While the Federal Income Tax laws are usually enough of a nuisance to individuals and businesses, these are only adding to the income of the federal government, not to the state in which you are living. For this reason, state taxes are are required. Just like the federal income tax law system, the rate of taxes you pay is figured by your adjusted gross income after deductions. And then you can follow a similar system for figuring out whether you owe or you do not owe. However, with state taxes, things are a little different. For one, the states of Washington, Nevada, Alaska, Florida, Texas, South Dakota and Wyoming don't impose state taxes at all.
Other states only base their state taxes off of certain types of income. The overall state taxes system is generally progressive in the remaining states, that is, the taxes become more and more with higher levels of income, with the greatest rate of 9.5% being in Vermont. The lowest state income tax is the flat tax that Illinois has in place at 3%. Sound difficult? No need to worry. Following a few basic steps will have you on your way to filing your state taxes quicly and easily.
These days, with the use of the internet, it is even easier to pay your taxes. The IRS and state tax administration agencies have combined efforts to make it convenient for tax payers to file taxes electronically or online which can be done with the help of professionals, or in many states, from your own pc.
This Federal/State e-file gives you the opportunity to file both your Federal and State income taxes at the same time and in one filing. The use of a software program that divides data for Federal and State returns into two different packets and sends them both in one envelope to the IRS, allows you this convenience of filing both at at one time.
There are alot of benefits of filing your state taxes online. You will be given a faster receipt of refund, faster processing, a more accurate filing process, be able to take advantave of the convenience that comes with filing online and most importantly will have proof of filing.
You can also file state taxes directly. You can choose between one of two options in which to do so either by seeking out a tax professional to fill out your taxes or you can do it yourself using either a tax computer program or manually filling out your tax forms.
Although it is not impossible for you to do on your by yourself, hiring a tax professional not only helps you by insuring that your state taxes are filed in the right way and on time but also saves you the hassle of having to do them yourself.
Tax professionals help in finding deductions and credits that are included in the tax laws that pertain to your state, and for a low fee of just around $100 to $150 for their assistnance, they can insure you maximize your tax returns. Everything considered, hiring a professional is definitely the best way when it comes time to file your state taxes.
