TAX SEASON IS HERE!

Organize Your 2011 Tax Data: I plan to mail out Tax Organizers by the 3rd and 4th week of January 2012, so start gathering your tax information now. List your charitable contributions and gather all supporting receipts. Remember, if you give $250 or more to a charity at any one time, your receipt must show that you didn’t receive any goods or services in return for your donation (or state the value received of any goods or services).  Summarize your medical and dental expenses: remember, you can only claim the “unreimbursed” amounts you paid during the year (not covered by insurance). I recommend preparing a spreadsheet showing columns for the date paid, doctor/dentist name, total bill, amount paid by insurance, then amount paid by me.  This should make it easier to come up with your paid amount. Also, don’t forget to count the prescription drugs you paid for, and then summarize your medical mileage to and from the doctors, etc.  Be on the lookout for and save for me all those tax information statements that will be arriving any day now: Form 1099s (INT, DIV, B, R – retirement, SSA – Social Security Benefit Statement), Form 1098 (Mortgage Interest Paid, T – Tuition, E – Student Loan Interest), Schedule K-1s, Form W-2s, etc. Also save for me any closing settlement statements on purchase, sale or refinance of property; and invoice/sales tax receipt on any vehicle purchases during last year.

Caution re. Charitable Contributions:  the last Sunday in December 2011 to make a church contribution  was the 25th, so if you waited and made your year-end contribution in Church on Sunday Jan 1, 2012, it will NOT count for a 2011 contribution.  For December contributions to count for 2011, they must have been mailed and postmarked on or before Dec. 31st?

Reminder: E-Filing now required for most if using a paid-preparer

Tax return preparers who anticipate filing 10 or more returns are now required by law to e-file such returns.  I feel though this is good, as there are many benefits: faster refund, legal proof of filing, and no return to get lost in the mail. Approximately 95 million taxpayers filed their returns electronically in 2009. Aside from ease of filing, IRS e-file is the fastest and most accurate way to file a tax return. If you’re due a refund, the waiting time for e-filers is half that of paper filers.

Check Your IRS Refund Status

Thank you for visiting my site and for allowing me to serve you. May the Lord bless your day.

John I. Lavin, CPA