Tax Tantrum Tuesdays: Tax Time a Ticking

I was thinking...

December 31 is almost here. You know what that means? Tax time is almost upon us.

Last tax season I spent a lot of time writing posts around income taxes and how to understand yours (remember the red bottoms?). This year I'm hoping most of you have taken the time and energy to pay more attention to your income in order to minimize money wasted in witholdings and maximize tax deductions.

My goal for the 2011 tax year was to be able to itemize. Since I don't own a home yet and therefore can't deduct property taxes or home loan interest, I can't use that to itemize. But! Charitable deductions and state income taxes are both itemized deductions I can take advantage of. So...I challenged myself to do more charity (the state is already taking my money) through tithing. Aside from tithing, I've also given $$$ here and there to other charitable organizations. Since tithing was something I should've been doing anyway (because I believe in it) I found this to be a great motivator for me to stay on it.

Confession: I fell off...somewhere around July. However, all hope is not lost! As long as my last tithes are paid by December 31, 2011, they count towards my curent year return. And so....I will be making a bulk tithe payment before the end of this year to cover the tithes I've missed from August - December.

Your task: Think about what your income tax return will look like now! Did you have any major job changes, income shifts, new possible deductions, possible lost deductions, that may impact your 2011 taxes in a few months? Think about those things now. Doing this and reaching out to a knowledgeable tax professional (or doing the research on your own) may alleviate the stress that tax season brings most Americans. You won't be fearing the unknown (that you somehow owe the government some absurd amount of money).

Instead...you'll know just what to expect.