computer answering questions displayed on the screen by tax preparation software? Or maybe one of an appointment with an accountant?

I’ve noticed something the last few years about the act of doing my taxes. There are several aspects of completing a tax return, but for me, by far the most time consuming part of the process is gathering all the information and documentation needed.

Employers are required to make your W2 available by January 31st. However there are some other very important pieces of information that you need to do your taxes that may take a bit more effort to find. Here are three of those documents:

Charitable Contributions Statements

For years, my church would prepare a charitable contributions statement and put it in our member mailbox. For some reason, they stopped doing that. The last few years I’ve had to call them or stop by their office to request one. Charitable contributions are a great tax deduction, so make sure you have all your statements or receipts before starting your return.

Personal Property Tax Information

In many states personal property tax, or vehicle license fees, are at least partially tax deductible. The proof of payment for my vehicle license fees are in my glove box, as I may need to display them if I got pulled over. I normally make a photo copy of them to have for when I do my tax preparation. However, even more important is verifying how much of my license fees can be used as a deduction. My state allows only part of the fee to be deducted, and since I can never remember the breakdown, I have to check my state’s website to remind myself of that info.

Property Tax Statement

If you own a home, you pay property taxes. My mortgage holder collects money out of each of my payments and puts it in an escrow account to make my bi-annual payments. Because I do not have to think about the payments, the statement I get from the county ends up at the bottom of a kitchen drawer. Tax time means it’s time to dig it up, and dust it off.

By being proactive and gathering everything you need before starting in on that return, you can make the act of preparing your taxes much easier.

Beating the tax deadline doesn’t have to be stressful. With TaxACT, everything you need to confidently prepare and e-file your taxes is right at your fingertips. You got this. File your simple or complex federal return FREE today with TaxACT Free Edition.

About Travis

2 Responses to “Breeze Through Your Taxes Through Preparation And TaxACT”

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  1. My charitable contributions are typically in the form of clothes and items I donate. I always have trouble estimating their worth though.

    • Travis says:

      Yeah, I know what you mean, Stefanie. I know there are websites that can help with estimation of things……but I’m sure many people (like me), just wave it off and forget about it. I need to get better at that!

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