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NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Talking Taxes With a Tax Professional: What's New in 2026 and How to Navigate Filing Season
00:33:29
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- [00:01]
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- [00:29]
Tom Osabin
Predator Badlands, now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney. Here, you're not the predator.
- [00:36]
Elizabeth Ayola
You're the prey.
- [00:37]
Tom Osabin
Prey, prey, prey, prey, pray.
- [00:42]
Sean Pyles
Critics are saying it's epic, stunning, and breathtaking.
- [00:48]
Tom Osabin
Many have come here. None have survived. Badlands now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney. Rated PG 13.
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Sean Pyles
Have you filed your taxes yet?
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Elizabeth Ayola
I did not want to face another penalty. I filed my taxes.
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Sean Pyles
Did you have you Good work, Elizabeth? Yes, I did. It took me a good two and a half hours, but I'm glad it's behind me.
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Elizabeth Ayola
So you do it yourself then?
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Tom Osabin
Yeah.
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Sean Pyles
I want the educational experience so we can talk from what we've done in our lives to our listeners. So here we go.
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Elizabeth Ayola
You're such a nerd, Sean. I will give advice based on whatever it is that my tax person does. So there we go.
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Tom Osabin
There you go.
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Sean Pyles
Well, that's the other side of the journey. Yeah. Well, this episode we're all about tax season 2026. Welcome to NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast, where you send us your money questions and we answer them with the help of our genius nerds. I'm Sean Pyles.
- [01:37]
Elizabeth Ayola
And I'm Elizabeth Ayola. Today we're going to go deep into tax season 2026, which is for filing your 2025 taxes, by the way. We're going to be talking about what's new common mistakes that people make when filing, and also how you can keep your finances safe and yourself sane over the next month or so.
- [01:57]
Sean Pyles
And in case you've never filed before or have lived in a cave for a few years, your deadline to file and pay Your taxes is April 15th. So to help us sort through all of this, we're joined by Tom Osabin, director of Tax content for the national association of Tax Professionals. Tom, welcome to Smart Money.
- [02:12]
Tom Osabin
It's great to be here. Nice to meet you.
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Sean Pyles
And Elizabeth, likewise. So let's start with what's new this year in tax land. Last year, Congress passed and the President signed the One Big Beautiful Bill act, which extended a number of tax breaks from a 2017 tax law and, and made some other changes, too. What are some of the major elements that tax filers should be aware of?
- [02:32]
Tom Osabin
That's really a good question. And I'm going to start with something that people haven't been talking about because I'm a tax practitioner along with the tax content job. I've been doing this for 35 years. And one of the things we had was a great expansion in energy credits under the American rescue plan under President Biden. Well, the one big beautiful bill, as you just started describing, Sean, actually ends energy credits for most people now. Now in 2025. What we didn't expect, and we didn't see it at the national association of Tax Professionals either, is that they've actually made it harder for clients to claim an energy credit in 2025. And so I wanted to give a couple of tidbits for the audience that I've run into, you know, meeting with my clients. For example, if you've had new exterior windows installed or new exterior doors or a new furnace, they're actually requiring this year what's called a qualified Manufacturer ID number, a qmid. I've never seen that before in all of the years we've had energy credits. And then they've gone one step further saying that if you're going to file your return electronically, which I hope everyone who's watching this, including yourselves, who have filed, do that electronically and not by paper, we have to actually attach a PDF of the receipt for the purchase of those items. It seems kind of crazy in one respect when you think about this as the last year for energy credits. And they've made it even harder to go ahead and qualify for those credits. And we love tax credits because they're a dollar for dollar reduction in tax. So if I could, I'd like to give you a couple of sources that I've run across and I'd like to thank social media for helping provide those. And one of them is called QuitCarbon.com and the other one is called Rebate Blue QMid. That's like Queen Mary, Ida, David. Those are a couple of sources where you can put in like the brand name, let's say Train, but T R A N E. It's the first thing that locked up tax returns for me meeting with clients this year. And I thought that would be something to throw in at the beginning of this podcast. So that's kind of really outside of what we would expect everybody to be concentrating on when you talk about the one big beautiful bill act. And that's the idea Of. And let me make sure that we get this clarification. When you watch and see what politicians have to say, they talk about, well, that tips are no longer taxable and that overtime is no longer taxable and Social Security is, is no longer taxable, you can't see it. But if you could feel the hair on the back of my neck bristling when I hear those statements. Because what it really is is the one big beautiful bill created a tip deduction, an overtime deduction, Social Security benefits could still be taxable. What they really did in that respect is that persons who are age 65 or over, they now qualify for what is called a senior deduction. It's $6,000 per person. They don't have to be on Social Security, they just have to be age 65 by the end of the year.
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Sean Pyles
And that's in addition to the regular standard deduction. Correct?
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Tom Osabin
Sean, that's a great point. That's exactly correct. It is a separate deduction. And all of these deductions, when we talk about them, are what we call below the line. So they do not impact adjusted gross income. So if you happen to be in the type of business where tips are common, think about restaurants, bars, beauty salons, all of that, then those are typically tipped industries. So I would tell people to, if they're really confused. And a lot of people, by the way, even though I'm coming from a national tax organization, I really believe that a lot of taxpayers should be able to prepare their own return. Not everyone should have to hire a professional. You know, they made the tax law so complicated that individuals can't do it themselves any longer. So I'm very much supportive of an educated consumer, you know, being able to do this themselves. So the IRS came out with some guidance this past November. It actually listed over 70 industries that potentially are tipped type workers. And you know, we think of the obvious ones. So that will be important. Important to do when tips are, for example, example, close disclosed on a W2.
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Sean Pyles
Yeah. One thing I've been wondering about is how many people are actually going to be affected by the no tax on tipster over time because it's a pretty small amount of the overall workforce. Correct.
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Tom Osabin
I would agree with you. I have seen just, just a smattering of the tip deduction. I've seen much more in the area of over time.
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Elizabeth Ayola
Well, Tom, taxes can be confusing, as you said earlier. And in the bid to encourage people to do it themselves, what are some best practices that people can keep in mind so that they can make filing Their taxes a bit less stressful and also prevent mistakes.
- [06:56]
Tom Osabin
I'm going to tell you exactly what I do as a tax professional. Number one, start with last year. Now, last year would mean 2024. Look at what you had on your return for 24. Now, some of these deductions we're talking about today didn't exist in 2024, but that's a portion of your filing. So look at last year and say, oh yeah, I had interest from this bank or this brokerage account or whatever I had. And start by looking at that data. I would also strongly suggest that people electronically file. You know, there are some software services out there that offer free filing. The IRS no longer has the direct file system that also ended under the auspices of the one big beautiful bill. But there are still free file opportunities for those who qualify income wise and complexity of the return. But try to use electronic means. Use direct deposit for refunds. And I will also mention that President Trump signed an executive order March now a year ago, which said that treasury is going to stop issuing physical check refunds and they also don't want to continue to accept check payments. We can eliminate some of the risk of having things going through the US Mail either from either a delay or being lost or destroyed to go ahead and try to pay liabilities also by online means.
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Sean Pyles
It also makes the process so much faster too, when you are filing online and you're setting up direct deposit. I found it to be pretty much instantaneous on my end.
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Tom Osabin
I've been educating my clients, especially older folks who are, who are not comfortable you know, with, quote, unquote, the IRS going in their bank account and they realize that we do have some control and we can schedule the payment. They'll be aware of it and all of that. And I was going to mention too, and I agree with you, Sean, you found it to be a good experience, didn't you?
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Sean Pyles
Yeah, it was fine. As far as giving the IRS my money, it's okay, right?
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Tom Osabin
But you can still wait, by the way. I think that's a misnomer with a lot of folks. The due date, as you mentioned at the opening of our podcast, was that it is April 15th. Just because you file your return today doesn't mean you have to pay it by April 15th. And that's what I find myself doing with clients, is scheduling that payment. Now when we're going back and we're reviewing last year's return and you'll say this is the number one phrase in 35 years of doing taxes that people are Famous for saying, I didn't get anything. What about this? Well, I didn't get anything. Hey, folks, we're an electronic age, so if you're receiving, for example, perhaps unemployment, when you signed up for unemployment, you probably clicked this little box which said you wanted paperless contact. Well, guess what? You may have received unemployment last year. You didn't receive a tax information document in the mail. It doesn't mean one exists. There's no requirement that I'm aware of that things must come through the US Mail. So again, thinking about what happened in your life this last year, you may in fact have to go and get the. Those brokerage statements, those bank statements, the notion of unemployment benefits that you might have received so that you can have good input, which hopefully results in good output.
- [09:54]
Sean Pyles
I think that could be. One downside to the movement toward electronic filing is that I actually really prefer getting all of my tax forms mailed to me so I can know that they're all there for the most part, and then not have to remember my login for my brokerage account or my high yield savings account or whatever it might be, because that can just add more administrative burden if you're just trying to remember all of your passwords while you're just working to file your taxes.
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Tom Osabin
Yeah, you're absolutely correct. I mean, you know, in the example of unemployment, someone might have received benefits for just maybe in the early part of a year. And now we're talking about something from a year ago. And what did you use as a username and password? We find ourselves in the office. Can we access your account here? Oh, I don't know that I remember my password. That's a real common circumstance. But, boy, you're right. Now, I did have some unemployment benefits last year. And, you know, another thing that the one big beautiful bill has done, besides these, these obvious deductions that we're talking about is the requirement to make sure that we have a Social Security number before we file. And probably the most common area would be when there was a new child born, you know, during the year. And do we have that Social Security number yet? So in most cases, when you're electronically filing, I can't imagine the return being able to be transmitted. In other words, good form, no diagnostics that are preventing transmission. I can't imagine that any software will allow a return to go into the system without a social on it. So I think it's more of the people who still maybe file by paper. And if the Social Security number is not there at the time of filing, then many of the credits will, in fact, be disallowed on that filing. So make sure we've got a Social Security number, and I think they use the term a Social Security number. That makes one eligible to work, which I think is probably 99.9% of the Social Security numbers out there that have been issued. So make sure we have that information and double check it. I do that with my clients. I talk about good intake results and good output. So I will tell people, hey, let's see those Social Security cards. Make a copy of them for me so we can verify, you know, the kids full names and their social. And if someone, for example, had a marital status change, perhaps they changed their name.
- [11:56]
Elizabeth Ayola
I think all of this just brings to mind the importance of being organized during tax season. And as you said, Tom, there is something to be said about looking back at last year, maybe creating a checklist. So that includes having your Social Security number in place, knowing your logins for all those important accounts, having your documents, whether they're digital or physical, in place to minimize that stress.
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Tom Osabin
I can't count on one hand the number of people who just bring in and their envelopes that haven't. Haven't even been opened yet. Oh, we just put all this stuff in a folder and we bring it to Tom. You know, and in some of this,
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Sean Pyles
it's your job to open those envelopes.
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Tom Osabin
Exactly. You would be surprised to hear that once in a while they. There'll actually be money, like a dividend check that came. They thought it was a government document. I said, here's a check, you know, for you.
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Sean Pyles
Still constructive receipt, as they say.
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Tom Osabin
Exactly. Constructive receipt is a good point, but, Elizabeth, your point is very well taken. Be organized. And another piece of advice I would have, don't press send. Get up and walk away and come back again and look at it with a fresh set of eyes. And then maybe press send.
- [12:58]
Sean Pyles
I like that because when I did my taxes, I did cloister myself away in the office for a couple hours on the Saturday morning, and I just did it all in one go. And by the end, I was kind of exhausted and frustrated and just wanted to go about my day that I just hit submit. It was accepted, everything was fine. But I probably could have benefited from just one breather and a final glance over before submitting it.
- [13:18]
Elizabeth Ayola
Yeah.
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Tom Osabin
Yeah, that's an excellent point. One other comment I wanted to make about acceptance with the idea of when we transmit a return to the irs, the does it mean everything's over? We don't have any issues that the IRS could come back on. And that's not the case at all. And then finally, Elizabeth, you mentioned this at the open when a return will reject saying that a Social Security number had already been used. Now that could be something as simple as you have a semi adult child. I will say that they're away at school and they got together with their friends and they filed their returns on the weekend. They maybe they had a little job at the college or maybe off campus and they went ahead and didn't indicate that they were a dependent. And then mom and dad go and file the return claiming the child. IRS rejects the return saying this social has already been used. Okay, that's an issue. The more nefarious one is when you get into issues of identity theft where the bad guys, as I said, they got a match to the first four letters of the last name and the social. I describe that as the keys to the candy store. Now they've gotten in, they've probably made up information that it no way reflects your world. 4 children mid income that would qualify for an earned income credit, college credits and all this. And they're trying to generate 7 to $12,000 in refunds. Then the legitimate filer goes and files and it rejects. And you have a couple of options. One, you're probably a victim of identity theft and you may have to then go and paper file and you file that. You think you're a victim of identity theft. Of course with privacy laws you really can't know who the bad guy is. We'll say it that way on the other end. But then you file that return in paper or there's some other options. But one of the things I would suggest for folks to do, and you can do that right now and you don't have to be a victim of identity theft is go to irs.gov don't go somewhere else that would charge money and you go to get an IP pin, identity protection pin. We in the computer world understand the notion of two factor authentication. It's akin to that. So it now takes more than the first four letters of your last name. And the social. There's another number that has to match before you can get into the candy store as the saying would be.
- [15:35]
Sean Pyles
And that's good for one year for that tax filing year, correct?
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Tom Osabin
That's correct. And my understanding is that, and I haven't seen this, otherwise I think you can go back and say no. But Sean, that creates a situation with an annually the IRS will actually mail to your last known address a new identity protection pin, because you're right, they're good for one year. But once you get into that system, you will continue to receive those identity protection pins, not new ones each year. And they typically are sent out in January, but that will come through US Mail.
- [16:03]
Sean Pyles
Great. Okay. Well, Tom, I want to go deeper into deductions, specifically the standard deduction or itemized deduction, because a lot of folks aren't sure which might be best for them. So what might be your guidance on whether folks should choose itemized or standard? And does it come down to simply which gives you the bigger refund?
- [16:21]
Tom Osabin
It really does, Sean. It comes down to that. And I've often told clients they'll be in the first five minutes and they say, well, are we going to go short form or long form this year? Long form meaning itemized, short form meaning standard deduction. And I love to tell them, I said, well, that's not decided by how tired I am. It's really, it's really determined by what you actually have. And I will tell you, since the Tax Cut and Jobs act came on in 2018, in my world, where we probably had, prior to that law, 80 to 85% of clients itemized, with the Tax Cut and Jobs act coming along and basically doubling the standard deductions, it's probably just been the opposite. 80% of people now take the standard deduction and less and less itemize. But what I've asked clients to do during that time is to still keep track of those expenses that could lead to itemized deductions, like medical expenses out of pocket, your state and local taxes, your mortgage interest, your charitable contributions. Perhaps you've had gambling winnings and gambling losses. Because I'll tell you, one of the factors of the one big beautiful bill was to take the state and local tax deduction. That would be your state withholding your state balances due. If you're in that type of estate, perhaps you have personal property tax, and that was capped at $10,000. Well, for the next four years, the cap is now $40,000. So as we predicted early on, we being NATP, we thought we would see more people qualifying to itemized deductions in filing their 2025 tax return. And that's exactly been the experience.
- [17:50]
Sean Pyles
All right, we'll be back in a moment with more about tax season 2026. Stay with us.
- [17:58]
Elizabeth Ayola
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- [19:50]
Elizabeth Ayola
Tom. Now let's talk about how to file. I know many people will opt to use the same tax filing software they used last year or the same CPA that they hired in the past. Can you talk a little bit about when someone might want to use a different tool or hire a different tax professional than one they've used in the past?
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Tom Osabin
My mom used to have a statement that a new broom sweeps clean, so sometimes it makes sense to get a new broom. Maybe the the software seemed kind of wonky or you felt like, you know, Sean was talking about cloistering himself for hours to go ahead and do the return. You know, could you try another platform and then see if it's it's more user friendly or maybe there's customer service on the end that's better than you experienced before? You you don't Know if you can have a better experience until you tried.
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Sean Pyles
Can you speak to any other unique benefits that working with a CPA offers versus just using the software you used last year?
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Tom Osabin
Sean, people use the term CPA generically to mean a tax person. A CPA is really a certified public accountant, which I'm not. I'm an enrolled agent, which means I have a license with the IRS to represent clients regardless of whether or not I did the return. I just wanted to clarify that the professionalism of a tax professional is not necessarily determined by the letters behind their name. It's really that reputation you would expect. In fact, we advocate with Congress that you might find this hard to believe, but you don't need a license to prepare taxes. Anyone can go out, they could buy a software, hang out a shingle and say, I do taxes. There is no education requirement to do taxes. We're advocating for that to change. Now, granted, you mentioned CPAs, enrolled agents. We have what are called annual filing season practitioners, or all of them have continuing education requirements in some states.
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Elizabeth Ayola
What should people be looking for then, since you don't necessarily need a degree in order to prepare taxes? I remember using someone from high school once. And then I had an IRS agent knocking on my door because of how they prepared my taxes. I didn't check their credentials, but she had done it two years in a row. And like you said, at that time, I had no financial knowledge. So I just signed off, didn't double check. So what are some things that people should be looking out for?
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Tom Osabin
The best source to find a tax professional is some of your friends or business partners or something that may go to someone and then ask that person, how many, how much experience do you have? What do you do to stay on top of the tax laws? Do you have a ptin? And here's a simple question, Elizabeth. Are you going to sign the return? There are people out there that are called ghost preparers. They prepare returns, they charge you a fee. They don't sign, so they've taken no responsibility. That's so very important to ask that question because if they're not going to sign, then sum things up. I would also avoid. I'll be honest with you. A tax professional would say, well, I know that I buy a really good software package and that software package is going to educate me to help you. I think you can buy your own software.
- [22:44]
Sean Pyles
When do you think someone is better going the DIY route and just choosing a software that they think works for them?
- [22:50]
Tom Osabin
When you're prepared, you're willing to learn. You're willing to look and see what's different so you don't miss anything and you feel comfortable. And maybe they're not overly complicated, like they don't have a small business or rental properties. Those are really the people, I think, that need a tax professional. I think most individuals, a couple of W2s, maybe they've got mortgage interest, children and daycare, they ought to be able to do their returns themselves and not need the aid of a professional. Or I've had circumstances too in the past where I've had someone come in, they get kind of a guidance, and then they go out and they do their own thing for a couple years. I have no problem with that. And then maybe they come back in to say, hey, what's new? That's kind of a hybrid, wouldn't it be? I guess it's almost like anything in the DIY world if you're willing to tackle it, be willing to spend the time.
- [23:37]
Elizabeth Ayola
Well, what are some common myths or misconceptions about tax filing that you see that you would like to dispel? Maybe one or two.
- [23:44]
Sponsor Voice - Indeed
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- [23:45]
Tom Osabin
Filing early will get you a bigger refund. There is no difference. Filing an extension will create less of a likelihood that you will owe. And the final one would be filing an extension gives you more time to pay your taxes. The extension is in time to file, not in time to pay. Hey, you can pay late, you're going to be charged interest.
- [24:06]
Sean Pyles
We don't want that. And so get on some kind of payment plan or sort out your payment by April 15th. Although you can have an extension maybe into October.
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Tom Osabin
That's correct. But again, the extension is a time to file, not in time to pay.
- [24:17]
Sean Pyles
I've been seeing a lot of myths and frankly, misinformation around tax credits on social media in particular. There was one a couple of years back that was just Tiktokers promoting. You can get an Escalade and write it off because you're using it to drive to work and that's a business expense. And that stuff must grind your gears and also make you laugh a little. Do you see a lot of this on your social media feeds and how do you handle it?
- [24:40]
Tom Osabin
You have to have a business purpose, you know, can that Escalade be written off? Yes, if you happen to have a business and you're using it for business trips, but commuting back and forth forth to work, not deductible. Or even a business person, they go and they get their vehicle wrapped with their company name on, you know, Put the vinyl wraps around it. That makes it 100% business use. No, it doesn't. I'll tell you what grinds my gears is when I'll be at the airport, for example, and I see company vehicles pulling up, let's say a plumber's truck, and he's dropping off a kid who apparently is going somewhere, and somehow that vehicle is 100% business use. Or the person who's just commuting to work and they say they can write that off now.
- [25:15]
Elizabeth Ayola
Doesn't count.
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Tom Osabin
You know, it may fly under the radar because you only have a 1 to 2% chance of being audited, but if the IRS catches it, we really don't want them to accuse anyone of fraud because now we're looking at criminal penalty.
- [25:26]
Elizabeth Ayola
Well, let's talk about what happens when you have a tax bill. Speaking of which, and I know we touched on it a little earlier, but it can be unpleasant and it can also be expensive. So what are some options for people to resolve any money that they owe, especially if it's a bill that's beyond their current budget and something they can't handle at the moment financially?
- [25:44]
Tom Osabin
The number one thing to do, and this is kind of a misnomer, I don't have the money to pay, so I don't file. The first thing to do is file the irs. I'm going to say they are easy to work with. Listen, they don't want to take your stuff. You know, they don't want to. They don't want to garnish your wages. But if you ignore them, then they're going to do those things. So, number one, file the return after it's filed. You can ask for an installment payment plan. In fact, you can do that with the return. Take your balance due, divide it out over seven years, and the IRS will accept that payment plan. They're going to charge you interest, but their interest rate is probably a lot less. I think it's around 7 to 9%. That's a lot less than a finance company. If you're in a situation where you've had some kind of life event, maybe you've lost your job, you had significant medical expenses, you can actually have that return placed in uncollectible status. Means there's nothing for them to get right now. But you have to be proactive. You hear oftentimes about what is called an offer in compromise. Whatever caused this large tax bill. Now we look at our ability to earn income and our assets, and maybe we can settle that debt for pennies on the dollar, no guarantee, but it's for those certain circumstances. But all of that implies one file the return. Secondly, work with the irs. They want to work with you. I remember reading an article in one of the financial publications a long time ago which said, probably the best place to finance your tax debt is with the irs.
- [27:08]
Sean Pyles
Let's talk about working with the irs because a lot of people may be intimidated to do so because there's almost a mythology around them coming for your money and people can be a little bit scared. But it's helpful to be proactive, especially if you are resolving a dispute or getting on a payment plan. So what advice do you have for people who will be working more closely with the irs?
- [27:27]
Tom Osabin
Absolutely. And the first thing they should do is again, I'm going to use another euphemism here. You get more flies with honey than vinegar. So you start that conversation in a professional way. You be friendly. These are human beings on the other end of the phone.
- [27:40]
Elizabeth Ayola
That's right.
- [27:40]
Tom Osabin
So they want to work with you, they want to help to get it resolved. Now, if you are intimidated by that human contact, it would be really important for individuals to get an online account. And when they get an online account, if they sign a power of attorney, they, for example, can give me access to, to what they have. So we avoid the mail time, we avoid delays on the phone. And you can go ahead and access the information that for your account on your online account. Now it's a little bit, you know, there's several steps to go through. You have to set up an ID ME account, et cetera. But let's go back to that conversation where we need to call the irs. You want to avoid those high pressure times like don't call them first thing on a Monday morning or in the afternoon on a Friday. Don't we like to get away on an afternoon on a Friday? Think about how we think and you want to start your week and oh, the phones are ringing off the wall. You know, maybe try to do it in the mid afternoon or something like the contact them. Don't ignore it, you know, because the letters get progressively worse. And yes, we go to a certain point, they will levy bank accounts, they will garnish wages. If your liability is over $50,000, they can cancel your passport.
- [28:47]
Elizabeth Ayola
Wow.
- [28:47]
Tom Osabin
But these are extreme situations and it didn't happen overnight. It happened in a period of ignoring, maybe not filing the returns and then ignoring that correspondence where it's come to a pain point now where they want to get your attention. So yes, they're not here to come automatically. Bang, we're going to come and take your money.
- [29:06]
Sean Pyles
And thinking, too, about how the IRS's staffing was cut by nearly 26% last year. I imagine that's going to make all this communication a little bit more challenging. What are you hearing about how the staffing reduction is affecting how people are working with the irs?
- [29:22]
Tom Osabin
I'm hearing mixed answers. During the filing season, the IRS will normally pull people from other areas so they can be on the customer service end of the phones. They may have been collections personnel or whatever they might be within the service. So some of them will be perhaps relatively unfamiliar. We also just got through a big ramp up in hiring before the current administration, where we started having the furloughs when, when Doge was doing their work and everything else. I had to call the IRS with a collections issue for a, for a client. This is a live call about two weeks ago, and it was a wonderful experience. I was on hold for about two and a half minutes. The agent was extremely helpful. I explained right away that I'm not the client. I have a power of attorney on file. Found that went through the normal things you have to do to protect privacy. And we resolved their issue in less than 10 minutes. So again, I would say that that was a very good experience. That doesn't always happen. But be patient and like I said, avoid those times that would be really, really busy early in the morning on a Monday or on a Friday afternoon to deal with correspondence. And be patient. And don't threaten. You know, you threaten. You threaten someone. That's a federal offense. They are federal employees. So don't, don't threaten IRS people.
- [30:33]
Elizabeth Ayola
Do you have Tom, any final words of wisdom for the tax filers who are listening and who are overwhelmed or who haven't started yet?
- [30:42]
Tom Osabin
Absolutely. Like I said, start slowly. Look at your 2024 return. Gather your data. Think about what happened in your life in 2025. What changed? Did you have a child? Did you have a life event? Did you buy a house? Did you buy an electric vehicle? Remember that the energy credits ended at the end of 25. That's the end of 25. So if you purchased an electric vehicle by September, there may be a credit. Or if you did work to your house, like I mentioned, exterior windows, exterior doors, a new furnace, you might qualify for an energy credit. Go and look at the rules for deducting those tips or that overtime or the interest on it on a new vehicle purchase that the final assembly was in the United States. These are short term benefits. They're 2025 through 2028. But realizing how the laws have changed, go to IRS.gov they have a lot of good tools there for you that help you sometimes walk through and including things like paying your debt. What are your options? They tell you right there. You know, they don't say, give us money today or we're going to come and take your car. No. And I'll tell you something else. You all have this picture. It's kind of a Norman Rockwell picture of the tax person working on their stuff at a quarter to 12 at night on April 15th. Not me. I'm filing extensions. I'm tired. I'm stressed. I'm worn out. I'm going to make mistakes. The same will be true of you. You're going to come home from work on the evening of April 15th and do your taxes. Not a good idea.
- [32:04]
Sean Pyles
Very smart. Let's do it when you are rested and ready to tackle this task. Okay?
- [32:09]
Tom Osabin
Absolutely.
- [32:09]
Sean Pyles
Well, Tom Osaben, director of Tax Content for the national association of Tax Professionals, thank you so much for coming on and talking with us today.
- [32:16]
Tom Osabin
It's been my pleasure.
- [32:17]
Elizabeth Ayola
Thank you, Tom. And I'd like to add if there's anything that we did not cover in today's episode. Remember, we have a ton of tax resources for 2026 on nerdwallet.com if you need an incentive to actually read the content. I used to work on the tax team, so I helped with some of the content that you're going to engage with. So you'll find things like our free tax calculator, reviews of the best tax software, and also guides on IRS free file eligibility. We'll also include a few links to those resources in today's episode description.
- [32:47]
Sean Pyles
All right, and that's all we have for this episode. Remember, listener, that we are here to answer your money questions, so send them our way. You can call or text us on the nerd hotline at 9017-3063-7390-1730. Nerd. You can also email your questions to podcasterdwallet.com or leave us a comment on Spotify or YouTube.
- [33:06]
Elizabeth Ayola
Join us next time because we have a fun episode coming up about how to budget when you're dating. Follow Smart Money on your favorite podcast app that includes Spotify, Apple Podcasts and iHeartRadio to automatically download new episodes.
- [33:19]
Sean Pyles
Here's our brief disclaimer. We are not your financial or investment or tax advisors. This nerdy info is provided for general educational and entertainment purposes and may not apply to your specific circumstances.
- [33:30]
Elizabeth Ayola
This episode is produced by Tess Figland. Hilary Georgie help with editing. Nick Karisimi and Eve Krogman helm our audio and video production. And a big thank you to NerdWallet's editors for all their help.
- [33:41]
Sean Pyles
And with that said, until next time, turn to the nerds. Hablas
- [33:52]
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