iqtuz asked:
My last year tax declaration was very vague. The person who prepared it for me didn’t ask me about doctor’s expenses and my daughter savings account for college. Is there any possibility to include those in my 2008 incometax or..any way to “fix” the 2007 and how does it affect the already filed income tax declaration ?
My last year tax declaration was very vague. The person who prepared it for me didn’t ask me about doctor’s expenses and my daughter savings account for college. Is there any possibility to include those in my 2008 incometax or..any way to “fix” the 2007 and how does it affect the already filed income tax declaration ?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
You can only deduct those medical expenses that exceed a certain percentage of your AGI, and as far as I know, contributions to a savings account are not deductible for any reason, under any circumstances, so your tax preparer was probably right in not including those amounts.
If you honestly believe a mistake was made on your 07 return, you could file an amended form (a 1040X). That just doesn’t sound like it’s called for in this case.
Each year stands on it’s own.
Unless you itemized and your medical expenses were more than 7.5% of your AGI, they would not affectyour 2007 taxes.
Your daughter’s savings account interest, was that $850 or more? Was it more than $250 and she also had a job that paid more than $600 in wages? (Or it paid anything and she had a job that paid more than $5350?) If you are below these cutoffs, it wouldn’t have changed anything.
If you paid someone to do your 2007 taxes and you have questions about whether all possible deductions were taken, by all means go back to that place and have your return reviewed, for free. If there are additional deductions that you could have taken, an amendment can be prepared for 2007…and you may get that for free as well if you tell them that you were not asked about these deductions.
If your 2007 preparer is not available or not helpful, any of the big commercial preparers will be happy to look at your old return, in the hopes that they will be able to do an amendment for you, or do your 2008 tax return for you.
But you cannot take medical or educational tax benefits for 2007 and shift them to 2008.
You are not allowed to include 2007 expenses on your 2008 expenses.
You can, and should, “fix” the 2007 by filing a 2007 Form 1040X Amended Tax Return. This replaces/corrects the already filed 2007 information with what should have been reported when the original was filed. Any resulting refund will be sent separately; it is not combined with your 2008 taxes.
Only the unreimbursed medical expenses that are over 7.5% of your AGI can be deducted, and then only if you itemize. Very few people are unlucky enough to have med expenses that high. If you do, and you qualify to itemize, you can amend your 2007 return.
A college savings account isn’t deductible.
In any case, expenses are only deductible in the year paid.