Shut Down The Tax Filing Deadline

Even though the due date for Federal Income Tax is April 18th this year, I need the government to shut down the deadline for me. If they can take their sweet time arguing about Planned Parenthood and possibly shutting down the government (as of the time of this writing) they can do me this favor.

Since  Congress is going to get paid while other government employees won’t (military in particular) if there’s a shut down, extending the tax deadline should be an easy process. Who will be working to check our taxes? Isn’t the IRS a government agency?

I’m a procrastinator by nature, but by now I usually have at least some of my tax paperwork in a file. As of now, I have my husband’s W-2 form, my 1099s and our mortgage information. I have a lot more to do, but my mind is on other things. The positive side to this mess is that my cousin files our taxes for us. She guides us in understanding taxes so we can make better decisions during the year that help us financially in the long run.

We’ve been heeding her advice and found out that knowing what is on your W-2 form shows you what our tax outlook will be. This helps us prepare for next year, even though it’s not something we want to think about. One thing we’ve learned is that making use of the pre-tax health insurance benefits lowers my husband’s taxable income as shown on his W-2 form (in Box 1). That’s a huge help. He also takes part in the Flexible Spending Account (shown in Box 14 on his W-2) which again lowers his income for taxes.

Now I’ll have to see if the possible government shut down affects the tax deadline. If not, I’d better get my butt in gear already.

What are some things you do during the year to lower your taxable income?

This is a sponsored post by SEER Interactive. All opinions are my own.