It's that time of year again, the dreaded last-minute dash to find your W-2, receipts and tax forms in order to file by Wednesday's deadline.
For the first time, due to the Affordable Care Act, you're required to report whether you, your spouse and your children had health insurance for all of 2014.
If you didn't, you'll have to pay a penalty of either $95 per uninsured person, up to $285, or 1 percent of your modified adjusted gross income — whichever is greater, said Lindsey Buchholz, a principal tax research analyst at The Tax Institute at H&R Block.
However, you may qualify for one of more than 30 exemptions, including health insurance coverage that became effective May 1, 2014; a gap in coverage of less than three months; an eviction; a foreclosure; or the shut-off of your utilities, Buchholz said.
If you bought your health insurance through a state or federal marketplace and got help paying the premium through an advance premium tax credit, you'll have to reconcile the advance on your tax return with your actual income in 2014, she said.
"Those are the big new things this year," Buchholz said.
If you're debating whether to itemize or claim the standard deduction, she said, remember that if you own a home and work, you usually benefit by itemizing because your mortgage interest, real estate taxes and state and local taxes, added together, would be more than the standard deduction. You can also itemize charitable donations, unreimbursed business expenses and medical expenses that you paid out of pocket, Buchholz said.
If you paid student loan interest in 2014, this also may reduce your taxable income up to $2,500 or the amount you actually paid, said Ashley L. Spina, a Boston-area tax attorney at CBIZ Tofias and author of the tax blog basisandboot.com.
"Typically, a taxpayer can deduct only interest on the loans they are legally obligated to repay," Spina said. "However, in circumstances where parents have made payments on their non-dependent children's student loan interest, the taxpayer may deduct the interest paid by the parents."
If you don't have all your documents, you can file for an extension, giving you until Oct. 15, Buchholz said, but you still have to make a good-faith estimate of how much you owe and pay that when you file for an extension. Otherwise, you'll have to pay a penalty of up to 25 percent of what you owe, plus interest, she said.
"If you're not sure, it's better to file for an extension and get help than file an incorrect tax return and have to correct it later," Buchholz said. "You may have failed to itemize and paid too much tax, for example. But you'd have to know that, and know that you have to file an amended tax return, in order for the IRS to refund what you overpaid."
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