00:00 Speaker A
So far, Americans are filing their tax returns a little slower than they did last year, with just over 70 million returns received by the IRS as of March 14th. If you still haven’t filed yet, we’ve got Lisa Green Lewis, TurboTax CPA and tax expert here with some last-minute filing tips. Lisa, if you haven’t started your taxes yet, what should you be doing this weekend?
00:26 Lisa Green Lewis
Definitely going online and e-filing with direct deposit, e-file with direct deposit. That’s the quickest way to get your refund. And, you know, the average refund is over $3,000 for many people. That is the biggest check that you get all year.
00:48 Speaker A
So, what is the biggest mistake that you see people make on their taxes?
00:54 Lisa Green Lewis
Yeah, I would say just procrastinating. People who wait, they tend to leave important things out of their tax return. So you want to gather all your documents in one place, you know, documents that report your income like your W-2s and 1099s, and then also forms and receipts for those expenses that could be deductible. Um also, people that have kids, sometimes they gather the incorrect Social Security number. And so you need those accurate Social Security numbers in order to claim those valuable deductions and credits for your kids. And also, um, I would say not filing at all. There are some filers that make under the IRS income threshold, but if they’ve had federal taxes taken out of their paychecks or are eligible for refundable credits, like the Earned Income Tax Credit, then they should still file because they may be leaving money on the table.
02:13 Speaker A
Now, President Trump has made some suggested changes to the tax code. How would no income tax change things for most Americans?
02:27 Lisa Green Lewis
Um, first thing I want to say on that, um, because there’s a lot of confusion about the proposals, um, those proposals do not impact your 2024 taxes. So just want to emphasize that because I think people are holding off hearing these tax law changes, but no taxes on tips. So right now, um, you know, tips are taxed at a certain amount. No taxes on tips would mean, um, that that income would be tax-free if that did come about. And, um, there would be less paperwork for filers and the employers as well.