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Saying ‘I love you’ in tax season

February 14, 2007

Be_my_valentine_2

If you don’t yet have your tax refund to spend on a nice Valentine’s Day gift for your true love, don’t despair. Here are few other, tax- related ways to say "I love you."

Take charge of the tax chores. Even when you get money back from Uncle Sam, this is a task that most of us hate. So take the burden off your sweetheart, advises David Bergstein, a CPA and tax analyst for CCH CompleteTax. Track down all forms, get all the information in order and prepare the taxes yourself.

Decide together how to spend your refund. Money is the biggest cause of stress in a relationship. One way to avoid money problems is to talk openly about the issue. And there’s no better place to start than in making a joint decision on how to spend your refund money.

One possibility for your tax cash: retirement planning. Bergstein recommends investing your refund equally
in
his and her IRAs
. It’s a perfect way to show that you’re thinking about
each other for the long term. Depending upon your income level and
other retirement investments, you and your spouse can invest as much as
$4,000 each to an IRA account, Roth or traditional. Don’t forget about
the extra $1,000 each you can contribute if you’re both 50 or older.

Always keep in mind why you love him or her. If it turns out you owe the IRS because your spouse messed up on his or her paycheck withholdings, erroneously decided to sell stocks that triggered big year-end taxable gains or managed to lose all the receipts for the charitable deductions you made last year, don’t sweat it.

Remember, it’s just money, and really just a small price to pay for true love.

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TAX-SAVVY WAYS 
TO WRAP UP 2026

It’s over! With October’s extended filing deadline behind us, it is now time to focus on year-end moves to reduce your 2026 tax bill. 

You’ll find ways to do just that on the Tax Tips page (see the More Tax Posts drop-down menu at the top of the blog), as well as the separate tax tip pages for each month, notably October through December. If you’re on the Tax Tips page, you’ll find a monthly list at the end of this column. If you’re on another blog page, you can head straight to the October tips; at the bottom of that tips page you’ll find links to all the other 11 months’ collections of tax advice.

Not to spoil what you’ll find in that tax advice, but it does cover such things as tax deductions for charitable donations, investment moves that could reduce tax due, and ways to max out your tax-favored retirement savings. 

Finally, as the year winds down, things get hectic. There are lots of other things to occupy our time, like the much more fun upcoming holidays. But don’t lose sight of taxes, since timing is key. To be of use, most tax moves must be made by the end of the tax year. That’s Thursday, Dec. 31, which also is the last business day of the year. 

So that you don’t miss that final tax year deadline, also keep an eye on the countdown clock below. It will keep you on top of just how much time is left to make important, tax-saving moves. (Note: I’m in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.)

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