3 COMMON TAX MISTAKES & HOW TO AVOID THEM

They totally happen. Yep, even if you're using an easy-to-follow software that holds your hand through the process.

- BETH BRAVERMAN

DIY TAX SERVICES can make filing your yearly returns a virtually fool-proof (albeit still annoying!) experience. Too bad that the seamlessness doesn’t always translate into an error-free return. In 2024, more than a million people had to amend their taxes to correct a mistake, according to the IRS. Getting something wrong could mean a delayed refund, paying more than you owe, being hit with a big bill down the line, or even dealing with an audit. Save yourself the headache by avoiding mistakes in the first place. Here, three common blunders:

Entering Tiny but Major Typos

Many mistakes are just sloppy and totally preventable. The IRS reports that these errors often include misspelling your name (blame it on Clumsy Fingers Syndrome), incorrectly typing your Social Security or bank account number (anyone else miss the number pads on keyboards?), or, if you’re going the pen-and-paper route, simply forgetting to sign in all the right places before heading to the post office. Screwing up the calculations when figuring out your deductions or earned credits is another biggie. In the 2023 tax filing season, the IRS sent 2.2 million notices to taxpayers who had made math errors!

If you slow down, you can avoid these kinds of mistakes, says Mark Steber, chief tax information officer at Jackson Hewitt, a tax preparation service with offices nationwide.