Double your Tax Refund by Preparing

I mentioned earlier that I would write a post focusing on tax tips for self employed people. Actually, some of these tips could apply to everyone.

Awesome ROI

Let me start off with telling you why it’s so important to be prepared to do your taxes when you’re self-employed.  A study by the Foundation Communities in Austin Texas & CFED saw that there was a quite clear positive correlation between self—employed taxpayers who were prepared and the amount of their refund.  As you can see by the chart next to me, the extremely prepared received up to $1158 more in tax refunds than those not prepared.  Check out the Center for Economic Development’s blog post on it.

So let's get you prepared to get that big refund!

Really the main take-away from the study is to come to your tax appointment having done you due diligence.  Knowing what to track and what to prepare will ensure that big check.

First thing you can do is track your mileage.  Even though the miles you use to commute are not deducted, the miles you use to go from one work to the next do! Depending on how your business is set up that could be a lot of miles and having an accurate count will benefit you.  I know I would have a hard time estimating how many miles to deduct for a whole year on the spot...

Keep track of ALL business expenses.  Even though you won't be able to deduct everything, it will be better to have all the info available than (again) try to remember how much you spent on replacing that office chair last year....Imagine you forgot about buying it, and you don't deduct it! How horrible!

Tricky deductions

Most deductions are pretty straight forward. Cleaning supplies, mileage, machinery, etc. As the IRS says, business expenses need "to be deductible, a business expense must be both ordinary and necessary (D. Stoica's Blog).  Some are a little less straightforward.  For example, deductions for use of your home as an office are only applicable if you have a dedicated space in your home that is labeled the office, and that is NOT used for personal use.  If you meet these conditions, go fot it!  Travel and meals are also great to deduct...if they meet the requirements.  Travel expenses such as hotel, flight, car, and even dry cleaning is 100% tax deductible, but meals are only 50% tax deductible - while traveling.  Meal expenses while at home have a different set of rules. You can only deduct meals (while not traveling) when:

a. "Entertainment took place in a clear business setting, or 

b. Main purpose of entertainment was the active conduct of business, and you did engage in business with the person during the entertainment period, and you had more than a general expectation of getting income or some other specific business benefit." (IRS)

For a list of common deductions check this blog by Bankrate.com.

Want to eliminate the stress of filing taxes?

Now that I'm in my second year of VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance a program of the IRS) I feel like I've observed and learned enough to decipher what a person can do to make the tax return process a whole lot easier.

BE ORGANIZED
The best thing you can do to make filing your taxes a more painless experience is to come organized. This is especially important if you are a small business owner or filing itemized deductions. If you have a small business, keep track of your receipts, track your mileage, and add up your income before you get to the site. The same goes for people filing a schedule A - itemized deduction. It’s ok if you don’t know exactly what you can deduct and what you cannot, but if you’re planning on using it, keep all the receipts and organize them. A tax preparer’s worst nightmare is a client walking in with a shoebox of papers and receipts, expecting the preparer to go through each and every item  with the client.

If you want to be completely prepared (which will be beneficial to you, because the return will have a higher chance of being correct – there’s actually a study on that), I will write a second post on how to determine whether or not to file itemized deductions and a third post on tips for small business owners.

BRING LAST YEAR’S RETURN
If you want to hurry the process along, bringing your previous year’s taxes is the best way. Even if you’ve had many changes in the past year, having last year’s return will give the preparer an idea of what will need changing. It can trigger more questions to make sure you’re filling correctly and can answer questions about this year’s taxes (such as: was your EITC disallowed last year? did you itemize last year? did you claim dependents last year?) These questions may sound simple or obvious to you now, but often time people start second guessing themselves or maybe someone else answered them the year before. Oh and another reason you should bring last year’s return: sometimes the way you write your name or the way it is written on the Social Security card does not coincide with your taxes. Thus, brining last year’s taxes could prevent a reject and get you your refund faster!

GET A BABYSITTER FOR THE KIDS
Seriously, get one…or at least bring something VERY entertaining for your kids (age 0-6). Having children at the tax site brings a high level of stress to EVERYONE.  I realize sometimes it’s unavoidable, but if there were any way you can leave them at home, everyone would appreciate it. When neither the client nor the tax preparer can hear each other over a screaming child, or they are distracted because the child is making photocopies of their hand, it will take a lot longer and become tiring very quickly.

LAST THING
If you make around $50,000 or less, go to a VITA site! It's completely free and a volunteer, trained by the IRS, will be taking you through the return. If you live in the Bay Area, check out earnitkeepitsaveit.org for a site near you.  No one will be charging you extra fees for a refund or an extra form that needs to be filled out. All sites file electronically so you will be able to get your refund fast, and most sites are nonprofit i.e. really friendly people who are most likely going to offer you other free services while you’re there!