Tax day is next week: Avoid these 5 common mistakes that can cost you money
Tax season is stressful enough, but avoidable mistakes can turn a routine filing into an expensive headache.With Tax Day just 10 days away, even small errors can mean the difference...
By Fox News · Fox News
Tax season is stressful enough, but avoidable mistakes can turn a routine filing into an expensive headache. With Tax Day just 10 days away, even small errors can mean the difference between a smooth refund and frustrating delays. In some cases, they can even trigger IRS notices or unexpected penalties. Here are five common filing missteps to watch out for and how to avoid them: Your filing status is one of the most important choices on your tax return because it helps determine your tax rate, your standard deduction and which credits you may be eligible to claim. Pick the wrong one, and you could end up paying more than you owe, getting a smaller refund or triggering delays if the IRS flags the return for review. For many taxpayers, the confusion comes from life changes that happened during the year, like getting married or divorced, having a child, moving in with a partner, supporting an aging parent or sharing custody. Even if your situation feels straightforward, the IRS rules can be less intuitive, especially for taxpayers who aren’t sure whether they qualify as "head of household" or whether they can still file as "qualifying surviving spouse" after a spouse has died. RETIRED? HERE’S WHEN THE IRS MIGHT TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT YOUR FINANCES Head of household, in particular, can be costly to get wrong. It typically comes with a larger standard deduction and more favorable tax brackets than filing as single – but it has strict requirements tied to paying more than half the cost of keeping up a home and having a qualifying dependent. If you don’t meet the rules and claim it anyway, you may have to pay back tax benefits later, plus penalties and interest. When in doubt, the IRS has an online filing-status tool , and many tax software programs will walk you through the questions to help you choose the right category. One of the biggest and most expensive tax-season mistakes is failing to claim every credit or deduction you qualify for. That can mean a smaller refund…