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I have a confession to make. I was ready to file my final tax return and decided to run it through another program. I did something I’ve never tried before and I REALLY urge you to do your taxes twice too!
Yes, it took me a few extra hours, but I found out that we actually had over $3000 in a tax refund that our first run through had missed! By taking the time to do our taxes twice, I made $1000 an hour. NOTE – I did not FILE twice, I just ran all of our info and numbers into two DIFFERENT online filing options.
You know the old saying measure twice, cut once? Well, PLEASE do that with your tax return.
According to the IRS, 80% of tax payers now file online. Next year, I might even set aside an entire weekend to run it through 3-4 programs before I decide on which one to file. Most people hit “FILE NOW” and take what they get and that’s it. Take the time before to double and triple check your numbers. I was proud of ourselves that we initially only had $67 coming to us, thinking that I had done all I could to claim exemptions where needed. Apparently, I WAS WRONG. VERY WRONG. THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS A MONTH WRONG!
Do you want to know the craziest thing about this situation? I filed the simple, 1040 EZ file the second time because all of that itemizing did us no good, in fact, that is what screwed me up in the first place. I entered two items incorrectly, but by one decimal point off. Plus, the second time I filed, I chose a software program that was less money too! Thank GOD I caught this, I never would have known that we overpaid by $3000 and now I can change our exemptions to get even more back every paycheck. Part of me is relieved and thrilled to be getting the refund, but I’m even more thrilled to realize that we will be getting a raise (at least it will seem like that to us) once I adjust our exemptions again!
Check out my post about getting the most money back on your tax return for more tips on maximizing your refund!
At the end of this post, I have listed various tax filing options you can use. *Some of these are affiliate links and none of them should charge you up front. You will have to enter your info separately each time to each program, but that should not take you more than a few hours at most per program. The intentional act of re-entering each piece of information, each line item, was the game changer in our case.
ARE A FEW EXTRA HOURS OF YOUR TIME WORTH THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS?
E-file.com *This is the program I ended up filing with that caught my mistake!*
Do Your Taxes The EASY Way—For FREE. Use TurboTax Federal Free Edition today. Start Now.*
Register now FREE! Free IRS eFile for Everyone! TaxACT Makes it Easy, Fast & Free.
Want to track your refund status on your phone? Tech Times has an article on features of the IRS2Go App, now available for ios and android phones.
Thank you for this! I wish we had done this each time, but now knowing this we can check twice for now on.
I have ran ours threw two different programs before and the difference wasn’t as noticeable. However, a few years ago I did it with state taxes and the amount owed was about $300 different. I chose the lesser of the two and it recently came back to us 3 years later that we owe $350. Ugh! Just need to make sure it’s 100% accurate. Great post!
This is why I pay someone to check and double check our taxes and I still peruse them afterwards. Ours are too complicated for anyone other than a tax professional to handle. But, before marriage and mortgages and kids and multiple jobs, etc. I used to do ours.
#ibabloggers
That is crazy that you found so much the first one missed! I cannot believe it. I will be running ours twice now this year! Thank you for the information!
Very good idea. I do my own taxes and I know that this can happen. Thank you for linking up at the Home Matters Linky Party this week!
This is such a great tip. I will definitely be doing this next year.
that’s why it’s important to check everything TWICE!