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Doing your own taxes is not quite as difficult as people imagine it to be. Still, every year millions of Americans opt to seek third-party tax filing services for themselves. They could easily save themselves a ton of money doing their taxes themselves. So could you. If you are wondering, “how hard could doing my taxes online be?” The answer is, not that hard, as long as you have the right tips and tricks to do it. Learn all about doing your taxes online and the tax filing tips you need to know to do it well in the post below.
Use The Right Tool
You want to be sure that you choose the best software to file taxes online. There are many types of IRS tax filing tools out there that allow you to file taxes online. However, some options are more reputable than others. Further, some tax filing software options are more expensive than others. The IRS Free File e-file service is your best option for doing your taxes online. It is entirely free. So if you want to file taxes online to save money, use the IRS e-file service for free.
Start Early
Start preparing your taxes early if you want to do it right. The more pressing the time constraints, the more likely you are to make mistakes. Rushing always leads to mistakes. You want to be able to take your time going through and preparing your own taxes, not to mention gathering all the paperwork you need to complete the tax filing process. You also want to have additional time to review your finished product long before the 1099 deadline. That way, you can ensure that any accidental errors are spotted and corrected before you file. Doing your taxes online is quick and easy, but you should still give yourself an early head start to avoid needless mistakes.
Deduct Charitable Donations
Be sure you take the additional time to claim deductions for your charitable donations. These charitable deductions are often not capitalized on by individuals filing their own taxes. This is a huge mistake however, especially if you are trying to maximize your tax return. You are allowed to claim monetary donations, as well as the market value of clothing and household items that you donate. If you want to get the biggest tax return possible, you want to claim every deduction possible. Do not forget to claim any charitable donations that add up to at least $250. This is a hot tax filing tip to take advantage of.
Have Last Year’s Returns On Hand
When filing my taxes online for free, I always make sure to have last year’s tax returns on hand too. You should do the same. This makes it much easier to file your own taxes. A lot of the information contained within last year’s tax filing documentation will remain the same for this year’s tax return. Some things may change, like your W-4 allowances. But, you will be able to easily input information into your tax filing documents if you already have all that same information on hand. Use this tip to make it even easier to use online tax filing software to file your own taxes.
Remember Your Medical Expenses
Remember to deduct medical expenses when filing your own taxes. Medical expenses can quickly add up. This is true even when you have health insurance. Health insurance premiums can be deducted on your taxes, as long as they are not paid for by your employer. You can also deduct payments for medical services, medical equipment and supplies or diagnostic services. In addition, you can deduct travel costs related to medical expenses. Remember to claim tax deductions for medical expenses when you e-file taxes, because e-filing taxes makes it easy to take advantage of all possible tax deductions.
After years of doing my taxes online, I realized just how easy it is. You should learn the same by doing your own bookkeeping. Filing your own taxes online is quick and easy. But, it does require knowledge of some of the tricks of the trade. Thankfully, you can easily learn these tax filing tricks to maximize tax deductions for the biggest possible tax return. All you have to do is read and remember this post. Use the tax filing online tips detailed above. These tips for filing your own taxes are sure to help you make the most of your tax e-filing experience. Then, you can come right back to this post and let us know just how well it worked out for you in the comments below. Trust me, you will be so glad you decided to do your taxes online for free.
