Self-Filing Taxes: Are You Making These Common Errors That Could Land You In Trouble With The IRS?

Ralph00:00:00

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the thought of preparing your own taxes? Do you lie awake at night wondering if you made a mistake that could lead to penalties or even an IRS audit? Today, I'm going to get into the world of self filing taxes to uncover the most common errors that could land you in trouble with the IRS. So by the end of this episode, you'll have the knowledge and more importantly, the confidence to file your taxes accurately and find that peace of mind. So if you're ready to take control of your taxes and avoid costly mistakes, stay tuned because today we're answering the question, are you making these painfully common tax filing errors that could land you in trouble with the IRS.

Podcast Announcer00:00:39

In a world where crushing debt keeps you trapped, where living paycheck to paycheck has become your new normal, and where the dream of retirement seems impossibly out of reach, there's hope. Join financial evangelist Ralph Estep Jr. A man who's walked through the fire of financial failure and emerged stronger on the other side. Welcome to Ask Ralph, the show where real world experience meets biblical truth to break the bondage of financial despair. Get ready to take control of your money, break free from the financial stress and align your resources with God's purpose for your life. This is Ask Ralph with Ralph Estep Jr.

Ralph00:01:19

Welcome to the show. I am Ralph, your financial evangelist, and I am super thrilled that you're taking time to join me today. And I promise you this by the end of this episode, you're going to have some valuable insights and some clear, actionable steps to help you improve your financial situation and grow in your faith. That's my promise to you. Now, if you missed yesterday's show, we discussed another very pressing topic, and that is, are you inviting financial trouble by automatically filing taxes jointly with your spouse? Yesterday's show was packed with all kinds of information. We explored the implications of filing jointly and how it can affect your financial future.So if you missed it, I'm gonna encourage you to go check it out at askralph.com where you'll find all of our episodes. Today's listener question comes from Kimberly and this is a great one. This is what Kimberly writes. She says that she says, "Hi Ralph, I've been self filing my taxes for the past few years and it's been a constant source of stress and anxiety.I'm always worried that I might be making mistakes that could lead to penalties or even an IRS audit. I feel like I'm walking on eggshells every time I file my taxes. Are there common errors that people make when self filing their taxes and how can I avoid them?" Well, thank you for your question, Kimberly.And listen, I can hear the stress. I can hear the anxiety in your words. And I want you to know that you are not alone on this journey. Listen, the tax code is complex. This is what I do for a living. And the fear of making a mistake can really be debilitating. You don't want to make those mistakes because that could lead to penalties or like you said, even that IRS audit.And that is really something that could happen. And truth be told, I've seen many clients struggle with these same concerns. And I've had my own moments of uncertainty when I was first getting started when filing my own taxes. But here's the good news. And I do have some great news, kimberly. As we start today with the right knowledge and preparation, you can avoid the common errors and file your taxes with confidence.So today I'm going to tackle these issues head on, and I'm going to give you concrete action steps to navigate tax season successfully. If you've got a question you'd like me to answer, just like Kimberly's, just head over to justaskralph.com and submit your question because here's the truth.I'd love answering your questions and helping you find financial peace of mind. Kimberly, as we get into the topic of self filing taxes, let's turn to the Bible for some great wisdom. And this one comes from the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 7, verse 12. And it says this. "For wisdom is a defense as money is a defense, but the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it."Wow. That is compelling. If you think about it, what does it say? It says, but the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom. We're going to give you some wisdom today. It gives life to those who have it. And this verse clearly reminds us the importance of wisdom. It reminds the importance of knowledge in protecting and enhancing our lives.So just as it says, wisdom is a defense. So is accurate and diligent tax filings can make that connection there, but it's really true. And this verse serves as a perfect starting point for our discussion today. Well Kimberly, I just want to tell you, I am so grateful for the opportunity to help you navigate the complexities of taxes because God has given me experience.I've got over 30 years doing this and he's given me understanding to assist people just like you and overcoming their financial challenges from a place of faith. And that's why I do this show. And I just want to remind everybody, this is truly a privilege for me to be able to share my knowledge and help you find financial peace.And at the same time, grow in your faith. So thank you so much for joining me today. All right Kimberly, let me get right to it. Let me start with a story about a client that I'll call John.Now, John was this hardworking guy, probably just like you, Kimberly. And he's always done his own taxes. He always said, you know, I don't need to pay somebody else to do my taxes. They're not that complicated. I just got a couple of little things. So he'd been doing his taxes year in and year out. Well, this one day he gets home from work.And his wife had brought the mail in and a mail sitting on the counter. He walks over to the counter like he does when he gets home every day. And he's piecing through the mail. There was a bill for the cell phone company. There was a bill for the utility company. And all of a sudden his wife says, Oh, Oh, we got a letter from the IRS today.I didn't want to open it till you got home so we could see what was going on. So John, you know, of course he gets really tight and upset, you know, what's going on. He, you know, he didn't want to get this letter from the IRS. So he tears the letter opening. He reads it. His name. His social security number, the tax year and all of it says, you know, we've corrected your return.And John goes, what is this? And he start digging into page two, page three, and then he gets to the end and he sees that he owes a whopping $1,500. And this wasn't something John has had expected. And he starts thinking in his head, what could I have done wrong? What was the mistake I made? Well, it turns out when John filed his tax return, he had put some wrong filing status information on his return.And what that did was the IRS found that error and this mistake, it costs him money. It costs him interest. It costs him penalty and think of the stress and anxiety of getting that notice from the IRS and then having to go back and try to figure all these things out. And to see the promise, Kimberly, John's story is not that uncommon.I see this every day in my practice. The things I laugh about is the summer after tax filing season. That's when the IRS starts sending out notices for all the people that filed their returns the previous year. And that's when I get busy because a lot of people make mistakes when filing those returns and most of these mistakes, I had to be very brutally honest are when people try to do their taxes on their own.And the thing that people don't understand is that can have significant consequences. So today, Kimberly, what I want to do is I want to talk about some of the most common tax filing errors, but bigger than that, I want to give you some tricks. I want to give you some tips and some tools to help you avoid them.Because if you can understand these pitfalls, you can then confidently navigate the tax season and ensure that when you send that return, or you click send on that, on the e-file return, You can make sure that you're fulfilling your obligations while staying in good standing with the IRS. And Hey, isn't that what we all want to do in the end.So Kimberly, here are the top pitfalls that you've got to watch out for. I would say the biggest pitfall I see with people's self filing is choosing the wrong filing status. It's one of the most common errors. It's when they're doing their tax return.They don't understand the differences between single, married filing jointly, head of household, because all of these things are at the beginning of the tax preparation. And if you're using tax software, as an example, many times it doesn't really do a good job of explaining what the filing status should be.And let's say you're married. I did a show about this the other day. Maybe you didn't realize that you could file separately. And maybe there's a situation that could have been better for your tax. And if you missed that show, I'm going to encourage you to go check it out because there actually are times when married filing separately works best, or maybe you're not married at all, but you've got dependent children and you didn't realizethat you could file what's called head of household. Well, why would you do that? Well, head of household gives you some tax perks. It gives you lower tax rates, but if you just file that tax return as being single, you wouldn't be able to take advantage of that. And oftentimes the consequences of this is I see this incorrect status leading to paying more taxes and maybe getting a smaller refund.And as I said, if you qualify as head of household, it's a great example. But you're actually, but you file it as single, you might miss out on a larger standard deduction. That's great deal more. And there's more favorable tax rates for that. So here's my first pro tip. My first takeaway, you got to carefully view the IRS guidelines on filing statuses and use resources.There's one called the IRS interactive tax assistant to determine the correct status for your situation. So one of the things that I'm going to say a big takeaway right here is pay particular attention to the examples the IRS uses. Their website is actually pretty good and they'll give you examples that lay out for instances.These are great resources. So that's the first one is incorrect filing status. I see that on many returns that I go and fix. The second one is inaccurate information. This is things like entering personal information incorrectly. Maybe you put your name on there wrong. Maybe you've got a misspelling in your name.Maybe you've got your spouse's or one of your children's social security number wrong. Maybe your address isn't quite right. One of the things that I see time and time again is people say to me, Ralph, I signed up for direct deposit, but the IRS in the state ended up sending me a check. Well, did you check to make sure that your bank routing number was entered correctly?Did you make sure that your account number was entered correctly? Did you make sure that your check if it's a checking account or a savings account? Now these things in itself don't generally cause an audit, but they can cause your tax return to be delayed. So for example, let's say you misspelled your name.Now most people will get their name, right? So I think that's kind of a silly thing to say, but maybe you misspelled your wife's name, or you're just typing it into the computer and you did it inadvertently. Maybe you enter a wrong social security number. Maybe you're going from one tax preparation platform, maybe use TurboTax one year and you're going to something else the next year and you entered something wrong.This will delay the process. Now, I'm going to tell you this truth is that this, when you electronically file your return, I'm seeing less of that because the IRS has a hurdle where you first e file that return. They're going to check to make sure that your information, your name, your social security number match up with the social security administration database.But that can still delay processing because you might send your return in and just figure, Hey, I got a confirmation that return is done, but maybe it got kicked back. And that's a lot of times people don't realize that. So how do you fix this, Kim? Well, here's the big, big takeaway, double check all the information that you enter on your tax forms, especially names.First name, middle name, last name. You need to make sure that what you put on the tax return matches what's on your social security card. I see this as being an issue with many newlywed couples. Maybe the wife or the, you know, generally the wife changes their name. I'm not trying to be sexist in saying that, but that's generally what happens.Maybe she didn't get to the social security administration. Yet to change her name. Well, if she comes in and we put her tax return together, or if you're self filing your return and you put your married name on there, many times, that will get kicked out because the social security administration hasn't updated their records.So make sure you're checking that. And again, if you're using tax software, which I highly recommend, well, first of all, I highly recommend paying somebody to do your taxes, but if you're not going to do that and you're using tax software, a lot of times it'll prefill forms and some of that information, it grabs from prior years.So make sure you're checking every line on the return. Make sure if you're a paper filing your return that you include all the documentation when filing. So to make sure that there's no delay. So here's a pro tip, proofread your return, proofread it just like it's a written document before you send it before you click submit.Or like I said, if you're e filing before you click submit, and also if you're using a tax pro, and this is one of the things that a lot of people don't understand. Make sure to check your information on the return before they file it. One of the things that I just added to my office is I put a TV up next to my desk.And when I do somebody's tax return, I actually show them a picture or a copy of their tax return. I asked them to look at their name. I asked them to look at their address. I asked them to look at their social security numbers. I do the same thing for their children because, and to be blunt with you if it's a returning client, I don't worry about that.But if it's a new client, I definitely want them to double check at this because here's the deal. I mentioned this on the show yesterday. Ultimately it's your tax return and you're responsible for it's accuracy. So even if somebody like me, a tax pro, key something in wrong or we make an error, you're still going to be responsible for that.So that's the big one. Second one, like I said, and that is inaccurate information. Well, let's move on to number three. And this one is kind of a silly thing to talk about, but I wanted to put it here. And that's math errors. Simple mathematical errors are surprisingly common, and they can lead to incorrect tax calculations, which can lead to incorrect refunds or incorrect amounts that you owe. Now I'm going to tell you most of the time, people are not using paper to file their returns.They're not writing them out. Although I do see some of those. But the problem is if you do that and you make an error on your return, you can end up overpaying. You can end up underpaying. Then you're going to hit with penalties and interest and all that sort of thing. Now you might be saying, okay, Ralph, I use tax software and tax law for can help you with calculations, but it's still essential to double check all the numbers to make sure they're accurate.And if you're unsure about any calculations and listen, this is the truth. I've seen tax software make mistakes. It's as simple as this is my pro tip. Just remember the old saying garbage in, garbage out. For example, I had a client many years ago who put an amount on their charitable contribution and he meant to put $1,000 and he put $10,000.He looked at the bottom line, his returns. Oh, this is great. We're getting a refund like we've never gotten before. And he didn't take the time to go read that tax return. He didn't go to take the time to look at each individual component because he would have caught it. So anyway, long story short, he gets a letter from the IRS and says, Hey, by the way, we noticed that you gave $10,000 in this particular case.He gave 10,000 in, not cash and check donations, but in stuff. Well, As soon as you reach that 5,000 threshold, the IRS is going to tell you, you need an appraisal. So they sent him a simple letter that said, Hey Joe, by the way, we were looking at your tax return. Again, this is next summer after the tax filing and we noticed you took a tax deduction for $10,000 in charitable contributions of, you know, stuff, housing items and all that kind of stuff.Well, he gets this letter and he calls me and he says, Ralph, I did my own taxes. He got my name from Facebook or someone of my clients, which I love my brand ambassadors, by the way. So thank you. If you're telling people about me, by the way, anyway, he gets this notice, calls me, comes in for a consultation.He says, Ralph, I don't know what to do. He says, I was putting my tax return together and I miskeyed, it was supposed to be $1000 and instead I put $10,000. I said, well, here's the problem. We can file an amended return, but now your itemized deductions are going down by nine grand. So that ended up costing him several thousand dollars.Now in the end he got money back. He wasn't supposed to get but now all of a sudden he's got to pay the IRS and he's got to pay penalties. He's got to pay interest. So what a mess that could have been avoided first of all in my personal opinion He should have looked at his return and said why are we getting such a big refund this year when we normally don't. That's a big red flag, but secondarily just reading the tax return from front to back. Because there can still be, like I said, you might think, Oh, I'm using tax software.You can still make errors like that. Now, while that may not be a quote math error, it's clearly an end, a data entry error. So that's another one to watch out for. Those are those math errors. Number four, missing or incorrect deductions in credits. Here's a problem. Many taxpayers overlook valuable deductions, they overlook credits there they're eligible for, and that can result in higher tax liability or a smaller refund. Now, sometimes it's the complete opposite. Taxpayers will claim deductions or credits you don't qualify for, and that can lead to huge penalties and interest charges. For example, think about this one.If you try to deduct a hundred percent of your personal vehicle as a business expense, without proper documentation and justification, guess what's going to happen at the IRS, the red flags are going to go up and that could potentially trigger an audit. So one of the things I'm going to strongly encourage you to do is research potential deductions and credits, such as a child tax credit, the earned income tax credit, or any deductions or charitable contributions. Understand what makes up true medical expenses and ensure that you are meeting the eligibility criteria for each of those deductions or those credits before claiming it on your return.It's also crucial that you report all of your income sources, all of them, including those from online platforms. I talk about it a lot on the show. If you've got side gigs, make sure you're including your investments, any part time work, because if you fail to report all of your income, that can lead to significant issues with the IRS.They might start an audit just because they noticed that you hadn't reported something. So here's the thing, another pro tip, be careful when you're using online tax software or software that you download, because I've seen so many tax returns that were wrong because the tax filer didn't really understand what the software was asking them.It was taking them down a road that they didn't qualify for. Here's a great example. And I've talked about this on the show a few times, I guess it's been about 10 years ago, a client came in to meet with me, they had gotten an IRS notice and I'm looking over this IRS notice. I'm going, this doesn't make any sense in this particular situation, the IRS had found that the tax software actually allowed them to take both the standard deduction and itemized deductions.Listen, you get one or the other, whichever is better for you. But in this case, there must've been a flaw in the tax software. So long story short, $8,000 refund. And again, red flags should have went up in their own minds because they normally owed a couple grand. Where they would have gotten broke even, but all of a sudden they got this 8,000 refund and they're just so excited.Hey, we got a big refund. Let's go on a vacation. Well fast forward to the following summer like it always happens. They get this letter from the IRS saying you owe us $10,000 And they're like freaking out. They're panicking. What do I do? So they scheduled a point with me they come in they sit down as soon as I saw the notice I knew exactly what it was. Again, this could have been avoided if they had looked over their tax return if they had done a simple gut check and said why are we getting such a refund? It doesn't make any sense. So now all of a sudden, instead of getting that $8,000 refund, I don't want to do, they have to pay to $8,000 back. They should have paid $2000. That's what they would have actually owed. Plus they're paying penalty and interest for that. The IRS even assessed an accuracy related penalty.Now I will tell you, as I was able to do, I was able to get them out of that penalty because we were able to show where the tax software had an error. Big story or a story of the truth here is make sure you're checking the tax software and be very cautious of what it's talking you into, because I have seen tax software, talk people into credits and deductions that they frankly just didn't qualify for.Now, one of the other ones, number five on my list here is unsigned or incomplete returns. Now listen, if you're doing an electronic return online, you're going to sign it electronically. So this is an issue, but if you're still paper filing, make sure you sign that return. But the reason I put it here is that it's really important to make sure you put all of your information on the return.And like I said, I see less of this with E-file returns, but I do see when taxpayers forget to include their E-file pin. That's a big one here. If you've been a victim of identity theft and the IRS has issued you an E-file pin, or if you've elected to go get one and listen, I think it's a great idea to have one.You can get one by going to irs.gov. And then what will happen if you try to file a tax return, it's going to ask you for that pin number. So make sure you're including that. And Hey, if you're going to meet with somebody like me, make sure you tell them because a couple of times each tax season, somebody will say to me, Hey, I got an E-file pin last year, but they didn't send me one this year.I say to him, no. So we can't file your return until we get that. And sometimes they don't even tell me we get the tax return done. We file it. And then bing, bing, bing, bing. I get a kickback from my tax software and says, Hey, the IRS won't accept this return because you don't have a pin number. So before you submit your tax return, again, make sure you review it.Make sure all the necessary sections are completed. Make sure all the required forms are attached and make sure if you're paper filing, make sure you've signed and dated return. And if you're filing joint, make sure both spouses sign. Here's another one. Number six on my list, filing too early or too late.Now you might be saying, Ralph, how do you file too early? Let me explain. Filing too early could mean you haven't received all of your necessary text documents. That could lead to errors or missed deductions. And filing late, we've talked about that many times on the show, you might get hit with penalties and interest.So here's what I'm really talking about. And I'm seeing a lot more of this. It's an issue where people might have investment accounts, those fidelity accounts, those Edward Jones, those Charles Schwab accounts. Many times those account statements aren't issued till well into February. And oftentimes it'll say, this is a preliminary statement.Wait till X date before you file your taxes, because we could make some changes. And I have clients right now that I've done their tax return, but we're sitting on them just making sure that their brokerage house, their investment firm, isn't going to send them another statement. Because I have one particular case.I'll never forget this one. This one particular client I work with a few years ago, we ended up having to file three amended returns. They were in a hurry to get their taxes done. They got here at the beginning of February and I get it, they wanted to get it off their plate. But I said to them at the time, I said, listen, your investment statement says preliminary next one could be issued by such and such date.They said, Oh no, no, don't worry about that. Our investments are pretty simple. Sure enough. 30 days later, they get an adjustment. Well, guess what? It changed the numbers. I had to go back and change their tax return again. Was it 30 days later they got another one's called a corrected 1099. So again, wait, this is my pro tip.Wait till you have those final investment statements. Now the problem is a practitioner. They're pushing that date more and more. And I've got clients right now that I tell them let's wait till March 15th before we even try to file your tax return. So here's my pro tip. Gather all your tax documents before filing and ensure that you submit your taxes on time.And if you need more time to prepare your return, you can request an extension. But here's the thing you need to understand. A lot of people don't get this. You can extend the time to file the taxes, but you cannot extend the time to pay those taxes. Your payment is still due by April 15th. So if you're going to file an extension, make sure you're paying something.If you think you're going to owe something, but file the extension anyway, because then you can at least eliminate that late filing penalty. You might still owe a little bit of late payment penalty and interest, but at least you can get rid of that late filing penalty. So Kim, those were my top six, but I just want to give you a couple more.I'm not going to talk a lot long time about them, but these are some additional errors that I've seen from different tax returns that I've looked at. Forgetting to report all your income, make sure you've got all your W2s, your 1099, just that part time job. Whatever that is. One of the things that I tell clients to do is use your prior year tax return as a guide.Go and look at what you had last year. Do you still have this? Make sure if you've changed jobs, do you have a W-2 from your old job and a W-2 from your new job? One of the big ones that a lot of people miss is mortgage interest statements. If your mortgage company has changed hands or they've changed servicing, you're going to have two, maybe three separate mortgage interest statements.Another big one to watch out for is claiming excessive business expenses. So here's my pro tip. Keep detailed records of all your business expenses. Make sure you have that documented at the time you file your tax return. Here's another one that a lot of self filers miss, and that is tax or state tax filing.So make sure you understand if you worked in another state or you lived part time in this state part time in another state, because this is over and often overlooked and that can trigger issues with the state. And I've seen some penalties from the states that will make you go crazy. Another thing you want to make sure of, make sure you're reporting any foreign income or foreign assets that gets a little in the weeds, but just make sure you do that. There's an FBAR you have to file, but make sure you're doing that. Make sure you're claiming credits you're entitled to. I see many returns that file with this earned income tax credit, and they didn't understand the IRS guidelines that they really needed to be aware of, and that triggered an audit.Another one is not keeping proper records. And I could go on and on, but I just wanted to show some of these. And the last one I'm going to mention, because this one is sort of a personal pet peeve. A lot of people miss this one. If you got your health insurance from the marketplace and hear me on this.You will get a 1095-A form. A lot of people don't know this. If you've got affordable care coverage, you've got to include the information from that 1095-A form on your tax return. I don't know how many returns a year that I get to do. I filed a return, and the good news about this is the IRS has actually created a test at the front end of this.So we'll file the e-file return, and then we'll get a kickback right away. Hey. You didn't report your 1095-A, but if you're doing it yourself, if you're mailing it in, or if your tax software doesn't have that robust check, you might be in trouble. So if you have a health insurance from the marketplace, make sure you're reporting that 1095-A form, make sure you're giving it to your tax row.So these Kimberly are just some of the main errors that I see, but these are the ones that can really cause you a lot of pain. They can cause you a lot of stress and they can cause you all kinds of anxiety. So make sure Kimberly look over your tax return. If you feel uncomfortable about them, I'll talk in a minute about how you can reach out to somebody like me to have somebody else prepare your tax return. Now, if you want to go a little deeper into today's topic, make sure you check out my daily blog. You can do that at askralphpodcast.com/blog. You'll find more detailed information. You'll find additional resources and some practical tips to help you navigate the complexities of tax filing.You can do again. You can get that at askralphpodcast/blog. I write one of those for every episode. Well, now let's get to our reflection questions cause we covered a lot today and I just want to take a few minutes to sort of meditate on these. The first one.I think this is a great one to think about, Kimberly, what steps can you take today to ensure you're choosing the correct filing status for your tax return? Now Kimberly, you didn't mention whether you're married, whether you're single, whether you're estranged from your husband, all those types of things.So understand that filing status and think about how you can make sure that you're doing it correctly. Second reflection question. How can you double check the accuracy of the information you enter on your tax forms? So as I mentioned, Read the tax return, understand every line. If you're going to do it yourself, you've got a responsibility to understand what you're mailing in, what you're filing online, go through it line by line.And if you don't understand something, do some research because you own this. If you file a tax return and it's wrong, they're going to come after you, not the tax software company. They're going to come after you. And number three. And this one I think is crucial. What deductions and credits are you eligible for?And how can you ensure you're claiming them correctly? Do your homework, spend some time understanding the tax deductions, understanding the credits. And then when you do your tax return, big takeaway, you've heard me mention this a couple of times today. Does it make sense? Does it pass the sniff test? If you normally owe and then all of a sudden you're getting this massive refund and nothing's really changed.Hey. There's an opportunity to go take a look, cause I bet you there's something not right. Now, one of the other things I'm going to ask you for, if you found value in today's episode, or if you find value in our show, I want to really encourage you to support the show because your support allows us to reach more people with this message of financial peace, with this message of hope, and I can help them navigate their financial challenges from that price of faith, and you can support the show by visiting askralphpodcast.com/support. I would really appreciate if you would partner with me so that we can reach more people. Now you might not want to do that kind of support, but the other way you can support the show is simply by sharing it.Share it with somebody who might benefit from the topics we cover. It's real simple. Just send them a text, send them an email that says, Hey, I listened to this guy, Ralph. You can go to askralph.com. They can go see our whole catalog of shows, or maybe there's a particular show, just send them a link to it.You will be helping them and you'll be helping us grow our audience and helping people make better financial decisions. All right, Kimberly, let's handle our key takeaways from today. Number one thing, choosing the wrong filing status can significantly impact your tax liability.So make sure you're picking the right one. So let's talk about mistakes in personal information can cause processing delays and potential issues with your refund. So make sure you're checking your returns. Check for those math errors because those are common things that can lead to incorrect tax calculations.Make sure you're not overlooking deductions, not overlooking credits, or maybe claiming ineligible ones. Make sure you're checking. Make sure you understand what you're filing. If you're still paper filing and make sure you're signing it, make sure you're dating it and make sure you're including all the documentation we talked about filing too early. Make sure you've got all your documents. If you're an investment holder, make sure you've got those finals and make sure you file on time. And if you can't file that extension, Maybe after listening or watching today, you're struggling with doing your own taxes and you'll want to ensure you're right on tax.So that's where I'm going to encourage you to book a call with me. You can do that by simply going to askralph.com. When you get there at the top of the screen, you'll see a button that says book a call with Ralph and together, let's create an individual plan to help you find success and peace of mind with your taxes.You don't have to do this alone. You don't have to spend that whole weekend worrying about is this tax return right? And having that anxiety and that fear of getting those notices. So just go to visit, just go and visit askralph.com and click on book a call with Ralph and schedule that consultation.Cause here's the deal, Kimberly and everyone else listening. Don't let tax season stress you out. I'm not stressed about it and neither should you. So take that first step towards financial peace of mind today and book that call with me. As we end today, Kimberly, I just want to share a couple of quick letters that we've gotten from listeners who've been helped by the show, because I really feel like these stories, these little quick comments we get from listeners, they demonstrate the power of people who are being impacted in a positive way from our show. This first one comes from Hazel and she writes this. Hi, Ralph. "I've been listening to your podcast for several months now, and it's been a game changer for me. Your practical tips, your biblical insights have helped me gain control over my finances and find peace of mind. Thank you for your dedication and passion for helping others." Well Hazel, thank you for being an ambassador of the show. And I am so happy that you're finding control of your finances. I got this one from Michael and Michael writes this. "Your show has been a lifesaver. I've learned so much about managing money wisely and growing in my faith. Your personal stories and actionable advice have made a real difference in my life. Keep up the great work." Well Michael, thank you. Sometimes those personal stories get me in trouble, especially with my wife and kids. But Michael, I'm glad they're impacting you. And the final one I wanna talk about today is a note I got from Emily. And this is what Emily wrote. She said, "Hi Ralph. I just wanted to say thank you for your podcast. I've been a listener for a while now, and the knowledge I've gained has been invaluable. Your show has helped me make better financial decisions and more importantly, grow closer to God. So thank you for your wisdom and encouragement." Well, Emily, thank you for being a loyal listener, and I am so happy that you're growing in your faith and you're growing in your financial knowledge. So, and I truly want to hear from you. So please do me a favor. If this show is impacting you, if it's made and change in your life, if you've learned something from it, do me a favor, send me an email. I put my email right there. It's ralph@askralph.com. Tell me about your thoughts, your experiences, or even your questions, because your feedback, when I hear from listeners, this is what keeps me going. And it gives me ideas to talk about on this show. And it really gives me the energy to keep moving forward. Now, tomorrow we're going to be discussing another hot topic. Maybe you're doing your taxes and you've come across this thing called self employment tax. And that's got you stressed out. Trust me. A lot of people are not expecting that. And tomorrow I'm going to show you exactly what it is and how to maybe avoid it or pay less. So be sure to join me again for more valuable insights tomorrow and practical tips to help you master your finances from that Christian perspective. So thank you for joining me today on the Ask Ralph show. Remember my passion is to help you achieve financial success. I want to see you live out your dreams and I want to see you grow in your faith. And I know together, we work together in this team and this partnership, we can master your finances from a Christian perspective. So as I always end the show, stay financially savvy and may God bless you abundantly.

Podcast Announcer00:34:47

Thank you for joining us on the Ask Ralph show, and with a simple click to subscribe, we'll invite you back to our next episode. And remember, financial issues don't have to be complicated. Just Ask Ralph.The information contained in this episode of Ask Ralph is based on data available as of the date of its release. Saggio Accounting Plus and Ask Ralph Media, Inc. Is under no obligation to update this content if changes occur.Applying this information to your specific situation requires careful consideration of all facts and circumstances, and any information provided is not to be considered as financial, tax, or legal advice. Please consult your tax advisor or attorney before acting on any material covered.