Today, we are going to talk to you a little bit about a new segment that we're doing with some Q&A from our audience. We got some great questions: Question 1, What should I do with all of my receipts, do I need to add them up myself or should I should I just bring them to my CPA; Question 2, What are this year's tax filing dates and deadlines; Question 3, I just recently graduated from college and I was wondering if you could offer me some tip and tricks from filing my taxes this year.

Video Transcript - Q&A with a CPA

It's time to get down to the Brass Tacks. My name is Mel Sams, and I'm the managing associate of Sams CPA. Today, we're going to talk to you a little bit about a new segment that we're doing with some Q&A from our audience. We got some great questions, and I'm excited to go through those answers with you guys.

Our first question came from Ryan through Facebook. Ryan asked me, when he gets his stuff together to bring to me for his taxes, does he have to add everything up, or can he just bring me the old box of receipts? Great question, Ryan. It's a question we get a lot. I will tell you that some people choose to add up their receipts themselves. It will definitely save us time and get the work product done a little bit quicker on our end, but if you're not able to do that, we're certainly happy to help you with that.

But ideally, you would probably go through the receipts yourself, add them up, make sure everything's supposed to be there, make sure there's nothing missing, more importantly, and then you can simply send us a list of the totals. You do not have to provide us those original receipts. Those are things you should keep for your own record, certainly, but that's not something that you have to send us. The short answer is, it depends. We can take it either way, but ideally, you would add those up, and you would provide us with totals. But make sure you keep those receipts for your records.

Another question that came through on Facebook was from Caleb. Caleb asked about deadlines for 2019 for the 2018 filing season. Great question. Very important because we all have to adhere to these deadlines. The individual income tax returns, your Form 1040 or whatever variation you file, that's due April 15th, unless you live in Maine or Massachusetts, and then it's due April 17th. A really great resource for you is Publication 509 on the IRS website. That is the complete calendar of all deadlines, due dates, quarterly, annually. It breaks it all down for you. It's a great, quick reference resource, and certainly, you can always call us and ask us as well or post a question on Facebook or contact us on social media.

Great question. Great way to get an answer. April 15th is the date that most individuals need to be concerned with. Corporate tax returns, most are due March 15th. Some are due April 15th, like in the case of a C corp. Trust returns are also due April 15th. Then your state returns can vary by state. Easiest way to handle it, check out Publication 509 and reach out to our office. We can answer any questions you have on that.

The final question that we have for today came from Sharon, and Sharon asked about taxes related to students. She just graduated and is wondering how this is going to affect her taxes and what tips and tricks we have for her to help minimize her taxes. Great question, Sharon. However, you will have a video coming very soon solely on that topic, so hang out, wait for that. We will cover all the highlights in that video. Little bit too much to cover in this segment, but don't worry. You got a video coming your way.

If you have any questions, comments, or ideas for future videos, please let us know. We'd love to hear from you, and we always encourage your feedback. If you would like to watch our other videos or be notified when a new video becomes available, please subscribe to our YouTube channel.

####