Are you getting ready for the 2017 tax season?

It's nearing that time again. KMR Tax Consultants is getting ready and excited about the opening of the 2017 tax season filing. Here's a few things you can review as an existing client or a new client to KMR Tax Consultants.

TAX PREPARATION CHECKLIST

Before you prepare your tax documents you should have a tax preparation checklist to help you get organized. Along with this, your tax preparation checklist should also get you in the right frame of mind. Simply put, it will help you get everything together before you begin to file your tax return or submit with KMR Tax Consultants. As you move down the checklist, you will find items you may have missed as well as things that were accounted for in the past. Listed below are some of the details that should be included on your tax preparation checklist.

Tax Prep Checklist for Personal Information — The IRS needs to know who is filing the tax return, as well as how many people are covered on it. To make this easy, they require:

Your Social Security Number (SSN)
Your spouse’s Social Security Number (if married)
Social Security Numbers for any dependents

Tax Prep Checklist for Income Information — The following documents will help you prepare all the income information that you need to file a federal tax return. Note that all these items may not apply to you:

W-2 Forms from all employers you (and your spouse, if filing a joint return) worked for during the past tax year
1099 Forms if you (or your spouse) completed contract work and earned more than $600
Investment income information (including: interest income, dividend income, proceeds from the sale of bonds or stocks, and income from foreign investments)
Income from local and state tax refunds from the prior year
Business income (accounting records for any business that you own)
Unemployment income
Rental property income
Social Security benefits
Miscellaneous income (including: jury duty, lottery and gambling winnings, Form 1099-MISC for prizes and awards, and Form 1099-MSA for distributions from medical savings accounts)

Tax Prep Checklist for Income Adjustments — The following adjustments can help reduce how much you owe in taxes, and in turn, increase your chance of receiving a tax refund.

Homebuyer tax credit
Green energy tax credits
IRA contributions
Mortgage interest tax deduction
Student loan interest deduction
Medical Savings Account (MSA) contributions
Self-employed health insurance
Job-related moving expenses

Tax Prep Checklist for Credits and Deductions — There are many tax credits and tax deductions for various expenses, which are designed to help lower the amount of tax that an individual has to pay. Note that many of these items may not apply to you (yet).

Education costs
Childcare costs
Adoption costs
Charitable contributions/donations
Casualty and theft losses
Qualified business expenses
Medical expenses
Home office expenses

Tax Prep Checklist for Direct Deposit — Are you interested in having your tax refund directly deposited into your bank account? Choosing this option means you will get your refund faster. In order to set up Direct Deposit, you will need to provide some information, including: