Seward Location: 402-643-4557 | Osceola Location: 402-747-3381 ryan@gbecpa.com

If we could give one piece of advice to our clients before heading into tax season it would be – REVIEW YOUR TAX ORGANIZER IN DETAIL.

Organizers have been previously mailed and emailed. By using the organizer (or by using last year’s tax return) you can identify most of the documents we’ll need to prepare your taxes this year.

Problem Areas

  • Student loan interest. Most lenders no longer mail this document to you. Instead, they make you login online to find the 1098-E document that we need in order to complete your taxes.
  • Tuition and books. If someone in your family is taking college credit classes at a post-secondary institution there is a 1098-T issued for their tuition expenses. We must see a copy of the 1098-T this year in order to calculate your college tax deductions. Don’t forget to add up those expensive books purchased during the year (our clients’ most frequent missing item of last tax season!).
  • Charitable donations. If you donate to multiple causes it may be best to tally all of your donations for the year so your accountant doesn’t spend extra time adding up a shoebox of receipts.
  • Car taxes. This itemized deduction is often forgot. In Nebraska, these taxes are found on your vehicle registration ‘pink sheet’ under MTR VEH TAX or Motor Vehicle Tax.
  • Real estate taxes. NEW THIS YEAR: As part of 2017 year-end tax planning several of you paid real estate taxes ahead of December 31st. This will not show up on your Form 1098 or escrow statement. Remember to tell your GBE advisor about this payment…or the deduction may be lost forever.

Try Your Best the First Time
Not having all documents to us the first time can increase your accounting fee. Plan ahead, review the organizer, and identify all of those documents necessary at tax time.

Thanks for your business! We’ll see you soon.