Financial
4 Strategies for an
Organized Tax Season
ESSENTIAL Naples
By Nina Azwoir, First Vice President of Investments, Wintrust Wealth Management
WINTER 2021
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“Using these strategies will ensure a smooth and worry-free tax season.” - Nina Azwoir
H
as tax season become a frustrating paper chase? These tactics can buy you some relief. As is the case almost every year, tax day is apt to sneak up in a hurry. Whether you use tax preparation software or outsource your tax prep to a CPA, here are some key strategies to ensure a smooth and worry-free tax season.
STRATEGY 1: Use a tax checklist or organizer.
Using some type of a tax checklist or organizer can help you avoid that paper chase and assemble all of the key documents you need in advance, completing your return is then a matter of filling in data. Tax checklists abound online. If you outsource your tax preparation to an accountant, it is a good bet he or she sends you a tax organizer to work from, either paper or digital; such forms often come prepopulated with your tax data from the previous year. Comparing the current tax year’s numbers to those of the year prior can be a handy way to track trends in your income, inter-
est earned on your investments, and charitable giving, among other items.
STRATEGY 2: Determine if you will be itemizing or taking the standard deduction.
A key next step in gearing up is to determine whether you will be itemizing your deductions or taking the standard deduction. If you employ a tax advisor to help with your tax return, he or she may have provided some guidance on this issue based on your previous return. If you do your taxes on your own, you can probably get a pretty clear view of whether you will itemize or use the standard deduction by taking stock of the major deductible items. For 2020, your itemized deductions would need to be greater than $12,400 for single taxpayers and $24,800 for married couples filing jointly for itemizing to be worthwhile. For most households, the biggest-ticket deductible items include state and local taxes (including
