{"id":83324,"date":"2026-03-30T19:22:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T19:22:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cred.ai\/news\/?p=83324"},"modified":"2026-03-31T19:36:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T19:36:39","slug":"tax-prep-checklist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cred.ai\/news\/2026\/03\/30\/tax-prep-checklist\/","title":{"rendered":"Tax Prep Checklist"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">With Tax Day\u2014April 15\u2014just over two weeks away, now is the time to get your paperwork in order. A good starting point is a tax organizer or checklist, which can help you track income, investment interest, and charitable contributions in one place. Tax checklists are widely available online, and if you work with an accountant, they may already send you one, often pre-populated with your prior year&#8217;s data.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Standard deduction or itemize?<\/b><b><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">One of the first decisions every filer faces is whether to take the standard deduction or itemize. For the 2025 tax year, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/taxtopics\/tc551\">standard deduction<\/a> is $15,750 for single filers and married couples filing separately, $31,500 for married couples filing jointly, and $23,625 for heads of household. About 90% of taxpayers take the standard deduction \u2014 and for good reason, since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act nearly doubled it in 2018. But if you have significant mortgage interest, state and local taxes, or medical expenses, it&#8217;s worth running the numbers both ways; most tax software will do this automatically.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">If you do itemize, you&#8217;ll need to gather supporting documents for deductible expenses such as mortgage interest, state and local taxes, and medical costs exceeding 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income. One notable 2025 development: even filers who take the standard deduction can now deduct charitable donations \u2014 up to $1,000 for single filers or $2,000 for joint filers \u2014 so don&#8217;t overlook your giving records regardless of which route you choose.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>A significant break for seniors<\/b><b><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Older Americans have particular reason to pay attention this year. Elizabeth Ruh of Personal Financial Services in Bloomington, Indiana, notes that seniors stand to benefit from a substantial new deduction.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">&#8220;I have seen a lot of seniors benefit from the senior deduction \u2014 if they&#8217;re 65, they&#8217;re eligible for up to $6,000 of an additional deduction,&#8221; Ruh said, per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wfyi.org\/news\/articles\/tax-season-brings-new-deductions-complications-for-accountants\"><i>Indiana Public Media<\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">That $6,000 bonus, introduced under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, is available for the 2025 through 2028 tax years. It does phase out for higher earners: the deduction is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fidelity.com\/learning-center\/smart-money\/standard-deduction\">reduced by 6 percent<\/a> for every dollar above $75,000 in adjusted gross income for individual filers, or $150,000 for joint filers. Seniors also qualify for a separate, older benefit: an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/taxtopics\/tc551\">additional standard deduction of $2,000<\/a> for single and head-of-household filers, or $1,600 per person for joint filers. These two senior benefits are distinct and can stack.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Filers should also review paperwork related to their investment accounts. Those hoping to deduct IRA contributions on this year&#8217;s return have until April 15 to make them\u2014the IRS <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fidelity.com\/learning-center\/smart-money\/ira-contribution-deadline\">does not extend this deadline<\/a> even if you file for a tax extension. For 2025, the contribution limit is $7,000 for those under 50, or $8,000 for those 50 and older.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>A potential refund from the pandemic years<\/b><b><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Finally, some filers (particularly those who paid IRS penalties or interest between 2020 and 2023) may be sitting on an overlooked refund opportunity. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.taftlaw.com\/news-events\/law-bulletins\/court-decision-may-open-the-door-to-refunds-of-covid-era-tax-penalties-and-interest\/\"><i>Kwong v. United States<\/i><\/a>, decided in November 2025, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims held that pandemic disaster relief provisions automatically suspended certain federal tax deadlines from January 20, 2020, through July 10, 2023. If that interpretation holds, taxpayers who were charged failure-to-file or failure-to-pay penalties, or underpayment interest, during that window may have grounds to seek a refund or abatement \u2014 with potentially significant amounts at stake, especially for businesses that faced cash-flow challenges during lockdowns.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The deadline to file a claim is July 10, 2026. Tax experts recommend starting by pulling your IRS account transcripts to check for pandemic-era charges, then <a href=\"https:\/\/miltonlawgroup.com\/2026\/03\/27\/irs-refunds-kwong-decision-covid-penalties\/\">filing Form 843<\/a> citing <i>Kwong<\/i> and Section 7508A(d) of the tax code. Note that the government may yet appeal the decision, so consulting a tax professional before filing a claim is advisable.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With Tax Day\u2014April 15\u2014just over two weeks away, now is the time to get your paperwork in order. A good starting point is a tax organizer or checklist, which can help you track income, investment interest, and charitable contributions in one place. Tax checklists are widely available online, and if you work with an accountant, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":83325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[109],"tags":[642,1232,1432],"class_list":["post-83324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-taxes","tag-personal-finance","tag-april-15"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tax Prep Checklist - crednews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cred.ai\/news\/2026\/03\/30\/tax-prep-checklist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tax Prep Checklist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With Tax Day\u2014April 15\u2014just over two weeks away, now is the time to get your paperwork in order. 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