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Even the smallest or most obvious mistakes can seriously mess up your tax returns, and the IRS has highlighted a few that you’ll want to avoid at all costs.
The 2025 tax filing season is in full swing, with a little over a month left until Tax Day on April 15. More than 42 million people have already filed their taxes and gotten their refunds totaling over $100 billion.
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Even though we’re midway through tax season, a lot of you out there might not have gotten around to filing yet. Maybe other responsibilities piled up, or maybe your financial situation is complicated and it takes time to get all your income sorted. I’m certainly not one to judge — I haven’t done them yet either.
If that’s the case, you’ll want to make sure to avoid any mistakes that might delay your return getting processed, and lucky for us, the IRS just released a guidance detailing some of the more common flubs you’ll want to avoid. Keep reading for all the details, and for more tips to speed up your taxes, check out the enhancements made to the Direct File program this year.
Don’t mess up your Social Security number
Entering the wrong SSN or forgetting to enter it altogether is a big one. You’ll want to make sure you include it when filing and that it matches exactly what’s on your Social Security card.
Get your name right
Maybe a little harder to mess this one up than your SSN, but mistakes love to pop up when you’re the most confident in yourself. The IRS specifically advises that your name be listed on your tax return the same way that it appears on your Social Security card.
Get your filing status right
If you think that multiple filing statuses might apply to your tax situation, the IRS advises that you use their Interactive Tax Assistant to help find out the correct one. If a government shutdown hasn’t closed up the agency’s customer support services, you might also try reaching out directly.
Know which credits and deductions you qualify for
Speaking of that interactive assistant, it can also help determine whether or not you qualify for certain tax credits or deductions. Attempting to claim ones you’re not actually eligible for is a surefire way to throw a wrench into the process.
Always make sure you’ve done the math right
Maybe you won’t need much geometry in your adult life, but everything else your math teacher said was probably right. You’ll want to be as sure as you possibly can that you’ve done any and all math correctly on your return before filing, as IRS data indicates that upwards of 2 million returns have math errors every year. And hey, at least you can use your phone for this part instead of shelling out for a graphing calculator.
This error is another reason why most experts will advise that you use e-filing software to prepare your tax return, since they are able to catch and correct most math errors that you might make.
Get your bank account numbers right
Opting to receive your tax refund via direct deposit — or to pay off your tax dues directly from your bank account — is one of the most recommended ways to speed up your filing process. You’ll want to make sure that you’ve listed your routing and account numbers correctly.
As the experts at the accounting firm, Mowery & Schoenfeld, point out, incorrect banking info can not only lead to delays in getting your refund, but potentially “in worst-case scenarios, [the IRS] depositing funds into the wrong account,” which is a whole other level of unpleasantness to fix.
Make sure you’ve signed what you need to
The IRS can’t accept your return if you (and your spouse, if filing jointly) haven’t signed it. Even when someone else prepares your return, you still have to sign it, so don’t let that step or the process slip by you. Filing electronically helps with a lot of things, but it’s particularly useful here, since you can sign it digitally.
This signature is what legally binds you to your return in the end, and makes you liable for correcting any mistakes you might’ve made, such as the ones above. Speaking with CNET via email correspondence previously, Jassen Bowman, a tax expert and enrolled IRS agent, laid out how this signature even leaves you liable for the slip-ups of others.
“Under federal law, the consumer is always responsible for the content of their return. That’s why you still have to sign it yourself, saying it’s accurate, even if you pay a professional to do it,” Bowman wrote. “The vast majority of the time, preparers are ethical and will tax responsibility… but I’ve definitely seen situations where the preparer did not take responsibility because they said the taxpayer failed to mention something or provide a document.”
For more, find out how a government shutdown could effect your taxes this year.
