|
Hello All, Tax season is a time of conflict for accountants. While many tax preparers and accounting professionals do very well financially during this time, it can mentally exhausting and physically draining. In addition to the sheer amount of work involved, there is also the client facing aspect which can be difficult especially for accountants who are not necessarily known for their social skills. So, try and be patient (and kind) with your accountant. And if you are an accountant or bookkeeper, try and be kind to yourself. For everyone else, tax time isn’t much more fun than it is for accountants; there is just less of it. It can be interesting for some number nerds (like me) out there to see how taxes work and how it all fits together. Otherwise plugging your numbers into a tax software or waiting for an email from your accountant about how much you potentially owe in taxes can be a bit harrowing. This is even more applicable this year since many have received Covid benefits, which are taxable and have no idea what their potential tax liability might be. There are ways to make this easier. One is by entering the info in your tax return as you receive it, even if you haven’t received all your tax documents yet, to get a sense of your tax liability or refund. You can always estimate missing amounts so that you are not completely surprised. Another way is to ensure you are aware of all of the items that might impact your tax return for which having a checklist is usually an excellent idea. Finally, I highly recommend that everyone who does their own taxes should use tax software to complete their returns. I understand how it can be intimidating to change from paper filing and there is certainly a learning curve, but a good software helps you to optimize your taxes and verify the accuracy of your data which can actually help you save money and also significant amounts of time.
|
