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5 Reasons to Be an Early Bird Tax Filer in 2015

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Being early has numerous benefits when it comes to a variety of activities. The same can be said when it’s time to prepare and file your taxes with the IRS. Here are 5 reasons you should consider filing your taxes early in the 2015 tax season instead of waiting around until the April 15th deadline:

 
1) You get more time to pay any balance you owe.
 
If you owe the IRS a balance, there are benefits to filing your return early. If you send in your tax return within the first few weeks of the 2015 tax season, you will not have to pay this balance until April 15th rolls around. Getting your Form 1040 in proper order early gives you additional time to prepare your payment. This extra time is particularly beneficial to those who need to find out how much they specifically owe in tax payments to the IRS so that they can budget for it.
 
 
2) It helps you get your tax refund sooner.
 
Who doesn’t like receiving a nice big tax refund check from Uncle Sam? We all do, of course. This is why a nice benefit to an early filing is having the ability to get this refund payment sooner. We all have ongoing expenses. But when some extra income is made available to us, it certainly can’t hurt our personal or business bank accounts.
 
3) It helps you avoid filing for an extension or incurring late payment penalties.
 
Filing for an extension of time on your taxes isn’t a bad thing at all. However, it is one extra thing you’ll have to worry about doing later in the year. On another note, you don’t want to incur late payment penalties or late-filing penalties. Taxpayers fork out millions of dollars in tax payments to the IRS every year. The last thing they want is to have an even higher bill for failing to meet a certain filing deadline.
 
4) It reduces tax-filing stress, especially for small business owners.
 
Tax season is often a stressful time of year as taxpayers from Miami to Honolulu scramble to get their returns prepared and submitted on time. But in reality, it shouldn’t be stressful at all. Filing a return earlier in tax season is a very effective way to reduce stress. Although individual taxpayers can be frazzled by taxes, small business owners generally face more IRS requirements for businesses, including the handling of estimated quarterly taxes. If you run your own company, getting your taxes done sooner than later can help you focus on what’s most important to you—generating revenue.
 
5) Early filings help you avoid tax fraud and scams.
 
No matter where you reside or how much money you make, there is a greater chance than ever of becoming victimized by a tax fraud scheme. Filing your taxes with the IRS early is a great way to help you avoid these prevalent scams. If you send your return to the IRS before a scammer steals your identity and does so for you, you can prevent anyone from trying to file using your personal information. Scammers file fake tax returns and steal millions in tax refunds every year, so you should do everything in your power to steer clear of them, including filing your taxes early enough.
 
This article was originally published by 1800 Accountant
Published: February 19, 2015
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