Tax Season 2013 is proving to be a rough one. First of all, because of the ‘fiscal cliff,’ Congress delayed the necessary laws and the IRS had to delay many of the required forms. Even as late as February, some of the required forms are still not available and certain clients of Safe Harbor LLP cannot yet file their taxes. Here are some guidelines and pointers on what’s going on in terms of getting your tax refund back, faster.

Tips for San Francisco Residents to Speed their Tax Refunds

Tax Refund Delays? Watch Out San Francisco!

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First, check with your tax service provider to find out if you are impacted by any of the delayed forms. If you are, work with your tax provider to get your taxes and tax related documentation ready, so that when the forms are available you can file. Second, use the new electronic message for filing your taxes. Both direct deposit of your tax refund and filing electronically are ways to speed up your returns. Here in the San Francisco Bay area fortunately many of our clients are very technology savvy, so filing electronically and using direct deposit comes naturally to many Safe Harbor LLP clients

Third, or maybe we should have put this first, get all of your documentation ready as soon as you can. Given that it’s February already if you don’t have your documentation ready – guess what you’ve procrastinated! We welcome procrastinators but we work with them so that next year or the tax process will be easier and faster, meaning let’s try to think tax strategy and get those documents ready as soon as possible!

Fourth, using a good tax service, such as Safe Harbor LLP, means that you will reduce the possibility for errors in your tax return. We work really hard to avoid errors, because errors means that your return may be slowed down and or it may mean that you have to file an amended return. Neither of those is desirable.

Find a Great San Francisco Tax Service

In sum, if you are looking for a great tax service that can help you get your refund faster, be aware of just how unique 2013 is as a tax year. To make matters worse, the new Frankenstein otherwise known as the sequestration means that many IRS employees may actually be furloughed. So the IRS will be short staffed during peak tax season, which is another reason to make sure you have a good tax service to get your refund back faster, and allow you to go out and enjoy the wonderful San Francisco Bay area without worrying about your taxes!