The 2020 tax season is upon us and if buying a home is a goal that you have for this year then this one tip will save you time and money. What’s the tip? The tip is being able to meet with a mortgage professional before you file your taxes. NOW WAIT A MINUTE, I’m not saying that the mortgage lender is a CPA or a Tax Advisor or any of this. What I am saying is that there are benefits in doing so. There are benefits in being able to have a full analysis of your financial situation with a lender even if you’re thinking of buying in the 4th Quarter of 2020 or even 2021. Many Americans think that several legal tax-reductions, such as making extra mortgage payments, contributing to or opening an IRA after the end of the year, and delaying income, is illegal. But that is not true! Almost half of Americans don’t even know what tax bracket they’re in for this year. Having a professional mortgage lender sit down with you and make sure you’re well informed, can save you the time and money instead of trying to figure it out yourself.

If you haven't taken advantage of at least one of the five legal tax-saving strategies, you're not alone. Only about 84% of Americans have. But this time around, do not pass up the opportunity.

Did you get married or have a baby since you last filed your W-4? Taxpayers can change their withholding elections at any time. That number of allowances you claim can affect how much you pay in taxes with each paycheck you earn. And in turn, that can affect whether you get a refund or owe a bill at tax time.

We know that with the changes in tax laws, you might be worried about filing incorrectly. Income tax brackets, standard deduction amounts, health-insurance mandate penalty, state-local tax deductions, all changed within the last year, and a few more that might affect you. Look, there are benefits in being able to sit down with a mortgage professional sooner rather than later. We are not giving tax advice. We are not giving any of those things but we have seen in the past is that some people are declaring less than they earn and in those scenarios, they may find themselves in situations they have to wait until next year to file their taxes in order to qualify in that particular scenario. I’m not saying that that scenario is yours, I’m saying that we’ve seen it happen quite a few times. So, in order to avoid that and save time and money for you, let’s sit down in February, in March or before the April 15th deadline so that we can get you one step closer to making that next home purchase a reality for you. My name is Albert Vasquez with the AV Home Experts here at Keller William, until next time, God bless.