As we discussed in our last few blogs, of what deductions, credits, and some tax strategies should be done on your personal tax returns, now here are the top 5 things you should be doing when you prepare and file your annual tax returns:

• Be sure you have all of your income source documents (e.g. W-2s, 1099s, 1098s, K-1s, etc), because if you forgot something that you received income on, and it is not reported on your tax return, the IRS will know about it. For every income source document you receive, the IRS will get a copy, and of course you will get an IRS notice explaining that you underreported your income sources.
Go over your bank and credit card statements, so you can recall where you spent your money, so you can claim some tax deductions and/or tax credits.
• Organize your cash receipts. If you do not organize your receipts in some reasonable manner, then you will forget what you spent on, and would miss a tax deductions and/or a tax credit.
• Be sure to have your dependents’ names, social security numbers’, and also birthdates, because if you make a mistake on this, the IRS could reject your claimed dependents.
• Finally, if its not too late to do so, plan for retirement, by making (or increasing) your retirement contributions to your retirement accounts, retirement maybe a long road into the future, but do not be surprised that time has a way of catching up, and you may get a tax deduction and/or a tax credit for making a retirement contribution.

These are some of the things you should be doing, when you start preparing your personal tax returns, and if you need us to look at your tax situation, please let us know we are always here to help: https://www.kayatax.com/contact-us