Is tax taxing your mental health along with your wealth? Relax, taxes are an important part of your finances, so, might as well take a deep breath and get acquainted with the filing process.
Despite knowing that one has to file for taxes year after year, for many of us there is a feeling of impending doom and an irrational fear hovering over us during tax season. What makes one wonder the most is how taxes have a way of throwing off even the most resolute of us. It is both ironic and partially comical to witness this turn of events for them. The three-lettered word has an adverse effect on normal people who function well in all other facets of their lives and crawl back to their shells when it comes to filing their taxes. This fear of filing is an official phobia with an official name forosophobia. The symptoms of the phobia include procrastination, anxiety, avoidant behaviours, and feeling of helplessness.
Take a taxpayer like me, for instance, I have a good job. I save up for my future plans and retirement diligently. Taxes get withheld from my paycheck regularly and at the beginning of the annual year, I dutifully declare my investments. Yet, come every tax season, I’m scrambling at the last minute, be it gathering all the submission proofs or producing necessary documents to the chartered accountant for them to do their job. As a grown adult, every year, you will find me making hasty phone calls to my father, where he instructs me meticulously, most of which goes over my head. I procrastinate doing this with a readymade excuse whenever he checks with me on the documents. In the end, my father lands up doing it all. I hate to admit that I repeated this pattern this year as well.
Procrastination alone can be indicative of a phobia, but fear can lead to the inability of action and thus to procrastination. Like most phobias, the fear of taxes is coming from an irrational place and it can be tackled and overcome with the right mindset and tools. The task may seem daunting from the outside but we often seem to forget that in filing so, the government owes you a refund. There is a happy ending to this otherwise fear-dispensing process.
Here are a few ways that can help you curb your anxiety about filing your taxes this year.
Make a checklist
Taxes and financial terminologies thrown at us can be complex and confusing. But people say, it’s simple. To start with, make a checklist of everything you need and block your calendar to dedicate it to getting your tax documents in order.
Hire an expert
Hiring a tax professional can give you peace of mind. All you have to do is hand over the required documents to them and they will handle the filing process, and find the tax deductions and credits.
Keep your past returns handy
Your previous year's filings can come in handy as a reference. Store or save your previous year's filings in order and accessible while filing for the current year.
File on time
It is always better to pay on time to avoid being penalised. If you owe the government, along with paying the interest on the unpaid balance, you will also be charged a penalty. Whereas, if you pay on time only the interest will be charged.