Am I the only one still working on taxes? Help!

[BamaTanya]

Yikes! I can't find all those little pieces of paper. Too many things going on. Piles of paper everywhere.

Can I decide NOT to itemize this year? We usually have charitable giving, local/state taxes, mortgage interest, university costs, and medical expenses. They usually bump us past the standard deduction (by a little).

With everything else going on this year, I'm thinking about taking the loss (extra refund) and not dealing with those piles of receipts.

Any advice?

If I *don't* itemize, can I get by with just having the W-2s and 1099s?

tia

[Claire]

Not an expert, by any means! :tongue_smilie: However, in your situation I would do the standard deduction. I think you need just the W2s and 1099s to do it that way.

You can always re-do the tax return with itemizing later, when you have gathered all those little pieces of paper together. If it works out better for you itemized, just file an amended return to get that refund check.

Just be aware that it is *very* easy to never get around to filing that amended return.

In general, as long as you are overpaying the government and not underpaying, the government won't care whether you itemize or not.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I agree with Claire. At this late date I would do whatever allowed me to meet the government deadline. Can someone take the kids so that you can focus just on this one monster job?

[Cheryl in NM]

Yes you can just take the Standard Deduction. Yes, you just need your W-2 & 1099s. Only the W-2 gets mailed in though. If you feel up to it at a later date re-work them and file an amended return.