Jannese Torres-Rodriguez, Host of the 'Yo Quiero Dinero' podcast, fills us in on what taxpayers can write off and highlights the best uses for tax refunds. 

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How to Save on Your Taxes and Other Last-Minute Tips

This next segment is brought to you by Jackson Hewitt online, offering you a flat low price of $25 to follow your taxes online while following your taxes may feel overwhelming. Our next guest has some tips and what can, what you can write off and what your employer should be paying for here. To answer all of the tough tax questions as Janice Torres Rodriguez, host of yo quiero dinero podcast, ladies welcome to the show. So the deadline to file less than a week away. What are some of the most common questions you're hearing from people right now? Yes, thank you so much for having me. I think the bad news for this tax season is that it's a little bit more complicated because there are unique situations that apply to this year only. But on the positive side, most of those changes are actually positive for the taxpayers. So if you can navigate through these complicated rules, it'll be net positive for most of us. And I think the big questions are really around What are those unique credits and and those unique deductions that we should be paying attention to this year. Can you talk to us about the importance of tax education and how taxpayers can avoid those costly mistakes. Yeah. So I think a lot of what gets us into trouble is this idea that we have to d I y our taxes, I wouldn't recommend for most folks to do it unless your tax situation is very simple. So the cost of tax prep the talks, the cost of tax prep can greatly outweigh the expensive mistakes that we can make doing things like you know waiting to file because you're not ready making incorrect calculation with your math or even something as simple as like not signing your return and not being able to take advantage of the latest tax breaks because you're just not aware of them. So I think a lot of those mistakes can be avoided if we work with professional services and do your taxes online versus filling out manual forms. So what can those people do if they simply can't get their taxes in before that April 18 deadline? That is just around the corner Argenis yeah it's super important like don't rush this process if you really find yourself in a place where you just can't file your taxes on time because you don't have the information that you need. You can file for a tax extension. Anyone who is an individual tax file regardless of their income, can request automatic tax filing extension by submitting form 48 68 with the I. R. S. And you can do that online or by mail. So it needs to be postmarked by the 18th of april and filing this form will actually give you until october 17th to file a return but you still have to pay your taxes by the 18th. Okay a good note. Let's talk about the coveted refund for those that are lucky enough to get it. What are the smartest ways that taxpayers can use that cash. Yeah. So I think the first thing to think about is if you have had to raid your emergency fund lately, you know inflation is real and the cost of living has gone up for everything. So expanding that emergency fund is what I would say would be the first thing to think about. And then with interest rates going up, paying off high interest rate debt like credit card debt would be a great thing to prioritize because as those interest rates go up, the cost of your debt actually continues to go up as well. And I think it's also unique time with the student loan of pause that if you want to make additional headway on your student loans and get all of the money that you're paying towards them going towards the principal now is the time to do it because they are at 0% interest until august. I want to go back to your podcast because you share personal finance stories. You aim to help listeners build wealth by starting a side hustle. We hear that phrase so much now, why is financial literacy so important? Especially for the latino community Denise. Yeah, I think it poses one of the biggest threats to the ability to build wealth if you're not financially literate and for the latin X community, especially financial literacy could be the difference between owning or renting a home building good credit saving for retirement and there's a really startling statistic that came out from the study, the Hispanics for a secure retirement, 83% of Latino millennials don't have any retirement savings when compared to 66% of non Hispanic households. And so you know latino families are less likely to own financial assets like stocks like mutual funds or even having a retirement fund. And that's why I think it's so important for a community to learn the tools that exist in order for us to start building wealth. There are also a lot of questions surrounding the payment apps like Venmo, cash paypal, they're all now subject to those new tax laws for 2022. I'm seeing those signs everywhere who does this rule apply to, what should people keep in mind for this current year when it comes to these apps. Yeah, so starting in 2020 to the I. R. S. Will require reporting of payment transactions for goods and services on these apps like Venmo and cash up that exceeds $600 in a calendar year. So anybody who receives at least $600 in payments is going to receive a form 10 99 K. Now it's important to note that on this form there will be certain amounts that are included that are not subject to income tax like refunds. So in order for you to determine which specific amounts on your 10 99 K. Are classified as taxable income. It's best to speak to a tax professional, great advice, Janice, Torres Rodriguez, host of yo quiero dinero podcast. Thank you so much for your time Denise and you can find out how you can file your taxes online for a flat price of $25 guaranteed even for those complicated returns, visit Jackson you at dot com.