Tax Tips for a Smooth Filing Season

The 2024 tax season is underway! The IRS will start accepting 2024 returns on January 27, 2025. As you prepare to bring all of your information into your preparer, we have a few tips to help make everything go as smoothly as possible, and to avoid having to file an amended return later.

·       Make sure you have all of your W-2s, 1099s, 1098s and any other tax forms when bringing your information in. Be especially mindful of this if you changed jobs in 2024, made any rollovers from your retirement accounts, took any distributions from your HSAs (including using your HSA debit card at the doctor), or had any bank or brokerage changes in the middle of the year. We recommend checking your online accounts just to make sure multiple forms were not issued for the same account. This can happen in the event of bank mergers, or if you got a new account number due to fraud prevention measures during the year.

o   You should receive most of these forms no later than January 31, however brokerage 1099s and K-1s may be issued later.

·       If you have ever been issued an identity protection PIN by the IRS, a new one is mailed out every year. Make sure to provide this number to your tax preparer. If you do not have the letter with your identity protection PIN, you can retrieve it online through your account at irs.gov.

·       IRA and HSA contributions for the 2024 tax year can be made up to the filing deadline of April 15, 2025. If you are considering making a 2024 contribution, let your preparer know when you bring in your information. They will be able to prepare your return, and then let you know the impact of making these contributions before filing.

·       Even if you are claiming the standard deduction (as 90% of taxpayers are), Minnesota does provide a deduction for charitable contributions that total over $500 during the year.

·       Minnesota renters will receive their Certificate of Rent Paid (CRP) from their landlord no later than January 31. Make sure to bring this in with the rest of your tax. NEW FOR 2024: The renter’s credit will be included on your M1 (Minnesota Income Tax Return) rather than on the separate M1PR (which will now only be used for homeowners). This means that we must have your CRP to avoid having to file an amended return later.

If you have any questions about what to provide or about items that are worth totaling up or not, please give our office a call. We are happy to answer any of these questions. We also have worksheets and checklists available that include many common deductions and credits that can get overlooked.

Changes to the Energy Credits for 2025:

·       If you are going to be making any energy efficient improvements to your home in 2025 and will be claiming one of the energy credits, the IRS is changing the process for these credits.

o   The manufacturer will certify their qualifying products with the IRS and will place a PIN on each qualifying product (windows, doors, insulation, AC units, etc.). The taxpayer will need to provide the PIN from each qualifying product to claim the rebates on their 2025 income tax returns.