The effects of the new Tax Cut and Jobs Act President Trump signed in late 2017 will be showing up on your taxes this year. With some changes you might not expect, procrastinating on filing your taxes is the last thing you want to do. Naperville Financial’s Mark Ede has four reasons to file early.
First, filing early prevents mistakes.
“If you procrastinate and you wait until the last minute that’s when people make mistakes. Forgetting to enter your social security number in that special spot in the upper right corner. Or making a typo on your routing or account number could delay a return,” said Ede. So giving yourself time, especially with the new changes is important.”
Those changes include increased standard deductions and updated tax withholding tables.
Second, because of the new adjustments, you may owe more than you think.
“They are going to be in for a surprise when they do their taxes, find out that they owe money and so knowing that sooner than later so that you can come up with the money would be important.”
Third, it gives you a jump-start to pay anything you do owe.
“If you don’t pay that tax bill in full by April 15 the interest starts acquiring daily right away. So it can add up quickly,” said Ede.
Lastly, filing early helps catch identity theft more quickly.
“During tax season ID theft is a big problem for the IRS,” said Ede. “If you file sooner than later then someone else files a return in your name, it’ll be easier for the IRS to spot that.”
So gather your W-2’s and get those taxes filed.
Naperville News 17’s Antonia Acuna reports.
