Tax Refunds & Advice

Do you work from home? If so, this will work to your advantage when filing your income tax this year. Even though there are some negatives of working at home when it comes to your taxes, there are many positives also. And one of the biggest ones is that you will have many expenses that can help to lower your burden.

The first thing that you will want to look into deducting is the space in your home that you use to work. Obviously, if you have one room that is nothing more than your office this will work out much better. It is always easier to deduct this expense when you are not sharing the space with things that you do on a personal platform.

Moving on, do you have the internet? If you work at home the answer is probably yes. Again, this is an expense that you will be able to deduct. While you may not be able to deduct the entire cost, a certain percentage will be possible. You will have to make an estimate of how much time you use the internet for business as opposed to personal surfing.

Finally, do not forget about anything that you purchased for your home office. Did you buy a new desk, computer, or printer? If so, you can deduct any or all of these expenses.

As long as you are honest and have receipts to back you up, there are many home office deductions that you can take advantage of this year. If you are confused about what is legit, you may want to have a professional help you file. They will be able to tell you what you can deduct, while hopefully adding a few more ideas of their own! 

In today’s day and age it is very common for people to make money outside of their regular job. After all, times are tough and a lot of people are interested in earning a little bit of side income. While there is nothing wrong with this, you need to keep in mind that hiding this income is not possible. In other words, if you are going to work a second job, you need to make sure that you claim the income. And yes, this holds true even if you are working as a contractor or are self-employed. When it comes down to it, the IRS wants to know about every last dime you are making.

If your second job is as a contractor or self employed in nature, it is important to remember that there is nobody to deduct taxes for you. In other words, since you have no employer you are responsible for paying tax on the money that you earn. If you are smart, you will pay these taxes quarterly. Of course, you could save money and pay them at the end of the year, but it is always disappointing to have to depart with such a large amount of money in one lump sum.

Adding income from a side job is a great way to make ends meet. Just remember that any money you earn is taxable. As long as you give the IRS what they are asking for, you will never run into a problem in this area. So before you get started, make sure that you have everything lined up in the tax department. 

Time after time people make mistakes on their taxes. While there is nothing wrong with this if you catch them, sending in your return with mistakes is a different story. If you know about some of the more common mistakes, you should be able to avoid them. Believe it or not, some of the silliest tax related errors are easy to avoid if you use your brain instead of attempting to rush through the filing process.

The number one error to avoid is making a mathematical mistake. When filing your return there is going to be a lot of adding, subtracting, and basic math. If you do not use a calculator, you are more than likely going to make an error. To go along with this, you should always double and triple check your math before moving on. One basic math error can and will through off your entire return. In the end, if you do not catch this mistake you could be setting yourself up for disaster.

Another common mistake has nothing to do with the return itself, but instead when you get to work on this part of your taxes. Even if you think that you know how to complete your return, it can often times take longer than expected. You want to make sure that you have at least one full day to work. If you do not, you could feel rushed which will in turn lead to mistakes such as those listed above.

All in all, mistakes are a part of life. But with that being said, they should not be a part of your tax return!