Best March Tax Tips 2020

Businesses and Individuals

From now until mid-April is crunch time for your accountant, so timeliness, organization, and communication are in high demand. On the business side, most entities have a March 15th filing deadline. (Sole proprietors and calendar year-end C corporations are the exception.) Even if your accountant can prepare your return now, it may be advisable to file an extension to give your accountant more time to 1) prepare accurate returns and 2) identify opportunities that can save you tax now and in the future.

From an individual tax standpoint, you should have most of your filing information in hand by now. Exceptions are the late arriving investment statements (Consolidated Forms 1099) and passthrough statements (Schedules K-1). By the middle of this month, your accountant may request that you deliver the information you have assembled thus far, even if incomplete, so that she may get started on your returns.

At this point in tax season, your accountant probably has a backlog of two weeks or more work, and they probably won’t put your year-end work at the top of their list. Bear in mind that a shorter return preparation turnaround leaves your accountant with less time to explore opportunities that could save you significant tax dollars. That is not ideal. If you are having difficulty carving out time to assemble your tax information, call your accountant. They may have personnel that can come to your office to assist.

by Trey Whitt, Partner, DentMoses, LLP, Birmingham, AL

See also our blog on Year-End Tax Tips

And Best January Tax Tips 2020

And Best February Tax Tips 2020 (it’s not too late to attend to some of these!)

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