10 Tips for Tax Day Eve: A Survival Guide for Last-Minute Taxes

While we don’t have time to waste, it’s not time to panic either. Here at 1040.com, we can zip your return through cyberspace to the IRS faster than you can say “bandwidth.” And yet getting started can be the hardest part, so here are 10 things that can help you get that return filed on time and with flying colors!

Know your filing status

It’s the first question you’ll hit when you go to file your taxes: Are you single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household or a widow(er)? If you’re not sure where you fall, let’s break down the 5 filing statuses.

Find your 2015 AGI

What the heck is that? Your 2015 AGI, my friend, is the number you absolutely must have to prove your identity when you e-file your taxes. The IRS doesn’t accept e-file PINs to verify your identity, so knowing your adjusted gross income and how to find it is crucial.

Review the basic tax lingo

Refund vs. return? Credit vs. deduction? Yeah, sometimes the worst thing about filing your taxes is the fact that you only hear these terms once a year. Let’s review some commonly confused tax terms, shall we?

Health insurance on your tax return

Oh boy – politicians certainly don’t make this any less confusing, do they? Never fear, however! We’ll break down everything you need to know about reporting your health insurance information on your tax return.

Taxes for newlyweds

Don’t you just love it when those moonlight walks, horseback rides on the beach and candlelit dinners of newlywed life get interrupted with a mood kill like filing your taxes? Good thing we’re breaking down 5 tax tips for newlyweds to make it as quick and painless as possible.

Dependents and how to claim them

I mean, if you’re already up all hours of the night with your little bundle of joy, why not go ahead and file your taxes between bottles? Maybe don’t answer that. Anyway, you’ll want to claim your kid on your tax return, so let’s talk claiming dependents.

Freelancers? Side-hustlers? Check this out

Yeah, we get that the thought of self-employment taxes makes you want to cry. You never even knew what a Schedule C was before this year, and now that you’ve got these estimated tax payments and more forms to fill out, making a blanket fort sounds mighty nice right about now. Go ahead and build the blanket fort and check out our post on taxes for the rookie freelancer.

What to do when you just can’t pay

It sucks, but it happens. You get your taxes filed, you owe taxes, and April 18 is – well, tomorrow. You know what you need to do, but you just can’t. Here are three ways to cope when you can’t pay your taxes.

File a tax extension if you need more time

Good news, procrastinators: You can buy time to file your taxes if you need to. Just make sure that you don’t actually owe taxes, because, even with a tax extension, all taxes owed are still due tomorrow. Confused? Check out our blog on tax extensions and how to use them.

Make the most of your taxes

Believe it or not, that’s something you can actually do. We get that you don’t want to file every year, but we’re making it possible for the time that you spend gathering your info and filing your taxes to mean so much more than a yearly obligation. Believe it or not, clean water and taxes actually do have something in common, and you can find out how our relationship with Healing Waters International is changing lives around the world.

Save