Have You Filed Your 2016 Taxes?

This is something new.
For the very first time your 19-year old daughter will be filing income taxes. And even though it was the very first time, the process involved a little extra work. In fact, you had to consult a bookkeeper friend to understand a few of the details. For the most part your daughter earned her money in the state where you live. Because she goes to college twelve hours and three states away, however, she also earned some money in another state. The bookkeeper you consulted suggested that even though it might not be worth buying the software for the out of state claim, you might simply file a paper tax return. This would allow your daughter to begin the process of being a part of the state where she is in college. A state where she will likely continue living beyond graduation.
Could a Bookkeeper or Certified Public Accountant Help You Answer the Questions You Have About Filing Taxes?
The complicated nature of today?s finances means that fewer and fewer individuals are able to file their own taxes. In fact, the number of pages in the tax code has increased 16.775% in the past century. And while many individual tax filers think that it is better for them to simply file the short form, many would benefit from a more detailed tax filing. The catch is that this kind of filing often requires the help of a bookkeeper or CPA.
Understanding the changing tax code requires that many people take the time to meet with a knowledgeable financial team to make sure that they are taking advantage of all of the available deductions.
Consider some of these facts and figures about today?s taxes:

• The IRS receives more than 140 million individual tax returns and collects over $950 billion in taxes every year.
• The average standard deduction is 7,884. Itemizers, on the other hand, file an average claim of $26,084.
• Americans spend 7.6 billion hours each year completing their tax returns.
• Americans hire as many as 1 million accountants each year for tax help and spend $27.7 billion a year preparing their taxes.
• 57% of tax returns are completed by paid preparers.
• The average tax refund is $2,953. In total, over $325 billion in tax refunds are paid out every year.

HAve you scheduled accounting or tax services to help you complete your 2016 state and federal returns?