Preparation and a good financial professional will ensure a comprehensive return
Well, it’s that time of year! Tax season is upon us.
Very soon everyone will start getting all their tax documents in the mail (or email) and your accountant will be bothering you to get all your receipts in order for all those wonderful deductions.
While many of those reading this article will have someone preparing their tax return (as stated by past tax return statistics), it is important that everyone is aware of some important dates and requirements regarding your tax return this year.
Key Dates
This year, the filing season for electronically filing your tax return kicked off on January 19, 2016. That means, everyone is now able to electronically transmit their returns to the IRS for acceptance.
Also, January 31, 2016 was the last day for open enrollment for the health insurance marketplace to obtain health insurance by March 1, 2016. Now, some might be asking, how does the deadline for open enrollment affect my tax return?
Well, as of 2014, the government began enforcing the Shared Responsibility Payment (also known as the health care tax) for those who do not have health insurance that meets the minimum essential coverage for the calendar year.
Therefore, for those who do not have health insurance, now is a good time to make sure you obtain it to avoid the penalty.
Of course, if you fall into this category of not have insurance as of yet for 2016 and are worried about a penalty for not having insurance for the first two months of the year, do not fret.
An exemption to the health care tax exists if you did not have coverage for consecutive month of less than three months. So you still have some time to still avoid the health care tax!
Finally, and most important (especially for those who pay taxes), the last day to file your tax return this year is April 18, 2016.
Even though April 15, 2016 falls on a weekday, the IRS elected to move the date to Monday the 18th.
So take advantage of those extra days!
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