You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.

Hey, it's Mariel.

You know, some people say taxes are boring.

I don't feel that way, but I understand the point.

They can be very technical, and it's hard to know if you're doing them right.

So I get why it's tempting to go on social media or on a message board and have someone explain them for you.

If you do that, though, keep this in mind.

The tax law is technical by design, right?

Mark Gallegos is a CPA and a partner at the accounting firm, Portie Brown, in Chicago.

And he says real tax advice is grounded in the law.

It comes from documentation like the Internal Revenue Code. It comes from regulation. And he says real tax advice is grounded in the law.

It comes from documentation like the Internal Revenue Code.

It comes from regulations.

It comes from case study.

It defines what eligibility requirements are.

And often includes nuances and caveats where bad advice usually skips all of that because it seems boring you know, boring, and jumps straight to the results.

So, like, everyone qualifies. This is guaranteed. The IRS doesn't check. Those kind of things are red flags,

you know, that you'll see. So, like, a 30-second video can make a complex tax provision sound universal.

When in, really, it applies to a very narrow set of facts

and circumstances, maybe even only a small amount of taxpayers that are affected by it.

U.S. tax law has changed in the past year.

There are new deductions that could help you shield more of your income from taxes.

...