Tax season can be a stressful time for anyone, but going through helpful resources can lessen any anxiety you might have about filing your personal or business taxes.
To help you feel more confident this tax season, we’ve compiled a list of our top tax posts on a variety of topics including whether or not you should file your own taxes, ways to file taxes, tax myths, and more.
Filing Personal Taxes
Should You File Your Own Taxes?
Filing your taxes yourself may seem daunting, but it could be the most cost-effective way to get your taxes done this season. One of the ways you can save some money is by filing your taxes yourself rather than hiring an accountant or tax professional to do it for you.
Tax software is available online for free if you have a simple tax return (such as a single person with a single income), but if your finances are a bit more complex (like if you are a homeowner, freelancer, or landlord) you might want to purchase software to help you through the process. Even if you decide to purchase tax software, it’s usually less expensive than hiring a tax professional.
If your financial situation is more complex (if you have multiple streams of income, you own a business, or you earn more than $200,000 per year), you might be better off hiring a tax professional or an accountant to ensure that your taxes are filed properly.
Before you decide how you are going to file your taxes for the year, you might want to take a closer look at all the different options that are available to you.
For instance, if you want to file your taxes yourself, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides the forms you need on their website for you to print, fill out, and mail in. However, since sending forms by mail is typically a lengthy process, some individuals may prefer to do their taxes online instead.
The IRS lists a variety of options that you can use to file your taxes online, and some websites offer step-by-step questionnaires to help you through the process.
Of course, you can always hire an accountant or tax professional to help you out with filing your taxes if the other options seem too complicated or you are worried about making a mistake.
4 Common Myths About Filing Personal Taxes
Many people prepare their tax documents without fully understanding how personal taxes are filed or calculated. This leads to misconceptions about how tax processes work and causes confusion about which information is correct or incorrect. This post debunks four common tax myths so you can come away with a better understanding of how taxes are processed.
Filing Taxes for a Married Couple
FAQ: 5 Tax Questions Newlyweds Ask
A newlywed couple is usually more concerned with starting their life together than worrying about taxes, but when tax season does come, you’ll want to explore the differences in how to file taxes now that you are married as compared to when you were single.
This post answers five frequently asked tax questions that newlyweds have, including:
- Does getting married affect your taxes?
- Should married people file their taxes jointly or separately?
- What are some tax benefits to filing as a married couple?
- Do we have to be married for a full year before we can file together?
- Can my common law spouse and I file our taxes as married?
Filing Taxes for a Business
A Basic Guide to Payroll Taxes
Anyone with a business that has employees needs to handle employment taxes. Understanding the correct way to withhold income and payroll taxes from their paychecks will ensure that you don’t face penalties from the government for improper tax deductions. Ensuring your taxes are correct also means that your employees shouldn’t face problems when they file their own taxes.
A Quick Tax Guide for Freelancers
Freelance work is becoming more and more popular among Americans over time. When you are self-employed, you are required to file an income tax return every year as well as pay self-employment tax. To organize your finances, it’s important to keep accurate records of your expenses with a bookkeeping system so you have all the documentation you need when tax season comes around.
Preparing for Tax Season
Whether you work for a company or you own your own business, you need to do your taxes each year. Deciding whether you should file your own taxes or use a tax professional to help you is entirely your choice—one that you should base on the complexity of your financial situation and your own understanding of the tax system in the United States.
