If your eyes are straining from rolling too much, we suggest you simply bookmark this page for the final seconds prior to your sending off for your return. Why?

The IRS charges 6% interest and up to a 20% penalty for incorrect filings. A double-check can save you tons of time, and possibly, tons of money.

• Did you include your W-2?

Obviously this won’t be a problem for e-filings, but for our snailmail brothers and sisters, it’s one of the most-repeated mistakes.



• Did you write the correct social security number?

Go over your return and see if you didn’t forget a digit, or mix your wife’s with your own. It’s a silly mistake that can cost you time or money (or both), and the IRS says it’s the number-one “whoops” mistake.

• Did you file under the correct status?

Easy to slip up on this one if you’re recently married or separated. Same level of “whoops” in the IRS mistake list.

• Did you claim new home credits too early?

You must have closed escrow by January 1, 2010. Anything after that has to wait for next year. Sorry.

• Did you report all your income?

No problem for anyone who’s worked at the same job for umpteen years, but if you’ve been floating about doing work for multiple employers (or, gulp, a now-defunct business), it can be tough to keep track of all the W-2s you’re owed.

• Did you report all your charitable giving?

If you’re just starting now, it’s a little late, but make sure you keep receipts for anything and everything you give away to charitable organizations. Anything valued over $200 has to have a corresponding receipt. If the IRS comes-a-auditing, be prepared to whip out your receipt logs, or you’ll have an uncomfortable amount of ‘splainin’ to do.

• Did you report all your mileage?

Same as your charitable giving, above. Make sure you keep an immaculate log. Again, the IRS expects you to keep your records for at least five years, and they’ll expect you to have those records ready for display whenever they’d like a closer look.

• Are you sure your “dependent” is actually a dependent?

Visit the IRS’s website and make darn sure your hanger-on qualifies as a dependent.

If this list saves just one person a week’s worth of waiting for a much-needed return, then our post will have been worth the effort!

Self-employed Health Insurance Tax Deductability

According to about.com,, prior to claiming this deduction, you must first “calculate your allowable health insurance deduction. Take your self-employment income, and subtract the 50% deduction for self-employment taxes, and subtract any retirement contributions you make to SEP-IRA, SIMPLE-IRA, or Keogh plan. The remainder is your allowable deduction for health insurance expenses.”

The Tax Deduction that Pays Off

On to the deduction! First, and most important: you can deduct the full cost of health insurance you pay for yourself, your spouse, and/or your dependents. If you’re not, go over your taxes right now. You claim your health insurance deduction as an “above the line” deduction on Form 1040, line 29. Feel free to use your worksheet on this one.

But Don’t Go Over Your Maximum Tax Deduction!

Remember, however, you can’t deduct insurance costs any time you were eligible to be in a group insurance plan. So: if you or your husband work for a company that offers an insurance plan, you’re out of luck, even if you prepaid for your insurance prior to getting a job at a company that offers the group plan. Example: today, as a self-employed father of three, you buy a 1-year policy for yourself and your family. But, five months later, your wife gets a job where group insurance is offered as part of the package. In this example, you may only deduct five months’ worth of the cost of the insurance. The government doesn’t reward the self-insured, unfortunately.