Most of the time I write about how to improve your physical health, but today I want to talk a little bit about financial health. Now that we are beginning the new year, and new decade this time around, we have to start thinking about our finances a bit. With that said, we still have to pay our taxes for last year – and that scares a lot of people. The purpose of this article is to help ease your mind a little.

Tax return forms can be very intimidating at first, but there really isn’t anything to be scared of when you know how to calculate federal income tax. You should do a quick estimate so you know what to expect when you start doing the long form or go to your tax man.

When you want to figure out your taxes the first thing to do is add up how much money you made. You should have statements from your employer and any investments or interest you earned. After that, determine how many deductions you have like mortgage interest and charitable contributions. Subtract your deductions from your total income to come up with your taxable income. From there you look up your tax on a tax table. Subtract any credits, like for children, from your tax and add any penalties to get your final tax. With any luck, you will have paid in more than you owe and the government will be sending you a big fat refund check.

Now that wasn’t so hard was it. Try not to get stressed about your finances becase that will hurt your physical health. When it is time to do your taxes, you may want to check out some of the great online income tax software programs available. You can save a lot of money compared to hiring an accountant.

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