The most important piece of advice you should remember before tax season is review your tax organizer in detail. By using an organizer, or by using last year’s tax return, you can identify most of the tax documents we’ll need to prepare your taxes.
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. Don’t forget to add up those expensive books purchased during the year. This was our clients’ most frequently missed 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 is a nice itemized deduction that is often forgot. In Nebraska, these taxes are found on your vehicle registration ‘pink sheet.’
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.