00:04Preparing for your taxes is stressful.
00:06It's the single largest expense of your lifetime.
00:09While this might seem like the easiest step,
00:12it's really important to gather all those important documents,
00:15your personal information,
00:16and make sure you have it all ready to go.
00:19So let's dive in.
00:24Today on set, we have our tax experts.
00:27Thank you both for being here, and I'm very excited
00:30because we have lots of questions that you can help us answer.
00:36Personal information that's going to be needed on your tax return
00:40is your full legal name, your Social Security,
00:44your birthday, your address, your filing status,
00:48single, head of household, married filing jointly,
00:51married filing separately.
00:52You need the name and Social Security number
00:55and dates of birth for any of your dependents,
00:58particularly if they are dependent children.
01:00And we have real questions from Devlin and Amy.
01:03Hi, guys. I'm Amy. I'm 34.
01:06Hello. My name is Devlin Wilder.
01:08I'm over 25 years old.
01:10I'm a professional dancer, actor, and choreographer.
01:13I am a podcast host and producer.
01:16Best investment I ever made was buying my car.
01:19My best investment would probably be anytime I've ever paid for Weird Al tickets.
01:25The last splurge item I bought for myself was this fluffy dress.
01:31Last splurge item was actually a steak dinner for myself on Valentine's Day.
01:36I rocked it solo.
01:38First of all, love that you enjoy a good steak.
01:40I'm right there with you.
01:41And our first question is from Devlin.
01:44I'm a marketer and part-time student.
01:46What paperwork do I need to prepare my tax return?
01:52The most common tax forms you're going to need to bring to your tax professional are W-2s and 1099s.
02:00So W-2 is if you are an employee of a company, they issue you a W-2.
02:05You may have more than one if you work for more than one company.
02:081099 would be any work that you did for somebody where you're considered self-employed,
02:13an independent contractor, and you made $600 or more.
02:17So my top tips for Devlin are to, first of all, run your business like a business and not a
02:22hobby.
02:22He needs every single receipt that he has for everything that he does in business.
02:26It sounds to me like he's technically a freelancer, independent contractor, so he has his own home-based business.
02:32And the only thing you need for a home-based business is your name and your social security number.
02:36Melissa, what would you say?
02:37Exactly right.
02:38And then I would basically, he said that he's a part-time student.
02:40So I'd see if he has a 1098E, a 1098T that has to do with mortgage interest, or if he
02:45had tuition payments.
02:47That could be a credit depending on how much money he makes.
02:49Make sure that you are working in your business three to four days a week, 45 minutes a session, and
02:54you have the intent to make a profit.
02:56That's what makes it a qualified business for IRS purposes.
03:02Any form that you get in the mail, you want to make sure you have it.
03:08You might have interest.
03:10Maybe you have a bond or you have a high-interest savings account.
03:15You want to have your tuition statement.
03:18You want to have your 1099R.
03:20There are many different forms that you might get depending on which kind of income or which kind of activity
03:27you've been involved in, and you want to keep them all.
03:32You're basically going to have to go to the employer and try to track it down.
03:37Because if I was to do your return without all of your important tax documents like W-2s and 1099s,
03:43we're going to have to amend your return.
03:45That's why it's important for you to know what form you are supposed to get in terms of a 1099
03:52or a W-2 if you earned any income.
03:54If you feel like you lost something, then the IRS actually does have a record because those 1099s, like someone
04:00actually filed that to report that they paid you.
04:04And so the IRS also has record of that, and you can reach out and get your tax transcript.
04:08Alright, our next question is from Amy. Let's listen in now.
04:11How do I organize myself throughout the year?
04:14It is very important to stay organized, and this is how I do it.
04:18For car stuff, I have a mileage log. And then for my receipts, I personally, anything that's emailed to me,
04:25I have a file in my email that says receipts.
04:27And I just put everything in there so it's easy breezy. I know nothing else is in there, and I
04:32just go through it and I tabulate it.
04:33I definitely suggest doing it monthly. Monthly is the best way to go about it. You can put it into
04:37an Excel spreadsheet.
04:39The top three things that I actually do to make sure I'm on top of it when tax season rolls
04:44around is,
04:45one, I involve my accountant from the beginning.
04:48And so I ask her, you know, what can we do to ensure that we're successful throughout the year financially?
04:53What do you need from me?
04:54The second thing is doing what she needs from me.
04:57You know, a lot of times we set systems up, but we're not consistent with them or we don't do
05:01them.
05:01I use an accounting software that I'm dialed into and my accountant is dialed into so she can kind of
05:06have a look throughout the year to say,
05:08Hey, I would like you to be clearer on this item or we could do this better so that I'm
05:13not waiting until tax time to pull it all together.
05:16It's so easy to document everything now because everything is electronic anyway.
05:21So track your expenses, document your business activity truthfully, get all of your forms, put them in one place, report
05:30all of your income and pay as least taxes as possible if you can.
05:35It's really important to stay organized, document everything throughout the year.
05:40So come tax season, you're that much more prepared and on top of things.
05:44Stay tuned and learn more about tax credits and deductions.
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