Tax Preparation Checklist for 2018 Tax Year

Taxes are always complicated, seemingly more so every year. You might not even have the same documents and situations from year to year as your life situation changes. Unless you’re a tax expert yourself, it usually makes the most sense to hire professional tax return preparation in Reno, NV. That way, you can make sure you’re reporting everything accurately, you’re not forgetting anything, and you’re claiming all applicable deductions. However, before you begin, it helps to gather all of your papers and information to make the process go more quickly and smoothly.

Personal Details

There are certain details that will change depending on whether you need personal or business tax preparation in Reno, NV, but in general, you’ll need information about the taxpayer and about the person filing. If you’re including a spouse or dependents on your tax returns, you’ll also need their information, mainly their Social Security numbers and birth dates, along with your own.

Income

You probably know that you need to report your income from the various jobs that you and your spouse hold. Each of these jobs should have given you a form to help you report your earnings. Tax preparation services in Reno, NV, can also help you figure out what else qualifies as income. For instance, this might include alimony, pension distributions, Social Security benefits, gambling winnings, scholarships, and more.

Lowering Your Costs

Tax preparation in Reno, NV, can also help you find adjustments to your income to lower how much of it is actually taxed. Some adjustments might be student loan interest, moving expenses, IRA contributions, and educator expenses. You might also get tax deductions or credits to help when you’ve made charitable donations or when you’ve paid necessary fees. These might relate to health care and child care, theft losses, your home mortgage, and more.

You will also need to have a record of how much you’ve paid in taxes already. You might have state or local income taxes paid, and having a record of that can keep you from paying for the same thing twice.

Other

Some of the more confusing tax situations occur because not everything on your tax forms directly relates to how much money you made and spent over the past year. You also need to know how much money you paid in taxes last year, so you’ll need to dig out your 2017 tax forms before you proceed. You also might need your bank information, including your routing and account numbers. Otherwise, you might run into problems with your direct deposit refunds.

Of course, you can always call your income tax preparation services in Reno, NV, to get their list of what you should bring for your situation before you show up for your appointment. If you take a little time early on to look for all the papers you need, you’ll find that the process goes a lot quicker and more smoothly than if you showed up unprepared. Even having everything ready and prepared, though, it can still feel a little overwhelming if you try to do it all alone, so when you’re getting ready to file taxes, contact Advantage Tax and Business Services to see how they can help you.