The federal filing date for taxes was pushed from April 15th to May 17th of 2021. If you’re reading this around our normal filing deadline, you have almost two months left before you have to file your federal taxes. Now is the time to start getting everything together, and we’ve got a list of things to help you get organized:

DO YOU NEED TO FILE? – You may not have to file taxes this year IF you were a dependent, you turned 65 or older, or if you had low income. It all depends on your circumstances, so find that out first before doing anything else.

SET AN ALARM FOR APRIL 15TH – Just because federal taxes pushed back their deadline, doesn’t mean your state did. Find out online if your state is still making you file by April 15th, and if so, file by that date so you don’t incur any penalties.

GATHER PERSONAL INFORMATION – Get your SSN and any dependants SSN as well. If you do not have the correct information, this could delay any refunds you may be eligible for. Also have addresses, and bank routing numbers as well, to help expedite the process.

GATHER NEEDED DOCUMENTS – By now, you should have received all necessary documents needed to file your tax returns. Have them all in one place to attach to your forms, or if they are on your computer, but them all in one folder where they are easily accessible.

DETERMINE FILING STATUS – Your filing status is mainly determined by being married or unmarried. But there are other things that could affect it, such as, are you single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, and qualified widow(er). Pick the best one for your situation.

DECIDE HOW YOU’LL BE FILING – Are you going to try and handle your taxes yourself? Or will you be hiring someone to handle it for you? If you chose the latter, then now is the time to contact someone and get in to see them. They will be extremely busy and you do not want to procrastinate when it comes to filing your taxes. If you are going to handle them yourself, look for tax software that is easy to use and understand.

DETERMINE DEDUCTIONS – If you are doing your own taxes, you will need to figure out which deductions, if any, you will be taking. You will also need documentation to back up your claims. If you have an accountant, they can help you decide which ones you may qualify for.

TAX CREDITS – You may qualify for tax credits, earned income tax credit, retirement savings tax credits, green energy tax credits, etc. If you have hired someone, they should be able to help point out which ones you might qualify for.

WILL YOU OWE MONEY – Once everything has been tallied and you’ve applied all your credits, do you owe the state or federal government any money. If so, now is the time to start putting money to the side to pay them off. You don’t have to file right now, but it’s a good idea to go ahead and get that debt out of the way.

TAX REFUND IN YOUR FUTURE – If by some chance you will be getting money back from the government, start a plan with what you might want to do with that money. Do you want to save it, are there any home repairs you need? Make a plan to keep you from wasting money.