If you haven’t already filed your taxes this year, you’re probably hard at work gathering your documents and itemizing your deductions. Tax season can be one of the most stressful times of year, but by staying on top of your 2023 taxes—and by looking ahead to your 2024 tax planning—you can ease your burden and set your mind at rest.
Here are some helpful strategies:
5 Tips to Turn Your Tax Planning from a Burden to a Breeze:
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- Gather All Your Documents and Determine Your Income: The first step when it comes to preparing your taxes is to assemble all your tax documents and find out your income for the year. These documents may include not only W-2 and 1099 forms, but many other documents, including donation receipts, health insurance documentation, and documentation of already-paid taxes. Be sure not to overlook any of these important papers.
- Decide How to Approach Tax Deductions: Next, you’ll need to decide whether you want to take the standard tax deduction or if you want to itemize your deductions. This choice will depend on a variety of circumstances, but it can make a big difference in how much you owe. If you choose to itemize, you’ll need to go through all your records and determine what and how much you will deduct. It’s a good idea to set aside these documents throughout the year, so you don’t need to go scrambling come tax-time.
- Consider a Payment Plan: Sometimes your tax hit can be larger than you expect. If this is the case, you may be able to arrange a payment plan with the IRS so you do not have to pay all at once. In addition, if you work freelance or otherwise have irregular income, setting up quarterly payments can help ease the tax-time burden.
- Plan Ahead by Reducing Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax: Once you’ve filed for 2023, you’ll want to start looking ahead for next year. In order to ease your tax hit for 2024, you may want to consider some strategies to reduce your income and capital gains taxes. These may include contributing to retirement and health savings accounts and spreading out capital gains hits over multiple years.
- Seek Professional Assistance: Taxes are, in the best of circumstances, a complicated business. While many people take on the burden all by themselves, they may be paying more than they need to. Seeking professional assistance—either a certified accounting professional or a legal advisor—is the best way to ensure that you only pay what you owe.
Contact the Estate Planning Attorneys at Deliberato Law Center
To find out more about how smart planning can help save you money this tax season, do not hesitate to reach out to the experienced professionals at Deliberato Law Center either by calling us at (216) 341-3413 or by filling out the form below.
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