Tax Payers Will Notice Some Major Changes This Year

It’s tax season and time to be filing those returns. But this year you may be getting back less than you think.

Shiny Mathew with Polston Tax said COVID-19 caused a lot of temporary changes that ended up lasting a few years and now they have expired.

“The average refund has dropped $400 dollars, and that is because of COVID related legislation that has expired or didn’t apply to 2022,” Mathew said.

She said some of the changes include how much you can get back for charitable donations, the earned income tax credit and childcare.

“You could claim up to 8,000 dollars of child care expenses that has been reduced back down,” Mathew said.

Because of the pandemic, the average Oklahoman is going to notice some major differences they have never seen before.

“You haven’t had this whopping drop in refunds that we are seeing now because you haven’t had a pandemic hit,” Mathew said.

She said to e-file your taxes electronically to get your return back faster and file early to avoid fraud.

“If you file after someone has already used your social security number, you are going to get dinged,” Mathew said.

If your taxes are simple and straightforward, Mathew said filing on your own may be fine, but if you have any hesitations, she recommends just having someone file for you to avoid an audit.

“If you don’t feel comfortable filing your own taxes, don’t. I am not recommending someone who doesn’t feel comfortable files their own taxes,” Mathew said.

To compete with inflation, the IRS has made some adjustments those can be found by clicking here.

For more information, click here