3 Proven Tax Preparation And Filing Tips To Help Senior Members

To be honest, preparation of tax becomes a single stressful duty for the family caregivers to take on. Taxes might be something that you don’t pay much attention to when you are taking care for an aging loved one. This is not something unusual and we get that. Fortunately, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2018 basically doubled the regular deductions for every individual. This means that the regular deduction seniors (65 years and above) can now claim before claiming the bonus deduction is much better than what it was before. In simple words, seniors (and their caregivers) are quite happy with the income tax returns at present. With all that in mind, in this post, we have put together 3 major income tax preparation and filing tips to help you, as a senior member to flow smoothly through the tax season.

Know your entitlement

The tax perks that cab be availed by individuals who are 65 years and above can be surprising and at times even easy to get completely ignored. As an example, if you do not itemize all your deductions, you might be eligible for a ‘higher than the average’ amount of your regular senior deduction. This amount further gets increased if any of you (as the couple) is blind. Another benefit that a senior member can easily miss is the “Care for the Elderly” credit amount. This credit is applicable (strictly) if either of the couple is disabled. The amount that can be received depends on the age of the person, filing status, and the income. Credits are always welcome as long as you deserve them and are legal.

Stay away from scammers

Scammers are everywhere and they are always up to take advantage of any kind of situation and seniors are the most vulnerable group with regards to that. You always need to realize that neither the IRS, nor any of its related agencies would never make unsolicited contacts with you, to seek your personal information. If you ever receive a call that sounds like a scam, follow these useful tips —

1. Hang up the call right away and never entertain such calls
2. Never provide them any kind of personal information irrespective of whoever the person is claiming to be
3. Never purchase a gift card and provide them its code to pay for the claimed dues
4. Never wire any amount of money over your phone

Be cautious of your social security

Finding out the correct taxable amount of the Social Security perk is complicated and it is a complete nightmare. If you are doing tax preparations of your own, make sure to fulfill the Social Security benefits worksheet very carefully. You can also ask for 2, so that can cross-check and omit the errors (if any). Keep in mind that this is applicable only when your provisional income is more over k annually, then you must pay taxes on your Social Security.

Keep these points in mind and take help from a professional who can minimize conflict of interest along with taking care of your tax transactions.    

Author: The author is a blogger and the article is about tax preparation tips.

About This Author

Paul Jardine Joined: December 18th, 2019