3 Ways To Prepare For Tax Season

This post is brought to you by CJ Affiliate’s VIP Content Service. Thank you H&R Block for sponsoring this post. While this was a sponsored opportunity from H&R Block, all content and opinions expressed here are my own. For information purposes only. All tax situations are different.

Tax returns are due in just a few months, so today I want to talk about how you can prepare for tax season. It’s best to get the taxes done sooner rather than later and H&R Block makes it really easy to do this.

Even though taxes are an area that most people do not look forward to, I believe that starting them as soon as possible can help you in the long run.

After all, running around on the very last day trying to get your tax return completed can lead to errors, forgetting important tax documents, and more.

Due to that, I always believe it’s best to start preparing for the tax season as soon as you can.

Here are 3 ways you can prepare for tax season 2017 right now:

 

1. Save all important tax documents.

For the next month or two, you will most likely be receiving several important tax documents, such as W2s, 1099s, and more.

You should be saving all of these important tax documents in a safe place as you will be needing all of them in order to file your taxes correctly.

Plus, with H&R Block, you can take a picture of your W2 from your smart device, which means that you can snap and import as soon as you receive a tax document in the mail. This is a very nice feature as it will make sure that you don’t lose anything or forget to include an important tax document on your tax return.

 

2. Determine how you will file your taxes.

There are many ways to file your taxes. Based on the tax situation, many people are able to do taxes on their own using an online product, such as H&R Block.

Plus, H&R Block has a new online product, More Zero. More Zero allows clients to prepare and file federal and state 1040EZ, 1040A and 1040 with Schedule A completely free. Yes, for free! More Zero is a great benefit to homeowners, those who itemize deductions and those with medical/childcare expenses (and more) because they can file for free. Plus, there is no coupon required in order for a person to receive this offer. Note: Customers cannot get this in a Retail office or in their software. If you own a home, you can file for free with H&R Block Online as long as you aren’t claiming a home office. See www.hrblock.com for details.

3. Contribute to your retirement accounts.

Before you file your tax return, such as through H&R Block, I recommend seeing if you can contribute to your retirement accounts so that you can lower your tax liability for 2016.

You can still contribute to certain retirement accounts and they can help you to lower the amount of taxes that you owe, even though it is 2017 now. You have until April 15th for certain retirement accounts, so you may want to look further into this so that you can take advantage of it.

Here’s what the IRS says:

“If you’re still working, review the 2016 IRA contribution and deduction limits to make sure you are taking full advantage of the opportunity to save for your retirement. You can make 2016 IRA contributions until April 18, 2017.”

How are you preparing for the tax season this year?