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iQuestions Faculty, Ron Blue 
 
 
Question: 
 
How should I prepare for my taxes? 
 
Answer: 
 
You know, one of the greatest signs of poor planning is getting a tax 
refund. That sounds unrealistic, because an awful lot of people do their 
planning using their tax refund for various things. That’s almost a way 
of a forced savings. 
 
But you know, you can prepare for your taxes, and the government 
does not require you to over-withhold or to pay more than what you’re 
actually going to owe in your taxes. If you have a plan, then you 
should be able to use the money you have on a current basis, as 
opposed to waiting until you get your refund, after the first of the 
year. How do you do that? 
 
Well, there’s various software that’s available to help you plan for your 
taxes—but even easier than that is just take last year’s tax return, 
make a copy of it, and pencil in the amounts that are likely to be there 
this year, and you can do your tax calculation this year. 
 
If you have a CPA or someone who prepares your return for you, ask 
them to tell you and help you plan for your taxes. You should adjust 
your withholdings to no more than the amount that you’re actually 
going to owe for the year.  
 
I would encourage you, don’t ever give the government an interest-
free loan on your money. Plan for your taxes, use the money yourself.  
It’s your money. 
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