What One Expert Says You Need to Know

Most Americans struggle to understand the United States tax code, and mistakes stemming from these misunderstandings could mean they pay too much in taxes, receive a lower refund or get audited by the IRS.

The “One Big, Beautiful Bill” made over 100 changes to the tax code that apply to 2025 filings, such as the introduction and expansion of several tax deductions and credits. These changes will likely make it even harder for taxpayers to file their returns this year.

Investopedia spoke with Brian Schultz, a certified public accountant and tax partner at Plante Moran, a wealth management firm, about some mistakes taxpayers make when filing their tax returns. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

INVESTOPEDIA: What are some common mistakes taxpayers make when filing that reduce their tax refund or increase the amount of taxes they owe?

BRIAN SCHULTZ: Sometimes people aren’t fully aware of what deductions are available to them, especially after the tax legislation that passed last July. A lot of those new deductions, you don’t need to itemize to take advantage of them. Unfortunately, there’s probably going to be some taxpayers leaving money on the table just from a lack of awareness.

There will probably be a batch of taxpayers who mistakenly assume that tax credits and deductions are the same as last year. Since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed in 2017 [increasing the standard deduction] far fewer taxpayers have itemized their taxes. I’ve got clients that just don’t give me the information for [expenses that can be itemized] because they’ve taken the standard deduction for a while.

Especially with changes from the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” like the state and local tax cap, it’s been $10,000 for so long, and now [taxpayers can deduct up to] $40,000. There will be more taxpayers who should itemize their deductions for 2025, but they won’t realize they can, because they haven’t been able to under the old laws for several years.

There’s also always a choice on the cost-benefit of doing the return yourself using tax preparation software and not paying an accountant to do it. I would say, in general, the more complicated the return, the more likely it would be well worth it to have a tax professional assist you … You might save some fees by trying to do it yourself, but you could probably make a lot more errors, too. That would more than offset the cost of hiring a professional.

I would also advise not dropping off a shoe box of receipts with your accountant. I would recommend trying to have your information organized. You’ll probably save money on fees if the accountant doesn’t have to sort it all out.

INVESTOPEDIA: What are some common mistakes taxpayers make that delay their refund?

SCHULTZ: Filing electronically whenever possible tends to shorten processing times and increase the speed of getting the refunds. Most people e-file their tax returns, but there are some types of returns you cannot e-file. You have to send in paper. So, if you’re in a situation where you’re sending in a paper return and if there’s an arithmetic error on it, or you didn’t include a form that you should have included, that can drastically slow down the processing time.

In general, your refund time should be shorter if you set up direct deposit, as opposed to having them send you a check. Probably safer too, versus having a check come to you in the mail.

There are also some types of [claims] that you might have on a tax return that are going to make it more likely for some sort of review process before they’ll release a refund … I’ve seen situations where clients have a credit coming to them, but it’s really small dollars, and they make the business decision that they’d rather not claim that small-dollar credit because they don’t want to worry about the delays in processing time.

There’s nothing in the tax law that says you have to take every deduction or credit available for every dollar…You need to report all your income, but if you have a $5 deduction that you’re eligible for, you’re not required to take that deduction. So there might be cases where you should leave out a small-dollar tax credit on your return, just to speed up time and have a lower chance that the IRS will flag it.