WHY YOU SHOULD TAKE EXTRA CARE WITH YOUR TAX RETURN

You can minimize your tax bill and avoid unwanted attention from the IRS by watching out for common errors and oversights.

- SANDRA BLOCK

IT’S tax season, the anxiety-inducing time of year when millions of Americans start thinking about all the things they’d rather do than prepare their tax returns.

But the task could be less onerous this year. There weren’t a lot of adjustments to the tax code in 2024, so if your personal circumstances didn’t change, your tax return probably won’t change much, either. More important, chances are very good that Congress will extend the individual tax provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which are set to expire at the end of 2025—so you likely won’t have to take steps to avoid a tax increase in 2026.

Still, you should take your time when preparing your return or gathering the information you’ll need to provide to your tax preparer. Otherwise, you may overlook taxsaving provisions or make errors that could lead to an unnerving letter from the IRS.

Here are issues to watch out for when you tackle your 2024 tax return.

EV tax credit. Since January 1, 2024, buyers who purchase an eligible electric vehicle have been able to claim a tax credit of up to $7,500 for a new EV or $4,000 for a used one at the point of sale, either as a rebate or as a reduction in the cost of the vehicle, thanks to a provision in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. If you took advantage of the credit to lower the cost of an EV, you’ll need to report it when you file your tax return.

When you purchased the EV, the dealer should have given you a timeof-sale report and a document indicating that the IRS had accepted it. The report confirms that your vehicle was eligible for the credit, lists the amount of credit available for the specific vehicle you bought and shows that the credit was transferred to the dealer by the IRS. If you didn’t receive a time-of-sale report (or if you lost it), contact the seller. Without it, you can’t claim the credit, the IRS says.