December 1st, 2022
TOPIC: How To File Taxes
This guide will educate you on how to file taxes as a beginner. If you or someone you know has never filed taxes before and want to learn how this blog is for you!
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ATTENTION:
This blog post is for someone who works at a job and wants to learn how to file taxes. They also claim themselves on their tax returns (meaning no one claims them as dependent).
What Is a Tax Return?
We pay income taxes to fund the government. The government wants your income from your work throughout the year.
That’s why if you work a job and look at your paystub, you will have a chunk of your pay taken out.
Your employer is taking out taxes from each one of your paychecks throughout the year.
What do they do with that money?
Well, your employer sends that money to the government on your behalf.
The Tax Return is going to be asking you a series of questions to figure out the following:
- How much you made throughout the year.
- How much money you should have sent to the government.
- How much money you sent to the government.
What Happens If My Employer Takes Out Too Much Money From My Paycheck?
If your employer takes out too much money, you will receive a refund from the government.
On the other hand, if your employer takes out too little in taxes from your paycheck, you will be owing the IRS money.
How Do I Fill Out My Tax Return?
You will first need to gather all the tax forms you need to complete your tax return.
You should receive all the tax documents you need between January and February of the following year.
For example, your tax documents for the year 2022 should arrive between January and February of 2023.
Note: I will list out the most common tax documents you will need in the section below.
Assuming you have all the tax documents you need, you will then have to use those tax documents to fill out your tax return.
At this point, you can decide to:
- Hire someone like an accountant to do it for you
- Do it yourself
- Pay someone else to do it for you. (i.e. H&R Block)
Doing it yourself is the cheaper option (It’s Free). You will just need to block out 15-30 mins of your day to make sure you file your taxes correctly.
However, if you decide to file taxes yourself, I recommend using free tax filing online software.
You should avoid filing taxes by pen and paper because it can get convoluted.
What Documents Do I Need To File Taxes?
If you’re someone who just works and doesn’t go to school, invest, gamble, or own a home, then you probably will only need a W2 form.
The W2 form is mandatory, and everyone a company employs will receive it.
However, the other forms listed here are conditional, meaning you must meet certain requirements to receive them.
Here’s the list:
W2 tax form
The W2 Tax form shows how much you made and how much was taken out for taxes. You will receive this form via mail or digitally from your employer in January.
1099 INT Form
If you made over $10 in interest income, you would need this form. For example, some banks pay you interest for having an account open with them.
You will get this tax form in January, coming from the place that paid you interest payments.
1099 B Form
You will receive this form if you invest in the stock market. This form tells you how much money you made or lost in the stock market.
It also reports your dividends and interest income from the stock market. You should get this form between January and February.
1098 Form
If you own a house and have a mortgage that you pay each month, you will receive this form from your lender in January.
This form shows how much you paid in interest on your mortgage and how much you paid in property taxes.
You can deduct both expenses from your taxable income when you file your taxes with this form.
1098-E Form
If you make student loan payments, then you will receive this form. This form shows how much you paid in student loan interest.
You can deduct how much you pay in interest from your taxes.
Assuming that you have been making payments on the interest of your student loans, you will receive this 1098 E form from your lender in January.
1098 T Form
If you go to school and pay tuition, you will receive form 1098 T. This form shows how much you paid in tuition for the year.
Using this form to fill out your taxes is extremely beneficial because our government will give you a tax credit based on the amount you paid in tuition.
Our government loves to see its citizens go to school and get an education. So they will gladly give you a tax break for taking the time to educate yourself.
You should receive this tax form in January.
Note: If you want to learn the difference between tax credits and deductions, click here.
1099-R
You will receive this form only when you start taking money out of your retirement account.
This form shows how much you took out from your account and how much of that the bank withheld as tax.
W2-G
You will receive this form for any money you earn while gambling. You will need this form to report your winnings and how much in taxes was withheld on the money you earned.
This form will tell the government:
- What type of gambling you did do.
- How much money you won while gambling.
- The ratio of the winnings to the wager.
How Do I Get The Forms I Need To File taxes?
We live in a time where everything is now digital. That means most companies allow their customers to download tax forms digitally.
This includes companies like banks, stock brokerages, lending companies, universities, etc.
Which FREE Tax Filing Software Is The Best?
Suppose you don’t own a business or rental properties or have multiple income streams. In that case, your tax return will be pretty straightforward.
In this blog post, I showed you how to file taxes using the common forms you’ll need if you’re just working a job.
If that’s you, then the kind of results you will get using these online tax software will be about the same.
These online tax software will not take a deep dive into your life and strategize how you can save on taxes.
Instead, they are built for one thing: To make sure you file your taxes and remain on good terms with the IRS.
Do You Want To Save More Money On Taxes?
If you’re someone who wants to save more $$$ on taxes than what these tax software are giving you, you’re in luck.
I just launched a new tax-saving bundle called Blueprint Bundle. This tax bundle is changing how people do taxes forever.
This tax bundle contains a collection of my best-selling tax programs.
In addition, it has a bunch of tax strategies that help lower your tax bill dramatically!
Best of all, if you act before this week is over, you can claim this bundle for 75% OFF its original price!
So if you’re ready to start saving on taxes…
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