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Hey everybody, Mary El Segara here. It's that time of year. Time to file your taxes.

Yeah, technically you have until April 18th this year, but it's generally a good idea to start before then.

So you're not scrambling at the last minute to find a form or your accountants number or your password for that tax website you use.

I used to cover taxes and tax law as a reporter at Marketplace.

And one thing I would think about all the time is that we're just expected to know how to do our taxes,

but most of us didn't learn that in school.

And unfortunately the tax system in the US is pretty complicated.

So on today's episode, we're gonna do some tax filing 101.

Basically, what step should you take as the deadline approaches?

And we'll talk about what to consider for the year ahead too.

Because tax planning is something else we rarely learn, but it can save you a lot of money.

All right, I know taxes are not the most exciting topic, but you got to do them every year.

So let's jump right in.

The first thing you want to do, and this is takeaway one, figure out how you're going to file your taxes.

You don't have to pay anyone to help you.

You could download forms from the IRS, like the 1040, which is the basic tax form.

Read the instructions, fill everything out, and submit by mail or online.

That is easier if someone like a parent has walked you through it,

or if you have a simple tax situation, like one job in one state for the entire year.

It's not too bad if you're doing that with, you know, you just have one W2 and no other types of

income and it's pretty straightforward.

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