Things to consider when filing your taxes this year

One of the most impactful considerations is determining your eligibility for credits and deductions and then deciding if taking the standard deduction is right for you. Here are some ideas, which will help you establish the best way to file.

First you may want to check out something the IRS calls an Interactive Tax Assistant. You should be able to find it on the IRS website. This tool can help you decide what type of filing to do. You will need your marital status, including an exact year of death if you are a widow or widower. Next you can input the percentage of household costs all members paid toward keeping up a home. Add to that — information about your dependents, educational expenses and health insurance status. Then, be prepared to include your wages income or pension or annuity income, social security and all IRA’s or 401 K’s you may drawing from.

After you have input this information – you may be able to determine the best way to file. If your income falls below $66,000, you may be able to solicit help from the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program or Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE). However, you might be surprised how easy it is to file and find the answers you need using E-file.com.

Being an authorized e-file provider makes a tax preparer or software program qualified to prepare and transmit a return, but does not specify what the preparer/program can charge the taxpayer. With E-file.com you can save as much as 50 percent off your online tax software.

With E-file.com, your information will be secure. We use extended validation 256 bit encryption technology, an industry benchmark, for the safety of your tax filing.

Only certain states require a separate state income tax filing. Currently there are seven states who do not including Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. A couple of states including Tennessee and New Hampshire, only collect tax on interest and dividend income. A software program like, E-file.com should help determine which state filings are necessary and assist you with preparing them.

After filing electronically, it is important to watch for email notifications and/or return to the software program to ensure the filing was accepted. If it was rejected for some reason, it can usually be corrected and retransmitted (free of charge) with E-file.com. For more information on this please see our article on accepted/rejected returns here.