As A Retiree, What Issues Should I Consider When Reviewing My Tax Return?

Reviewing your tax return can always be an informative exercise to ensure you understand all sources of your income and your tax liabilities for the prior year.

In this checklist, we highlight points to consider on your tax return (if you are retired):

• Review your filing status. If you are married should you automatically file jointly with your spouse or might there be situations where you might consider filing separately?
• If you are divorced or widowed, there are filing steps for you to take depending upon timing and circumstances.
• If you had investment income for the prior year, there are reporting issues that you will want to be sure you addressed in connection with this income.
• If you owned tax-advantaged accounts during the prior tax year there may be some reporting issues to consider, especially if they took any distributions from these accounts. For those who have reached their RMD: did you take the full amount of your RMD from your retirement plans? Did you do a rollover to an IRA? Were any distributions taken from an after-tax IRA account?
• Did you have a high level of medical expenses and/or are there are state-specific issues to be considered?