Mike Pappas reviews four tax return items that can save or cost thousands: whether to itemize or take the standard deduction, how Roth conversions affect Medicare costs and ACA subsidies, the difference between direct and indirect retirement rollovers, and whether your withholding matches your actual tax bill.
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Most people file their tax return and immediately move on, but hidden inside that document are 4 things that could save you thousands or cost you just as much if you miss them. Whether you're already filed or you're still preparing, stick around because this checklist applies to you right now. Hi everyone, I'm Mike Pappas, Certified Financial Planner Professional and Head of Support at Bulletist. In this video, I'll walk you through 4 smart things you should review on your tax return. And the good news is you don't need to be a tax expert to review these. So let's start with the first one, because this alone can change how you approach taxes in future years. The first thing you should review is whether you took the standard deduction or itemized deductions. For the 2025 tax year, the standard deduction was $31,500 for married couples filing jointly, and $15,750 for single filers. If you were age 65 or older in 2025, there was also an additional deduction, $1,600 per spouse for married couples filing jointly, and $2,000 for single filers. And if you're planning ahead, the standard deduction for 2026 rises to $32,200 for married couples filing jointly and $16,100 for single filers. The additional age 65 or older deduction for 2026 also increases slightly to $1,650 per eligible spouse for married couples filing jointly and $2,050 for single filers. Beginning in 2025, there were a couple important tax changes that may affect your deductions. First, under recent tax legislation, individuals age 65 and older may qualify for an additional deduction of up to $6,000 per eligible individual or up to $12,000 for a married couple if both spouses qualify. This senior deduction begins phasing out once modified adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000 for single filers or $150,000 for married couples filing jointly. Second, the state and local tax deduction limit increased from $10,000 to $40,000 for taxpayers who itemize, although that benefit begins phasing down at higher income levels as well. Now here's why this matters. For several years, most households stopped itemizing deductions because the standard deduction became much larger. But with these changes, more households may find that itemizing deductions becomes relevant again, especially if you have mortgage interest, higher property taxes, state income taxes, charitable contributions, or significant medical expenses. So when reviewing your return, ask yourself a simple question. How close were my itemized deductions to the standard deduction? If they were close, there may be planning opportunities in future years. For example, you might consider bunching charitable contributions in the one year, coordinating property tax payment timing, or planning deductible expenses more intentionally. Inside the Bolden Planner, the software actually evaluates whether itemizing or taking the standard deduction is more beneficial each year of your plan, which helps you understand the long-term tax impact. Now, the next thing to review is especially important if you've been doing Roth conversions or if you're considering them. It's a very popular tax strategy among Bolden users. If you converted money from a traditional IRA or another pre-tax retirement account into a Roth account during 2025, you'll want to confirm that it was reported correctly on your tax return. Here's what you'll usually see. Typically, there will be Form 1099-R issued by the custodian showing the distribution, reporting on Form 8606, which tracks Roth conversions and any after-tax basis in your IRA, and the taxable portion of the conversion reported on Form 1040, Line 4b. A couple important points here. First, Roth conversions are taxable in the year the conversion occurs. Second, when done properly, the conversion is not subject to the 10% early withdrawal penalty, even if you're under age 59 and a half. But conversions do increase your taxable income, which means they can impact things like your marginal tax bracket, eligibility for ACA health insurance subsidies if you retire before age 65, and future Medicare premiums through the income-related monthly adjustment amount, or IRMAA. Many people intentionally do Roth conversions during lower income years in order to reduce taxes later in retirement. Within the Bolton Planner, you can model different Roth conversion strategies to see how they might impact lifetime taxes, required minimum distributions, and Medicare premiums. If you'd like to explore that yourself, there's a link in the description below where you can start a free trial of the Bolden Planner and test different scenarios with your own numbers. This next area is something I see trip people up the most, even people who are generally pretty organized with their finances. So stay with me. This one's worth it. The third thing worth reviewing is retirement account rollovers. This usually comes up when you change jobs, retire, or consolidate retirement accounts. For example, rolling a 401(k) plan into an IRA. When this is done properly as a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer, it generally should not create a taxable event, but it will still appear on your tax return. Typically, you'll see the distribution reported on line 5(a) of Form 1040., and the taxable amount on line 5b should generally be zero. You may see the word rollover next to the entry. Where you may run into issues is with indirect rollovers. With an indirect rollover, the funds are first paid to you. You then have 60 days to deposit them into another retirement account, and if the distribution comes from an employer retirement plan, The plan must withhold 20% for federal taxes if the money is paid to you. That withholding does not apply if the funds are sent directly to another retirement plan or IRA, including when a check is made payable to the receiving plan. So reviewing your tax return helps confirm that a rollover was handled correctly and didn't accidentally trigger taxable income. Another thing worth reviewing on your tax return is how your income lined up with your tax withholding for the year. Your tax return often reveals whether the taxes withheld during the year matched your actual tax liability. There are two signals you'll usually notice. First, you may receive a very large refund, which could mean more tax was withheld than necessary throughout the year. And while a large refund can feel like a tax season bonus, it also means you essentially gave an the government an interest-free loan rather than having that money available to save, invest, or use elsewhere during the year. And second, you might have a surprise balance due, which may indicate that withholding didn't fully cover your tax liability. And if you owe too much at filing time, you could potentially face an underpayment penalty. Although the IRS does provide safe harbor rules that often protect taxpayers who paid enough throughout the year. These situations tend to become more common as your income sources begin to change. For example, income may shift from primarily W-2 wages to other sources such as brokerage withdrawals, pension income, Roth conversions, Social Security, or even part-time work or consulting income. The federal withholding system is largely designed around W-2 wage income. So when income begins coming from other sources, adjustments may sometimes be needed. Those adjustments could include updating your Form W-4 with your employer, submitting a Form W-4P for pensions, annuities, or periodic IRA withdrawals, requesting withholding from Social Security using Form W-4V, or making quarterly estimated tax payments. Your tax return essentially becomes a feedback loop, helping you refine your withholding strategy for the year ahead. So before you file your tax return and move on, take some time to review it as a planning document, not just a tax document. Your return can provide useful insights about deductions, Roth conversions, retirement accounts, and whether your income and withholding are aligned. If you want to see how these types of decisions affect your long-term retirement plan, tools like the Bolden Planner allow you to model taxes, withdrawals, and different retirement scenarios in more detail. If this helps you look at your tax return differently, hit subscribe. We publish retirement planning content like this every week, and it's completely free. Now here's my question for you. What's the one thing you review first part of your tax season checklist? Drop your answer in the comments below because I do read everyone. As always, thanks for watching and happy planning to you all.
