Author: J. September
Preparing your own Federal Income Tax return can be very tricky and time consuming. It's even scarier when you think that if you make a mistake, you may very well hear about it from the IRS somewhere down the road. You may even owe money because of that mistake!
Preventing these mistakes in the first place is the smart way to go when you are preparing your own federal income tax return. To help you with this, here is a list of the most common mistakes made by people preparing their own federal income tax return:
• If you used the peel-off label that came with the blank return sent to you by the IRS, did you make any corrections as needed, and did you remember to write in your social security number in the space provided?
• Did you enter your name, the name of your spouse and any dependents EXACTLY as they appear on their respective social security cards? If there have been any name changes, you must notify the social security administration immediately (www.ssa.gov or 800-772-1213).
• Did you check only ONE filing status (i.e., married filing jointly, etc.)?
• Did you check the appropriate exemption boxes, and enter the dependents' names and social security numbers exactly as they appear on their social security cards?
• Did you enter income, deductions and credits on the appropriate lines, and are the totals correct?
• If you have a negative amount on your income tax return, did you put brackets around it?
• Did you figure the tax correctly? If you used the tax tables, did you use the correct column for your filing status (for example, married filing jointly) to determine your taxes?
• Did you sign and date your return? If it is a joint return, your spouse must also sign and date the income tax return.
• Did you remember to attach Copy B of Form W-2 for each job to your income tax return?
• If you have any income tax withheld from Form 1099-R, did you remember to attach a copy of the form to the return?
• If you owed tax, did you remember to enclose a check and put your social security number, tax form and year on your payment?
• And last but not least: Did you remember to make a copy of the signed income tax return and all schedules for your records?
Be sure to double check all addition and subtraction on the tax return. Math errors are one of the most frequent mistakes reported by the IRS. You may want to consider purchasing a tax preparation software program, rather than just preparing you income tax return via pen and paper. These tax software programs are very inexpensive, especially when compared with having your return done by an accountant, and they usually guarantee all calculations.
Would you like to know an easy way to make sure your taxes are done correctly, while saving money by doing them yourself? Click Here to see how H&R Block's TaxCut federal income tax return preparation software will help you to file your federal and state income tax returns quickly and easily. All calculations are guaranteed, so you don't have to worry about making any math errors. Don't forget- the earlier you file your federal income tax return, the faster you will get your rebate check.
J. September writes about financial matters and the impact they can have on each one of us.
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