The IRS is open and running smoothly, but (there’s that but again!), Congress wants to get extra credit during an election year by changing the tax code retroactively during tax season. What could go wrong?! It hasn’t happened yet, but they are discussing expanding the Child Tax Credit among other things, so it could affect … almost everyone. I’ll keep you updated when I learn more.
You should receive W-2’s and 1099’s any day now with brokerage statements following in a few weeks. If you have Healthcare through the ACA Exchange, you will also receive a form 1095-A (or get it online at Healthcare.gov). Students should also get a 1098-T from their school (they often have to get it online).
Partnership and S-Corp returns are due March 15th this year, and personal returns are due on April 15th.
For those of you sending documents to us, time for a repeat (again!) lesson on scanning documents. Don’t make me do a pop quiz!
First, real scanners are best. They produce the “clean” PDF documents which can then be electronically transmitted to us from your computer, preferably via our Secure Portal. We don’t need high resolution photo quality documents; typically, 300dpi grey scale is adequate. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just select “scan as PDF or document” and you should be good.
A sometimes more convenient option is to use your smart phone’s camera as a scanner. This works in a pinch for a few pages, but the camera apps are setup for photos, not documents, and they produce a very poor quality on their own. To combat this failing, there’s an app. Actually, there are many free apps and quite a few paid. I like Scanbot. Office Lens is also good, or Scanner, or Adobe Scan. Pretty much any of them do a decent job turning your phone’s camera into an impromptu scanner. If you have an iPhone, the built-in Notes App also allows you to take photos and embed them in a PDF document. For best results, you want a flat, solid dark background and good lighting.
As always, feel free to call or email our office to make an appointment or if you have any questions or concerns or just need help getting organized.