Monday, January 27, is the official start of the 2025 IRS tax filing season, and taxpayers have more filing options than ever.
Many taxpayers this year will file on their own.
But others, like Teresa Warren, will turn to a tax professional for help.
"I didn't want to do it myself," Warren said.
She met with Gina Pinto, owner of a Liberty Tax office for a consultation.
That's a smart move if you are intimidated or overwhelmed by filing on your own. A local office can also help individuals with more complex forms who:
- Own a business.
- Have multiple sources of income
- Had mistakes on previous tax returns.
- Or itemize their taxes. Most taxpayers take the standard deduction and do not itemize.
Pinto said trained professionals can take the stress out of taxes or follow up on issues you may encounter.
"If you get a letter from the IRS, or the state or city, we can help you to resolve that," she said.
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For simpler situations, taxpayers may consider an online tax software such as TurboTax.
"Maybe you have a W-2 and some bank interest. Maybe you even did some trading on Robinhood," said Ryan Polk with Clemson University. "Well, those forms are going to come directly to you."
If that's the case, Polk suggests those can be easily plugged into TurboTax or similar programs.
How you may be able to file free
Meantime, qualified taxpayers, with adjusted gross incomes of $84,000 less, can now file their federal income tax returns for free using IRS Free File.
"I would note that is only for simple, very simple tax returns and does not include state tax filing at this time," Polk cautioned.
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Whether you're in the pool of taxpayers filing on your own or hiring a professional, Charlie Moore with the company Aura said to be wary of fraudulent websites created with artificial intelligence.
"They can make them extremely believable and hard to detect," he said. "You'll see misspellings, or you'll see links to websites that then aren't accurate, like instead of 'IRS.gov,' it is 'IRS.gov.com.' Those types of things should be red flags."
If it leaves you uncertain, turn to a tax pro like Gina Pinto or thousands of others, who will walk you through it all.
"We are here to help," she said.
And that way you don't waste your money.
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