These Situations Could Lead to a Higher Tax Bill This Year

Unless you’ve filed for an extension then the tax deadline is officially upon us. That means you need to get your taxes in pronto, if you still haven’t. While most people hate doing their taxes, they do enjoy the typical reward after the hard work is all done: a nice refund check.
However, there is no guarantee that you will get a refund. In fact, it’s entirely possible that you could end up owing the IRS some money, even if you weren’t expecting to. That’s because there are certain life events and decisions that can end up putting you in the red instead of the black.
For example, if you have started a side business there is a good chance you could end up owing more in taxes than you expected. If you don’t plan ahead and you don’t make any estimated tax payments on that additional income, you will owe some extra money when you report it come tax time.
Getting married or filing for divorce can also impact your tax status greatly. If you change your filing status to married filing jointly, you could end up owing more than you did when you filed as a single. Additionally, when you get divorced you might end up losing some of the deductions you once enjoyed when you were married.
There are several other events in life that could negatively affect your tax bill, including selling your home, withdrawing money from a retirement account, losing your job, winning prize money or receiving an inheritance from someone. The bottom line is, there are several things that can affect your tax bill, so make sure you track everything and be prepared for the worst. As always you can contact us at GROCO for more tax help.
http://www.denverpost.com/2017/04/09/surprise-tax-bill
Do You Need to File a Federal Income Tax Return
Many people will file a 2013 Federal income tax return even though the income on the return was below the filing requirement. The questions below will help you determine if you need to file a Federal Income Tax return or if you need to stop your withholding so you will not have to file an…
Will True Tax Reform Happen in Our Lifetime?
Will True Tax Reform Happen in Our Lifetime? Will explorers ever truly discover the Fountain of Youth? Will the Cubs ever win the World Series? Will Elvis ever be found alive? There are so many questions that might not ever be answered in our lifetime. Here’s another one: will we ever see true tax reform…
Bookkeeping: What Kind of Records Should I Keep?
Bookkeeping: What Kind of Records Should I Keep? You may choose any recordkeeping system suited to your business that clearly shows your income and expenses. Except in a few cases, the law does not require any special kind of records. However, the business you are in affects the type of records you need to keep…
Tips to Help Taxpayers with January 31 Tax Season Opening
We are again suggesting some tips to help taxpayers with the January 31 tax season opening. The IRS will begin processing most individual income tax returns on Jan. 31 after updating forms and completing programming and testing of its processing systems. The IRS anticipated many of the tax law changes made by Congress under the…