Nothing is certain except death and taxes.

These are not my words, they are those of Benjamin Franklin (yes, the same one that appears on those hundred dollar bills) American politician, polymath, scientist and inventor; considered one of the founding fathers of the United States of America. Without a doubt, some three centuries later, his phrase is still a reality.

And since these things are so essential in our lives, today we will talk about one of them. Taxes.

Sadly, a vast majority of articles when talking about taxes they focus on what you can deduct when declaring. And although it is interesting and informative, they lack the most important thing. Planning.

When it’s time to do your taxes, if you haven’t planed in advance, you will only have a few deductions you qualify for. However, there are dozens of other deductions that, if at the beginning of the tax year you start to use, categorize, and most importantly document, you can save a lot of money when paying or even recieve a better refund at tax time.

As a finance specialist, over the years I have helped (and continue to help) thousands of clients across the country, and have seen that most tax preparers only take advantage of two generic credits. Those related to children and those related to higher education.

But tax credits are much more than that. In future blogs I will talk about how you can qualify for higher credits and deductions. And remember, the higher the number, the better the refund.

How does it work? To help you better understand, it is essential that you have a general understanding of how taxes are calculated and what each box represents on all those forms you are given when you finish your tax return. So, where do we start?

The form used for filing taxes is the IRS Form 1040. This is the root of all calculations. You can find it by looking at your last tax return or finding a blank one on the IRS website.

Already have it? Did you notice that the 2019 edition has 24 boxes? Or more importantly, did you find that the 2020 one on the IRS page will have 38 boxes? What does that mean? How can I use that to my advantage? What do you think if in our next blog, we go through and analyze that form?