File and Amend - Getting My Tax Refund Sooner

For our 2011 tax return, I knew we were going to get a really big tax refund.  That's become most of my income had to be withheld at a 25% tax rate, which was far above our actual tax rate.  However, I didn't file our tax return until September 2012, since I had to do some additional tax research.   Fortunately, the lost interest for the extra 5-7 months is about zero.  

For our 2012 tax return, I expect will get a similarly large tax refund.  There will also be new tax information for which I will need to do more research.  However, I won't let the delay cause me to get all of my tax refund later.   That's because I can file a simple return by April 15, with only income, standard deduction, and simple credits, to get the majority of my refund.   After that, I have three years to amend return to include the more complex elements, such as itemized deductions, K-1 information and additional tax credits, to get the balance of our refund.

I expect that I can get at least 70% of our Federal refund and 95% of our State refund by April 15.   Then I can work to get the balance after I complete my tax research on the remaining items.  Although there is a three year window to file an amendment, I will still target to complete the amendment by October 15, which is the deadline for an extended return.

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This is not financial or tax advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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