Tax Tips and Write-offs

The following is a guest article from Natalie Knows It...

Responsible people have already done their taxes, but us procrastinators haven’t! 

Tips for homeowners

– A friend of mine just moved back east and bought a new home.  It had been a while since her last home purchase and she had completely forgotten that she could write off most of her closing costs!

– Remember to keep all major home improvements receipts.  Years ago I never used the receipts with my annual taxes because it was my primary residence (if it’s a rental property you can write off the expenses for repairs and upgrades annually) but because I had them and my property appreciated, I was able to use all receipts to reduce my capital gains tax.  It helped a lot, as at the time of sale, it was a rental property.   One never knows what will happen, so save those receipts well after the 7-year “throw away” time when it comes to upgrades on your properties.

Volunteer much?

– Do you volunteer? Just a reminder to those parents who volunteer regularly that you can write-off any expenses involved in volunteering and all travel mileage.

Tips for the dreaded accountant appointment

When we go to our accountant, we are there for several hours so I feed the children right before we go in (fast food – gotta cave sometimes) and at least 2 movies.  I bring either a laptop or a portable DVD player.  Now that my children are older and have different interests in movies, I might bring one for each and bring headsets so the sound doesn’t bother anyone.  I also bring a picnic blanket and have them lay out on the floor next to us.

We dropped our stuff off yesterday with the accountant.  We pray for a REFUND!

Additional Tax Resources:

• Filing online is faster. Here are reviews of the top online tax sites.
• The most common tax forms needed are the 1040 and the 1040EZ. You can also find other forms and publications here.