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Check your math -- and check it
again
By Kay
Bell • Bankrate.com
Each of us has occasionally felt like Homer
Simpson. Confronted by some silly mistake we made, we slap our forehead
and mutter "D'oh!"
But when it comes to taxes, that "D'oh!"
can cost dough. Sometimes the error means we have to pay more in
taxes. Other times it delays the refund we're expecting from the
Internal Revenue Service.
The most common mistake, year after tax year,
is bad math. In the hurry to get forms filed on time, taxpayers
make errors adding, subtracting, dividing and calculating percentages.
Here's how to avoid this mistake and get through tax-filing season
with a fuller bank account and your good humor still
intact!
Bad
math
Far and away, says the IRS, the most common
mistake on tax returns is bad math. Numbers are transposed, left
out or totaled incorrectly.
It may be simple addition and subtraction, but
when you're looking at pages full of figures it's easy to mess up
a few. And since a total figured on one tax form or worksheet often
is transferred to another form (or forms), a simple mistake could
quickly compound.
The tax agency automatically examines all returns
for mathematical errors. Mistakes in arithmetic or in transferring
figures from one schedule to another will get you an immediate correction
notice.
So invest now in a calculator and use it --
repeatedly -- to double check your math as you complete your tax
return.
Math mistakes alone rarely lead to a full audit,
but they can reduce your tax refund or result in you owing more
tax than you thought. If the error leads to you owing tax, the IRS
automatically bills you. If your error means you overpaid, the excess
is applied to future taxes, credited, or refunded at your request.
And remember that checking math works both ways.
If you do get an IRS correction notice, be sure you also check their
numbers. They have been known to make mistakes, too.
-- Updated Dec.
17, 2004
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