Tax Expert Offers Stress-Buster Tips In Advance Of April 15
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- With the Presidents Day holiday weekend coming, it might be a good time to prep for tax day.
CBS2's Nick Caloway spoke to an expert Tuesday on tax time stress busters.
With more than two months left to file, taxes are not top of mind for New Yorkers on the street, with most telling CBS2 they haven't paid them yet.
Some said they'll get to it right away.
"Usually they get filed at the end of March," said Laura Dotolo of Manhattan.
Others, not so much.
"Probably like April. Very last minute," Brooklyn resident Tierra Kelly said with a laugh.
Some taxpayers said they prefer to let a professional handle it.
"I can't do it on my own. I don't even know where to start," Kelly said.
Others said they like to take care of it themselves.
"I do it on my own. I use the software, whatever you can buy," said Rafael Galvez of Queens.
And for those willing to file their own taxes, there is good news. The Internal Revenue Service says about 100 million Americans are eligible to file their taxes this year absolutely free of charge, Caloway reported.
"The majority of people who are filing taxes can qualify for something called 'Free File.' This is an IRS program with software companies. So you get the software and the filing is for free, if you make less than $69,000," CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger said on CBS This Morning.
Schlesinger added now is a good time to gather up your tax documents that should have already come in the mail. She recommends filing online, to prevent errors, and choose direct deposit for a refund. It should take less than three weeks to come in.
And even though there's still more than two months to go, filing early can reduce stress leading up to the filing deadline, which is April 15.
The IRS says free help is available to taxpayers at IRS.gov.
