Financial Experts Help Area Taxpayers Get Ready for Tax Day

The deadline for filing 2017 tax returns in April 17

FARGO, N.D. — Tax Day is April 17, and W–2s will be arriving in the mail soon, and there are some things to consider before you send in your tax return.

The deadline to file returns is three months away.  Many filers choose to have their taxes done by a professional.

While this can save taxpayers the time of filing their own returns, experts say that being prepared for an appointment with a tax expert is crucial to make sure your return is filed correctly and on time.

“Make sure you bring along all of your receipts that you need, your W–2s and any other kind of official paperwork that you get back that lists your income,” said Paul Meyers of Legacy Wealth Management.

Meyers says that people who do their own returns make two common mistakes.

“Number one, they reverse some numbers somewhere, maybe in their social security number, they flip some numbers around – that’s a bad deal, and number two – the most common mistake as you might expect is a math error,” said Meyers.

If your tax burden is a bit high, there are ways you can still lower your taxable income from 2017.

“So you can make an IRA contribution right now that will lower your taxes that are due on April 17 – that’s a pretty good thing,” said Meyers.

Meyers also says that the recent changes passed into law by the recent tax reform bill won’t take effect until this time next year.

“Keep in mind, that the big, new tax bill, tax cut bill and jobs bill that was passed won’t affect you for last year’s taxes, but it will affect you from January 1 of this year going forward,” said Meyers.

If you have question about this year’s taxes or need help filing your return, click here.