Tis’ the number crunching season! If you've already filed your taxes, you may have noticed a few changes. For starters, your return may be smaller compared to previous years. There's a reason for that.
ABC10 asked H&R Block Tax Professional Audrea Herrera to help explain some of this year's differences:
Q: Why are some people receiving a smaller return this year?
A: The reason why is because, back in February, you may have noticed that your check went up just a little bit. And so, if you were not one of the ones who went in and changed your W4 form to reflect that, then you have been getting a little bit of your return all year long.
Q: What can parents or guardians expect with the new Child Credit?
A: It was $1,000 last year and this year it’s up to $2,000, based on your Adjusted Gross Income. [Other variables include] if the child lives with you and... whether or not the child is 17-years-old or under.
Q: What are some of the most common mistakes we make when filing our Tax Returns?
A: People are filing wrong statuses and they will come in here and say, 'I want to qualify for head of household,' and in real life they don’t qualify for it. Another is, a lot of people feel that only high schoolers can use educational credit. Anyone going back to college can benefit from the educational credits. Lastly, people aren’t filing at all. They think they don’t need to file and they don’t. And, what’s going on is that, this year specifically, a lot if people are qualifying for Earned Income Credit and they are getting money back”
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