Taxes And The IRS: Are You Paying Too Much?

Taxes are a fact of life, something that you can not get around.  Or, can you?  With the right education and a bit of financial know how there are many things that you can do to pay less in taxes and to have more money to live your life.  Best of all, these are all things that you can do legally and without having to worry about having an IRS audit in the process! 

Tip 1:  Hiring A Professional Team

Before you go any further, the first thing to consider that is utterly important is having a professional team working for you.  When it comes to filing taxes, you may believe that you can do this work yourself, and you may be able to do so.  But, you should consider a team of professionals to help you to do it better. 

•  Hire a professional tax accountant that will manage your money.  He or she can offer advice all year long about the right decisions to make with your finances.  This will include situations like capital gains and tax debt that you may already have.

•  Hire a professional financial planner that will manage your investments.  They can help you to set up retirement tax planning methods that will allow you to put away your money for retirement without having to pay taxes on that income.  They can help you with various other situations too, such as what investments to make and how to structure them to avoid estate taxes.

•  Hire a professional tax attorney to help you to manage problematic situations.  If you are facing tax debt, IRS payment plans, or you need to work through bankruptcy of your tax debt, they can offer the most advice to get you through the situation without a problem.

Tip 2:  Get Current And Stay There

The largest way to pay too much in taxes is simply to pay fees through penalties and interest payments.  If you have back taxes or you have not filed a return, do so.  You would work through the IRS Appeals Office to determine if there are any things that can be done to work through the issues that you have and do not agree with.  Most importantly, work with the IRS to get into a payment plan so that you can reduce the taxes that you currently owe.  You may be able to offer a payment that will be enough to pay off everything or your may qualify for tax amnesty.  In any case, once you get current, you are less likely to face the costs of penalties.

Tip 3:  Get Everything You Can

Through tax planning, you should be able to structure your daily life to reflect an interest in not paying too much in taxes.  For example, you can make adjustments to the retirement income you are putting away so that you are putting away the most that you can and not paying income tax on it.  You may want to consider doing some home remodeling.  Did you know that currently you can qualify for a tax deduction if you use energy efficient furnaces and windows (not to mention other major appliances in your home or business?) 

There are various types of deductions that you are likely to have and therefore you should be striving to get every one of them.  Chances are good that you will see an increase in your tax refunds if you do take the time to go through these situations!  Your tax professionals can help you to accomplish this, too.

By taking advantage of the resources that are available to you throughout the web, through the IRS and through your tax professionals, you can better improve your chances of not overpaying the government the money that should be in your pocket.  It's essential that you take the time to structure your financial goals to reflect tax savings whenever possible.  After all, it is your money!