Filing taxes for the first time is scary.
But it is actually very simple!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
WHAT YOU NEED BEFORE STARTING:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Documents to gather:
\u2192 W-2 from employer (get by Jan 31)
\u2192 1099 forms (freelance income)
\u2192 Student loan interest statement (1098-E)
\u2192 Social Security Number
\u2192 Bank account info for direct deposit<\/p>\n\n\n\n
STEP BY STEP FILING GUIDE:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
STEP 1 \u2014 CHOOSE HOW TO FILE:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Free options (most people qualify):
\u2192 IRS Free File (income under $79,000)
\u2192 FreeTaxUSA (always free federal)
\u2192 Cash App Taxes (completely free)
\u2192 TurboTax Free Edition (simple returns)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paid options (complex situations):
\u2192 TurboTax: $50-150
\u2192 H&R Block: $50-200
\u2192 TaxSlayer: $25-50<\/p>\n\n\n\n
STEP 2 \u2014 CHOOSE YOUR FILING STATUS:
\u2192 Single (most young people)
\u2192 Married Filing Jointly
\u2192 Head of Household (single parent)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
STEP 3 \u2014 STANDARD VS ITEMIZED:
Standard deduction 2026:
\u2192 Single: $14,600
\u2192 Most young people take standard
\u2192 Only itemize if deductions exceed this<\/p>\n\n\n\n
STEP 4 \u2014 ENTER YOUR INFORMATION:
\u2192 Enter W-2 information
\u2192 Add any other income
\u2192 Add deductions
\u2192 Software calculates everything!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
STEP 5 \u2014 REVIEW AND FILE:
\u2192 Double check everything
\u2192 Choose direct deposit for fastest refund
\u2192 E-file \u2192 refund in 7-21 days!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IMPORTANT DEADLINES:
\u2192 Tax deadline: April 15, 2026
\u2192 Extension deadline: October 15, 2026
\u2192 W-2 must be sent by: January 31<\/p>\n\n\n\n
REFUND OR OWE?
Getting a refund \u2192 IRS withheld too much
Owing money \u2192 IRS withheld too little<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adjust W-4 at work to fix this for next year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Filing taxes is easier than you think.
Start with FreeTaxUSA \u2014 it’s completely free! 💰<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Filing taxes for the first time is scary.But it is actually very simple! WHAT YOU NEED BEFORE STARTING: Documents to gather:\u2192 W-2 from employer (get by Jan 31)\u2192 1099 forms (freelance income)\u2192 Student loan interest statement (1098-E)\u2192 Social Security Number\u2192 Bank account info for direct deposit STEP BY STEP FILING GUIDE: STEP 1 \u2014 CHOOSE … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-renting-home-buying","grid-sizer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/getrichunder30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/getrichunder30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/getrichunder30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getrichunder30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getrichunder30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/getrichunder30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":143,"href":"https:\/\/getrichunder30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions\/143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getrichunder30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/getrichunder30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getrichunder30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getrichunder30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}