| By :
Mark Etinger
The taxman comes calling like the grim reaper - he's unavoidable. But that's not to say that he's bad. Your taxes help put your children through public school, fill potholes, and keep your community safe from criminals and fires. You can prepare your own taxes if you have kept good financial records, if you've kept the same employer, and if you don't have problems learning while you work and researching arcane tax lingo on the internet. 1. Paperwork: You will need your social security numbers, a W-2 form, which you should receive by January 31st from your employer; 1099 Forms from any additional income; receipts for charities; bank account numbers; and your adjusted income from last tax year. 2. Filing Status: If you're unmarried, you're single. If you're married, you can file the same form and sign it together. 3. Forms: If you choose TurboTax you won't need any of this stuff. If you still want to do it yourself, you need a 1040, which helps to determine your income. The more deductions, profits and losses, supplemental income and specialized situations you have, the more forms you will need. Your state tax also needs to be filed. 4. Gross Income: Your income figures from your W-2 and 1099 forms will help you determine your gross income. Taxable income is the number you're taxed for after making deductions and adjustments. If you have student loans, are self-employed, pay for your own health insurance, have moving expenses or IRA contributions, you can calculate these into your deductions. 5. Itemizing: If you have what you believe to be a number of deductions, itemize. The following qualify as legitimate deductible expenses: medical expenses, interest, charitable contributions, casualty and theft losses, business-related expenses, educational expenses, and miscellaneous. The last part can be tricky, however, so if you're unsure, don't claim it or you may find yourself looking for a good tax attorney. 6. Calculate: Now we find out whether you owe the government or the government owes you. A tax table can help. Find your income range and filing status, and you should know the answer. It all depends on how much was withheld from your work during the tax year. From your W-2 you should know. When you subtract that from what you owe, you will have a negative number if the government owes you anything, and a positive one if you owe the Man. 7. Returns: It's better to do this electronically with a company like TurboTax or H&R Block. Check the forms for errors and make sure you have documentation if you claimed any deductions. If you owe the government, enter your credit card and sign. Print out a copy for yourself. And file it to the IRS. All done! Questions concerning IRS collections can be easily navigated on their comprehensive website. When you file your taxes electronically, you can better deal with potential red flags. Any inaccuracies are usually spotted by the IRS collections, and can result in an audit and a tax attorney.
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