HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Due to the pandemic, Tax Day has been pushed back this year to May 17.
Don't panic if you haven't filed yet, you still have this weekend to do so.
This tax deadline extension has given people more time to file their taxes but it also gives people more time to make an IRA contribution.
"You still have time to make an IRA contribution, the contribution is due, a tax-deductible contribution, is due by Monday the 17th," said Clinical Assistant Professor of Accounting and Business Law at UAH, Tobias Mendelson.
2020 was a weird year for all of us and many faced hardships, such as unemployment. If you received unemployment assistance, it's important to include that in your taxes.
"Don't forget, if you were unfortunately on unemployment compensation, unemployment compensation does go into your income tax, so it's gonna have to be put in there, don't leave it out," said Mendelson.
Alongside the unemployed, there is some help for the self-employed out there too.
"There is some relief for self-employed individuals. They can defer some of their self-employment tax, it doesn't allow them not to pay, it doesn't excuse payment but it can defer it until a later date," said Mendelson.
He says it's important to have all your information because there have been some changes that could benefit you.
"They've increased the child-care credits and so you wanna make sure that you're taking advantage of all the child-care credits, they've also done the same thing with earned-income credits, so make sure you've got all of your information," said Mendelson.
There are also possible deductibles you should look out for.
"Health insurance, dental insurance, also qualified long-term care insurance premiums, those are all the deductible, medical expenses," said Mendelson.
Mendelson emphasizes how important it is to keep your records but he mentions one group of people that should especially do so.
"Teachers buy stuff, keep records of your supplies because teachers are able to deduct up to 250 dollars, again, without having to itemize," said Mendelson.
I asked what three tips he would give someone who was doing their taxes this weekend:
"Be organized, be organized, be organized," said Mendelson.
So, if you still haven't turned in your taxes, take tonight to get everything together and organized, and filing should be a piece of cake for you this year.
We also have some last-minute tips from Visa:
- Look out for services offering faster returns or payments, they could be fraudulent. If it sounds too good to be true - it probably is.
- When storing information in the cloud you should have a unique, strong password and use two-factor authentication to protect your information.
- You should regularly monitor credit reports to help protect your identity. Some tax platforms, banks and credit unions offer customers free credit score reports.