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THE ACCOUNTANT'S CORNER

February 20, 2020

Why You Should File Your Taxes Early

Written by, Alex Liong-A-San

Tax Preparation

You’ve heard it before. It’s a piece of advice you’ve heard over and over again, and you still don’t take it into consideration as often as you should: File your taxes early! Sure, the deadline is roughly a couple of months away but that doesn’t mean you should keep procrastinating. There are obvious benefits to doing this. For one, it certainly is less stressful and you’ll get your tax refund sooner. But there are other aspects of the process of filing taxes that often slip our minds. Read below to see the numerous benefits behind filing your taxes early.

Potentially Larger Refunds

When you file your taxes early you’re not in a rush to get them done within a short span of time. This allows you to carefully and tediously jot down every important bit of information you should put on your tax return, allowing you to potentially receive a larger refund than what you usually receive. Any information regarding tax deductions and tax credits that aren’t entered in your tax forms is just extra money that you could’ve received but is lost.

Less Competition to Deal With if You Want to Hire a Tax Professional 

If you typically schedule appointments with an accountant or similar professional to help file your taxes then you know that you’ll need to schedule with them soon. It’s often overlooked, however, that you are competing for an appointment the closer it gets to Tax Day. Usually, if you attempt to schedule an appointment with one by mid-March, chances are that you won’t be able to make an appointment and you may have to file for an extension. More so, some professionals will likely charge more if you happen to be facing a deadline due to the hassle. 

Also, be mindful of how various professionals charge you. The best places to hire a professional are ones where a fixed price is charged due to a service provided. If you happen to live in Key West, then you’d be lucky to have a service such as that provided by Robert E Clark.

Extra Time Paying Taxes You Owe

Another good reason to file taxes early is if you owe money to the IRS. Filing taxes early provides time for planning how you can pay the balance as well as knowing how much you owe. By submitting your taxes early you won’t need to pay until the deadline in April.

Avoiding a Tax Extension

Filing your taxes early helps prevent the need for filing an extension. Extensions are there for people who waited until the last minute and need to look for additional deductions or gather receipts. Filing an extension can be bad if you didn’t pay your balance to the IRS yet. They’ll charge you interest and penalties on the outstanding debt until it is paid in full.

Preventing Tax Return Identity Theft

Finally, and most importantly, you’ll want to file your taxes early so that you can avoid being the victim of identity fraud. While filing early doesn’t altogether eliminate the threat of identity theft, it does put you less at risk. When a criminal gains access to your information, they’ll attempt to pocket your refund. If this happens to you, you won’t discover it until you try to file your refund. The IRS will disregard your return if their records show that a filing was already made. You can fix the mess, but it’ll take months before it’s all cleared up and then you can finally receive the refund you deserve.

Trust the Team of Robert E. Clark For Your Tax Planning & Preparation

Don’t procrastinate any further, call the team at Robert E. Clark, LLC to aid you in your taxes. Robert E. Clark is highly qualified in servicing you with his continuous pursuit of accounting knowledge and can help you tremendously in tax planning and preparation. If interested, call us at 305-363-5429 or visit our contact page.

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