Common Tax Filing Mistakes you Might Want to Avoid

So you are finally ready to do your taxes.

 

You've been preparing yourself for quite some time because you know how important it is to do it right. And you're done! After hours of doing it, the misery is over!

You send it to the IRS thinking that everything was done properly. Unfortunately, after a few weeks, you receive a notice telling you that you did something wrong. How is that even possible, you probably ask yourself?!

Sadly, making mistakes during this process is not uncommon, however, it can cost you some money, which is why you have to be extra careful and diligent. So, if you want to avoid them next time, make sure to carefully read these tips

Top Tax Filing Mistakes

• You Mess Up The Basics

Ensure that your name and the name of your dependents are written correctly, and also that Social Security numbers are written properly. Choose the right filing status for your current situation.

For instance, if you are not married, you should file as a single person, however, in this case, you could also qualify for better rates and other items as well if you meet the demands for being a head of your household or a qualifying widow(er) with a dependent kid.

Furthermore, married couples may give less money for taxes, under the right circumstances, only if they file their taxes separately and not jointly.

• You Blow The Math

A lot of people get used to utilizing pen and paper. Well, it's time to put them away for a while. Instead, tax professionals at keepertax.com suggest employing e-filing. What's so beneficial about it? It is much faster, efficient, easier, and secure than doing this through snail mail, plus, you'll get to avoid those extremely long lines at the post office. Another great thing about this method is that you can easily remove mistakes such as "not doing the math properly, or not comprehending how to enforce a tax table". More importantly, these types of applications are going to spot any errors you've made during this process and will correct them! Furthermore, the IRS offers free-of-charge programs to people who are earning less than 58,000 US dollars, as well as free-of-charge fillable tax forms for people who earn more money.

Moreover, you can come across companies like TurboTax and H&R Block that also provide users with free returns online. All in all, if none of these positive traits that we've mentioned convinced you that e-filing is better, then feel free to do it the old-fashioned way. Just be careful!

Keep An Eye On These Mistakes Too!

So You Will Receive A Refund...Right?

Doing things thoroughly is of huge importance, hence, you should check multiple times your bank account info, if you are demanding from the IRS to deposit your refund. Frequently, you are going to enter your bank info at the bottom of Form 1040.

Now, if you want to direct your repayment into three accounts then you should file IRS Form 8888 along with your tax return. Generally speaking, this form is really easy to fill, but it just provides you with three opportunities to make a mistake, because that's what people often do.

Further, you must enter your banks' routing numbers, as well as the account number on this form. You should read these numbers aloud in front of your partner, or anybody else you trust, after you have added them on the form to ensure everything was done right.

So, what happens if you make a mistake? Well, in that case, you could lose your repayment. Yes, that sounds a bit harsh, but that's just the way things work. The best-case scenario is that your bank doesn't have an account with the faulty number you added, so it is just going to send your cashback to the IRS.

Now, this means that you will have to wait for a while, however, at some point, you will receive your money. Otherwise, if your repayment is deposited into somebody else's account, then you will have to rely on the honesty and morals of that stranger. 

Viz, that person might take your cash and spend it without letting the bank know that there's been a mistake. If that occurs, the IRS is not going to issue a new repayment, that's why you have to be extremely careful.

To think that we've just named a couple of mistakes that people usually make. There are so many of them, therefore, you should always be focused to the maximum when you're filing your taxes to avoid any further complications.