Why Procrastination Never Wins During Tax Season

This blog post is dedicated to all of those who are part of the 25 percent of the tax filers who wait until the last 14 days before the deadline to prepare the tax returns.

Giving yourself only two weeks to address tax issues will more than likely create lots of problems.

Luckily this year, you don't have to file your income taxes until April 17th.

Just because there is extra time doesn't mean you have to unleash your inner procrastinator. Procrastination in taxes translates into headaches, expenses, and other problems like the ones below.

1. Coming Up with Cash Owed

Although a good portion of my clients receive refunds, there are also a few who always owe. The amounts owed can sometimes blindside folks. Shortchanging yourself time to come up with cash, means less time for you to address budgeting and cash flow. Taking this chance increases your chances of taking out an interest-bearing loan or utilize a credit card with a high-interest rate.

2. Identity Theft

Scammers are submitting returns in early and the best defense is the best offense.

Stolen social security numbers continue to be a problem as a result of various waves of cyber hacking. Beat the thieves for your return before people who want to be you do.

3. Room for errors

The most despised task of taxpayers is hunting down paperwork such as 1099s and receipts! Attempting to file early gives you time to research or ask for copies of the documents you need.

Also, walking away from returns and then coming back to them is always beneficial to reassess for errors. Sometimes, technological failures such as computers and hardware can also add to the discrepancy of mistakes.

Unlike tax deadlines, glitches may be remedied and revised.

4. Less Attention

Tax preparers are some of the most popular people in the first quarter of the year.

The first two weeks of April relies heavily upon queues, the first clients in are also the first ones out. March is definitely a slower month than April. A tax preparer usually spends more time in consultations on an individual basis in March than in April.

Rushing last year’s filing will also result in you being less informed about new tax laws

I typically get to see my clients less than I would like to get their Ps and Qs together. This is because most of us have complex working schedules. The annual tax consultation is sometimes the only opportunity I can spend a few extra minutes with my repeating clients to discuss better tax moves.

Finally, If you need a monetary incentive, the sooner you file means the sooner you will get a return. The longer you wait, means the longer the government is sitting on an interest-free loan. So drop by, call, or submit an inquiry to M & M Bookkeeping via social media to get into the queue.