7 easy steps to an early tax refund

If you want to get your 2011 taxes in early and get your refund quickly, here are Schnepper's Seven Strategies to getting those dollars in your pockets ASAP. Here's what you have to do:1. Get startedThe first step is the hardest. Stop thinking about it and get moving. Until you actually start your return, you'll never finish it. And that's probably going to slow down your refund.What is the alternative minimum tax?If you don't have all your numbers, just put your name and address on the form. It will get you in the mindset to move forward.Your first step is to break the inertia. As my father used to say, a trip of a thousand miles begins with a traffic jam. Break that jam and get moving.2. Accumulate the dataJanuary is collection month. By the second week of February, you should have the numbers in hand. Make sure you've gotten W-2s and any statements from your brokers and banks. You'll receive 1099 forms for any interest, dividends and stock sales.Jeff SchnepperYour mortgage company will send you a Form 1098 for any interest and real-estate taxes paid. Get those statements together and review the numbers. They're not always right. They won't include any interest you paid at the very end of December because the creditor won't have received the money until 2012.3. Put the numbers in IRS categoriesNeither the Internal Revenue Service nor your CPA is going to add up those numbers Rosetta Stone Greek for you. Well, maybe your CPA. Many years ago, a psychiatrist near Philadelphia paid me $150 an hour to open his mail because he couldn't be bothered.You're going to want to have totals for the income and deduction categories the IRS provides. You'll need those final numbers if you're doing your own return, whether by hand or by computer. If you're having your return prepared, you'll want to give those numbers to your CPA to minimize the bill.I suggest my clients use what I call the envelope system. You create an envelope for each of the IRS income/deduction categories. There'll be an envelope for medical expenses, charitable contributions, job expenses, interest paid, etc. Find all the receipts, all the checks and all the invoices, then put each in the appropriate envelope.If you live in a state without an income tax, don't forget to look for numbers for a possible deduction of sales taxes. Those states are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. This deduction runs through at least 2011.In December 2010, Congress extended a number of tax breaks, including the sales-tax deduction, a $250 deduction for classroom expenses and deductions for mortgage insurance premiums and college tuition expenses. Congress will have to revisit them if they are to continue for 2012.And don't forget about other tax breaks, including credits for energy improvements in 2011, amended adoption credits and various credits for college education costs.You can use this simple system all year: Throw all of your receipts into a file or even a shoe box.

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