4 things to do while preparing your taxes

Tax preparation is one of the most challenging tasks every civilian has to go through. We often neglect the importance of maintaining our papers in order since it allows us more time to prepare our taxes, which otherwise is wasted in sorting out important documents. So, if you wish to make tax preparation a painless endeavor, here are some amazing tips and advice for you to adhere to since they would help regulate the entire process of preparing taxes.

• File as soon as possible
  One of the best tax tips and advice you would ever receive would be to file your tax returns as soon as possible. The reason is that the sooner you file your returns, the faster your refunds will be processed. If you file your tax returns at the right time, it would give you more time to deal with other issues that might come up. In addition to this, if you file your returns right away, it would become difficult for fraudulent entities to file false claims under your name.
• Increase your retirement contributions
  It is common knowledge that every employer offers a 401(k) or other pension plans to their employees. If this is the case, you should try to contribute the maximum amount allowed by these policies if the employer matches your contribution. Contributing the maximum amount allowed ensures that the money which would have otherwise been deducted as the tax would become useful as a part of your retirement plan. If your employer doesn’t offer a retirement plan, you can contribute to the traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or a Roth IRA, whichever you consider beneficial. This is one of the most followed tax tip and advice.
• Adjust your withholding
  It is important for you to adjust your withholding. As per the new law, the IRS has to hold all the refunds on the returns till February 15. It is done with the intention of detecting and preventing tax frauds. So, you will have to check your year-to-date withholding and re-consider changing the taxes that you have withheld in case you are expecting a large refund. This process has to be undertaken if you have decided to claim the earned income tax or EITC. So, to adjust the amount of tax withheld, fill up the form W-4 and submit it to your employer.
• File to receive your income tax credit
  As per the IRS records, one out of every five workers does not claim the valuable income tax credit that they have earned. It is imperative that you seek the income tax credit since it is your money which you would be claiming. So, to receive this income tax credit, ensure that you file a return for the same.