For those that haven’t filed their income taxes yet, there is still plenty of time and one expert gives some important advice when getting ready to submit the required paperwork to the federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Certified Public Accountant with Hankel and Associates Tom Kennedy says most financial institutions do not regularly send their tax documents to individuals needing to file for income taxes until February 15th. He hopes people haven’t filed their taxes until they have all of their necessary paperwork, because that can cause issues moving forward.

“Be careful that you don’t file, get your stuff in, and then get that letter from your broker, (it) comes in the mail. They mail it the 15th (of February), you don’t get it until later and then all of a sudden you filed your tax return and you’ve got some more dividend and interest income. So you’ve already filed, you’ll have to file an amended tax return, that costs you money, (and) you don’t want to do that.”    

Kennedy gives additional reasons why he anticipates people filing income taxes later this year.

“I think with the (federal) government shutdown for a while, with the tax law change and all of that, I think that the filing season’s going to start a little later than it has in the past. And as documents come in later and later, it’s just getting harder and harder I guess to file early and not have you miss stuff.”   

Kennedy notes the typical documents to have ready include tax form from employer, interest on home mortgage and investment statements.  

The deadline to file federal income taxes is April 15th and state income taxes is April 30th.