America's
Tax Experts Offer 10 Tips to Tax Relief
(ARA) - Few events cause more
stress than tax preparation. Is it any wonder taxpayers try to put it off
year after year? With more than 127 million projected income tax returns
expected this year, it's important taxpayers get informed, get organized,
and get started. H&R Block recommends these 10 tips to prepare the
average taxpayer for this annual undertaking:
1. Make a list of life
changes over the past year. Include major purchases like homes or cars,
marriages, children, and new employment. Be sure to take these life-altering
events into account.
2. Make a resolution to
investigate tax code changes for 2001. Major changes this year include
capital gains and foster children.
3. Start early. Just because
the deadline for postmarking returns has been pushed back to April 16 (April
15 is a Sunday) don't procrastinate. Set several appointments with yourself
to complete your return to avoid feeling overwhelmed in April.
4. Get organized. And in
doing so, begin preparing for next year. File all your important tax
documents together. Create a separate file or location for each year's
documents. And remember to keep tax files from the last seven years.
5. Make a document checklist.
Even if you take your taxes to a preparer, you'll need to have all the
necessary forms at your fingertips. Remember to bring: all documents
containing income information (W2s, alimony, social security,
lottery/gambling, savings account and investment statements, etc.), your
driver's license, and social security numbers for spouse and dependents.
6. Use the right forms. You
can download federal and state forms from www.hrblock.com or www.irs.gov.
7. Ask a specialist. Tax
knowledge and years of know-how are available at more than 9,200 H&R
Block offices or hrblock.com. This year for the first time you can e-mail a
tax advisor at www.hrblock.com and get an answer within 24 hours.
8. Consider user-friendly
software. Since the average household will spend 11 hours working to
complete their 1040 tax forms, you might be interested in TaxCut software.
With it the average user completes his tax forms in less than three hours.
9. Double-check everything
before filing. The IRS returns thousands of tax forms every year because of
incorrect social security numbers, transposed numbers or other missing
information.
10. Manage your refund. For
some taxpayers, a refund is a year-end bonus. H&R Block financial
advisors can help you invest your refund to help you meet your financial
goals without increasing your tax risk for next year.
Courtesy of ARA Content,
www.aracontent.com, e-mail: info@aracontent.com
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EDITOR'S NOTE: For more
information contact Neil Getzlow at H&R Block, 816-932-4886,
ngetzlow@hrblock.com or Sharon Polk at Fleishman-Hillard, 816-512-2265,
polks@fleishman.com.
