Monday, May 17th may feel far away now, but getting started early will only help you to be extra prepared and feel extra confident about your taxes. That can make doing your taxes that much more enjoyable! (Taxes and enjoyable in the same sentence, whaaat?!?!) Here are five tax tips to help you get started:
Get organized. Here are all the tax documents you should save to complete your tax return.
Keep all the information that comes in the mail in January, such as W-2s, 1099s and mortgage interest statements. Be careful not to throw out any tax-related documents, even if they don’t look very important.
You still have time to contribute to retirement accounts. If you haven’t already funded your retirement account for the previous year, you can still do so by Tax Day this year. That’s the deadline for contributions to a traditional IRA, deductible or not, and to a Roth IRA.
Consider hiring a tax pro. If your finances are relatively straightforward and simple, a tax preparation software may be a good option. However if your situation is more complicated, it may be best to leave it to the experts.
Throw a tax party! Get your best friends together, byo laptop and tax forms, and get your taxes done together. Make sure to keep the snacks filled and the drinks flowing. Hot tip: serve these invest-mint blackberry juleps. Woo!
Keep calm and tax on. Fun Good Capital fact: Gideon Volunteers as a tax preparer in NYC with New York Cares.
*All opinions expressed are from the personal experience and research of the author and intended as educational material, not legal, tax, or investment advice. Although best efforts are made to ensure that all information is up to date and accurate, occasionally unintended errors or misprints may occur.