While the IRS won't begin processing your 2023 tax returns until the end of January, now is the time to begin collecting all the necessary information needed to be ready to file.
CPA Buzz Rousselle with the firm Malcolm Deines says, "W2s will be due on January 31st, 1098's for any mortgage interest will be due at the end of the February and any 1099's that are due to you for any work that was done as a contractor or for non-employee compensation."
He says not only is April 15th the deadline for filing your taxes and paying what's due the IRS, if anything additional, it is also the due date for trust and estate tax returns to due for those entities.
You can also request a filing extension, which will give you an extra six months to prepare your tax return, although any money due the IRS must be paid by the April 15th deadline or you could face penalties and interest charges.
So, how should you file your taxes? Should you itemize your deduction of opt for the standard deduction?
According to Rousselle, "The standard deduction has increases quite a bit since 2017, and so we're at the point now where almost 90 percent of tax filers taken the standard deduction."
But if seeking to itemize, Rousselle says, "The things you want to start getting together are your mortgage interest, your real estate taxes, any charitable deductions...and then any medical expenses are still deductible over a certain adjusted income thresholds."
He indicates there's a laundry list of other deductions that can help toward making itemizing your return the better option versus taking the standard deduction.
Rousselle says, "The IRS will not officially begin accepting and processing tax returns until January 29th." He says that's when software companies will submit your e-filed returns.
