What To Consider While Filing Your Taxes This Year

Tax season is approaching, so News 9 met with Oklahoma Society of CPA’s Doug Holsted to discuss getting ready to file taxes.

One thing that can affect taxes is getting married. 

“If you're married, you're going to file married filing jointly or married filing separately. You'll determine that when you file your taxes,” Holsted said. “You can calculate it both ways. Most people get a better deal if they filed married, filing jointly. The one thing I will tell you is people get this misconception that if you weren't married most of the year, you're single still for tax purposes. You are whatever you are on December 31. So since you were married, congratulations, you file is married this year.”

Something else to consider while filing taxes is retirement.

“If you have one more payroll coming this week, then you can maximize your SEP IRA contributions, just simple IRA contributions are your 401k. By putting more money into it, your simple has a maximum amount for the year of $15,500,” Holsted said. “If you're over 50, you can add $3,500 to that your 401k has a $22,500 maximum. And if you're over 50, you can add $7,500 to that. So get a chance to put a little bit more money away and not pay tax on it.”

Child care costs can also influence taxes.

“For a child tax credit, you get $3,000 for one child to $6,000 for two or more children. So if you haven't paid your $3,000 or your $6,000, you need to get paid this week,” Holstead said. “You can actually pre pay a little bit of next year's cost to get to that number if you need to.”

Another thing to consider is how tax brackets have changed.

“Well, the brackets are adjusted for inflation and inflation was pretty steep in 2023. So the brackets have gone up quite a bit, which means if you make more money, you're going to pay a little bit less tax,” Holstead said.