|
Everybody
knows about the April 15 deadline for getting tax returns in the mail. But
getting them in the mail is only half the battle. Attaching the right
attachments, putting the right forms in the envelope, putting correct
postage on the envelope – this is where the fun begins. This year,
before you seal up the envelope and send your tax return off to the taxing
authorities, take a look at this quick checklist of the areas where
taxpayers most frequently have problems with their tax returns:
-
Sign and date
the return. The signature goes on page two of the tax return.
Since you don’t see the signature section when you staple the return
together, it’s easy to miss. You need to sign and date the return.
If you are married and filing a joint return, your spouse needs to
sign and date the return as well. If you paid someone to prepare your
return, that person needs to sign and date the return too.
-
Use mailing
label. If you received a pre-printed, stick-on mailing label with
your tax booklet, you should use this label on your tax return. Place
it on page one at the top, right over the name and address section.
The IRS really likes these labels. In fact, if there is wrong
information on the label, you should use it anyway and cross out and
change the wrong information.
-
Calculate the
tax. A common mistake occurs when taxpayers use the tax tables to
calculate income tax and choose the tax amount from the wrong column.
There is a separate column for each filing status (single, married
filing jointly, etc.). Although it may be tempting to look over the
amounts in all of the columns and pick the lowest one to be your tax,
the IRS prefers that you choose the amount that matches your filing
status.
-
Attach your W-2.
Before you place your tax return in the mailing envelope, go get your
W-2 form and pull off the copy of the form that belongs to the federal
government. The W-2 form that you want will have “Copy B” printed
somewhere on it, probably along the bottom edge. If you can’t figure
out which copy is “Copy B,” just grab any of the copies of your
W-2 form, and attach that. It really doesn’t matter which one you
use. The W-2 form gets stapled right to the front page of your tax
return. If you worked for more than one employer, you will have a W-2
form from each employer. Attach one copy of each employer’s W-2 form
to your tax return.
-
Attach 1099
forms if tax was withheld. Usually you don’t need to attach the
1099 forms you receive. These are the forms that show how much
interest and dividend income you earned, and sometimes they show other
types of income such as retirement income. The only time you need to
attach a 1099 form to your tax return is if some income tax has been
withheld from the income shown on the 1099 form. If you do need to
attach a 1099 form to your tax return, staple it to the front page,
just like the W-2 forms.
-
Place forms in
sequence order. This one tricks almost everybody. There is a
special order that you're supposed to use for organizing your tax
forms before you staple them together. The 1040 form goes on the top
of the stack. In the upper right corner of each form other than the
1040, you will see the year (1999), and right beneath the year is a
tiny number called the “Attachment Sequence No.” this is the
number that determines in what order you are supposed to stack your
forms. These little numbers were created by people with way too much
time on their hands.
-
Send money!
If your tax return shows that you owe additional tax, you’re
supposed to include this payment with your tax return. You can send a
check in the same envelope with the tax return, or you can pay the tax
by credit card. Don’t put your credit card number on your tax
return. Instead there is a toll-free phone number in your tax form
booklet that you should call and a friendly IRS agent will take your
credit card information over the phone.
-
Enter social
security numbers. You need to enter a social security number for
yourself and your spouse and each of your dependents. Each social
security number that you enter must be exactly the same as the number
you received on the card you got from the Social Security
Administration. How else is Big Brother going to watch over you unless
you enter the correct number? Stricter rules about social security
numbers have resulted in the IRS refusing to give taxpayers the
benefit of exemptions and child-related tax credits if the social
security numbers are not included on the return.
-
Check your math.
The IRS is going to do this too, but you should run a math check
first. Make sure everything adds up the way it’s supposed to.
Don’t be embarrassed if you have to get out a calculator. Do you
think the IRS is going to add up the numbers without a calculator? No
way!
-
Claim the Child
Tax Credit. This was a new credit last year and lots of people
missed it. If you have a child who was under age 17 at the end of
1999, you may be able to claim a Child Tax Credit of $500 for that
child. The credit gets reported on page two of your 1040 or 1040A.
Take
the time to read through these points again before mailing your return,
and you may find that your tax return (and, if applicable, your refund)
will be processed a little faster this year.
|
|