Good time of the year to think taxes.

Not to busy with taxes right now. The extensions should be coming in soon. What I have been seeing are clients wanting to check withholding. For some, there has been a change in income; Social Security, different job, drawing a pension, or sold something. Others didn't like last year's outcome and want to make sure the changes they made are taking effect.
Checking to see if your withhold will be enough is a good idea. But to be effective, it needs to be done early enough in the year that making changes to a W-4 will help the problem. The IRS has created a W-4 calculator, discussed in an earlier post , that can help. It is especially important to watch extra income if you are drawing social security. It is not uncommon to see a $4000 increase in a pension result in a $8000 increase in taxable income because the taxpayer's Social Security becomes taxable. They might put aside what they think will cover the tax on the pension but they get a surprise from the Social Security. It is not hard to prevent that surprise with a quick meeting with your tax preparer or a visit to the IRS's W-4 calculator.