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" 1. YOUR MONEY IS DUE APRIL 15\u2014EVEN IF YOU FILE AN EXTENSION The IRS allows extensions of up to six months, but they&amp;#039;re meant for people who don&amp;#039;t have all the information they need to file, not for those who don&amp;#039;t have the money. &amp;quot;There&amp;#039;s a penalty and interest for missing the payment deadline, even with an extension,&amp;quot; says Melissa Labant, CPA, director of tax advocacy for the American Institute of CPAs. To skirt those extra costs, estimate your bill and make a payment\u2014you can get money back if necessary (or pay additional taxes owed) when you actually file. &amp;quot;Take a guess at whatever bit of information is holding you back from filing. Maybe it&amp;#039;s one 1099 form you&amp;#039;re missing or one deduction you&amp;#039;re waiting on,&amp;quot; suggests Labant. &amp;quot;Then round up your estimate to play it safe, and mail in the money.&amp;quot; 2. YOU&amp;#039;RE PROBABLY LEAVING OUT SOME DEDUCTIONS It&amp;#039;s not only the big-ticket items that deserve your attention\u2014smaller ones can add up too. &amp;quot;Most people know about charitable deductions, but they don&amp;#039;t realize that travel related to volunteering can be deducted, as can job-search expenses,&amp;quot; says Lisa Greene, a CPA and tax expert at TurboTax. Maintain records\u2014everything from printing r\u00E9sum\u00E9s at the copy shop to air travel for a job interview. If your total miscellaneous expenses are more than 2% of your adjusted gross income, your search may be deductible (even if you didn&amp;#039;t land a job). Other deductions: membership fees for a weight-loss program, if you joined on a doctor&amp;#039;s advice; legal fees paid to secure alimony; moving expenses to relocate for a new job; classroom supplies (up to $250) if you&amp;#039;re a teacher. 3. SMALL-BUSINESS DEDUCTIONS JUST GOT EASIER Until tax year 2013, in order to deduct your home-office space you had to slice and dice expenses like mortgage interest, property taxes, utilities and depreciation. Now the IRS allows you to take a simplified deduction of $5 per square foot for dedicated workspace for up to 300 square feet. &amp;quot;Some people were missing out because they didn&amp;#039;t want to keep track of everything,&amp;quot; says Greene. &amp;quot;This flat system makes it a snap.&amp;quot; If you netted more than $400 last year\u2014in babysitting, bookkeeping gigs or an Etsy shop\u2014you&amp;#039;ll have to pay self-employment taxes on your earnings, so make sure you get your business-expense deductions as well. 4. THERE ARE SOME GREAT NEW TAX APPS Download Shoeboxed onto your smartphone: You snap a photo of your receipts (or you can mail them in) and the app captures and organizes your records electronically. Come April, you can easily export sorted receipts to popular tax programs. With TurboTax TaxCaster, you can punch in some basic numbers and instantly get a ballpark figure of what your tax bill or refund will be. And once you&amp;#039;ve filed, the IRS2Go app lets you check on the status of your refund.  5. YOU MAY BE ABLE TO AMEND YOUR RETURN This is the second year that same-sex married couples anywhere in the U.S. can reap the federal tax benefits of marriage. But lesser-known news is that these couples can amend previous federal returns for 2011, 2012 and 2013. This will most likely benefit couples with big income disparities\u2014for example, one spouse is a stay-at-home parent or was unemployed during the recession. &amp;quot;Amending does not make you more likely to be audited,&amp;quot; adds Labant\u2014and it could score you a belated refund. 6. DOUBLE-CHECKING FOR TYPOS IS KEY &amp;quot;One of the most common mistakes is using the wrong Social Security number for dependents,&amp;quot; says Greene. &amp;quot;If you have kids, you need Social Security numbers to get some valuable deductions.&amp;quot; An error could delay or jeopardize, for instance, the Child Tax Credit ($1,000 per child), the Child Dependent Care Credit (up to $2,100) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (up to $6,143 with three or more qualifying children). Take a minute to confirm these numbers before you file. 7. AN IRS INSTALLMENT PLAN IS SMARTER THAN CHARGING WHAT YOU OWE For a onetime enrollment fee of $120 (or $52 if you set up direct deposit), you can break your tax bill into payments spread out over 72 months, with a relatively modest interest rate of 3% annually. Though paying with a credit card might be easier\u2014and can earn you miles or points\u2014note that the interest rates on most plastic are far higher than those of the IRS. 8. THE ODDS OF BEING AUDITED ARE SLIM In fact, just 1 in 104 (based on 2013 figures). And if you don&amp;#039;t own a farm, rental real estate or a small business, those odds dwindle to 1 in 250. &amp;quot;When you&amp;#039;re running a small business, the IRS tends to look a little more closely,&amp;quot; says Kay Bell, a tax expert at bankrate.com. That&amp;#039;s because people may intentionally or unintentionally claim excessive deductions. &amp;quot;When the IRS is comfortable that they know everything about your earnings, they tend not to mess with you.&amp;quot; If you do have the bad luck of being audited, keep in mind that only 3 in 10 audits require a face-to-face meeting. Most audits are resolved by mail. SHOULD YOU DIY? Yes, if you have a simple return and own no property. But if you run a business or have had a life change (say, you&amp;#039;ve started to care for your parents), using a CPA or accountant is wise. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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