5 Benefits of Filing Your Tax Return Early
Kohl & Company CPAs
Mar 02, 2020
Have you been procrastinating filing your tax return? If so, you're missing out on several benefits that come from filing your taxes early.
Tax season has been underway for over a month now, and if you’ve been putting off filing your taxes, we strongly recommend that you start taking steps towards filing right away. Of course, if you have a complicated tax return that needs a little extra time, you should certainly take the time needed to file your return correctly, and we’ll help you request an extension on those taxes if you need one. However, if you’ve simply been procrastinating filing your return, you could be robbing yourself of some exceptional benefits that come with filing early.
A Faster Refund
For taxpayers who are expecting a refund, filing early can help you to get that money much more quickly. The longer you wait to file, the longer the delay on getting your tax refund. The IRS will only get more backlogged as tax season continues, and that means additional weeks of waiting for that direct deposit or that check. Filing early will significantly reduce the turnaround time for getting your refund, since you’ll be getting ahead of the backlog common at the end of tax season.
Plan for Your Tax Debt
If you know that you’re going to have to write a check to the IRS when you file, it can be tempting to procrastinate filing your tax return. But if you wait until the last minute to crunch those numbers and get the paperwork prepared, you’re much more likely to find yourself scrambling to scrape together the necessary funds for your tax debt—especially if the bill ends up even higher than you thought.
However, if you get that tax returned filed early, you’ll still have until April 15th to pay your tax debt. This allows you to get the exact numbers for what you owe and gives you time to make plans and move assets around to pay off your taxes. It also gives you a little more time to discuss options regarding IRS payment programs, if you feel that one is necessary to pay off what you owe; this is another thing that we can help you with if needed.
Get It Right
As the old saying goes, “Haste makes waste.” The more you rush something, the sloppier the job will be. This applies to your tax return just as much as it does to any other task you might complete. If you wait until the tax deadline is breathing down your neck, you’re more likely to feel rushed and make mistakes when filing your return.
Even if you’re using a tax professional, your CPA can only be as accurate on your return as the information you provide to them. If you’re rushed, you might overlook certain documents or information that could have qualified you for more deductions, or you might mistakenly overlook a secondary source of income. In the former situation, you could end up paying more in taxes than you should; in the latter situation, you might end up with an uncomfortable audit and nasty fines to boot.
When you file early, you give yourself a bit more time to check and double check that you’ve gotten all the right documents and information together so that you can ensure everything is accurate—and get every last deduction you qualify for.
Breathe a Little Easier
Procrastinating an important yet inevitable task will always put unnecessary stress on your shoulders. You know that you’re going to have to file that return eventually—you know what they say about “death and taxes” after all—and no amount of procrastinating will make that task go away. Rather than waiting and having that hanging over your head for another month, start taking steps to get it done now. Odds are, it won’t be quite as unpleasant as you think, especially if you let one of our expert tax preparers handle it for you.
Get an Appointment More Easily
If you’re going to be working with one of our tax professionals, and you want to get in a face-to-face meeting before you file, we strongly recommend that you start working on filing your taxes with us right away. While we are already quite busy with the coming tax deadline, it will only get busier from here. The sooner you schedule an appointment with us, the more likely it will be that we can find an appointment time that is convenient for you.
If you want to reap the benefits of filing your taxes earlier in the tax season, contact us to schedule your tax consultation today.