Taxes 101: A tax prep crash course

It’s tax filing time, and for many of us, it can be a little nerve-wracking. After all, we all want optimal results, whether that means maximizing a return or minimizing the amount owed, and it’s easy to feel like we missed something — especially if you’re new to filing taxes or your circumstances have changed. No matter your situation, we have some good news: We’ve put together some tips to help point you in the right direction. But before we dive in, please note: We are not a substitute for a trained tax professional, and we strongly encourage you to consult with one to tackle your specific needs.

First, let’s start with some helpful tidbits: 

• 2026 filing date is set to start on January 26
• Most common tax documents should be mailed by February 2, with certain types of 1099 forms carrying a deadline of February 17
• Taxpayers can generally make contributions to IRAs and HSAs for the 2025 tax year until April 15, 2026
• Standard deductions for the current tax year are:
  • $31,500 – Married Filing Jointly or Qualifying Surviving Spouse
  • $23,625 – Head of Household
  • $15,750 – Single or Married Filing Separately
• Additional standard deductions for those who are 65+ or are Blind:
  • $2,000 for Single or Head of Household (increase of $50)
  • $1,600 for married taxpayers or Qualifying Surviving Spouse (increase of $50)

Now that those facts are out of the way, let’s dig into some helpful pointers.

Filing for the first time?

Welcome to the world of income taxes! There are lots of tips and resources available to help make filing your taxes fairly straightforward. Here are a few to get you started:

• Find out your dependency status. The first thing you need to do is find out whether your parents are claiming you as a dependent. This is a biggie, as you cannot claim a personal exemption for yourself and will need to indicate on your return that you are being claimed on your parents’ tax return. Before you begin, talk with your parents to avoid misunderstandings. If they have been paying for your college expenses, they may want to claim you on their taxes so that they can claim education credits. However, if you provided over half of your own support for the year, your parents can’t claim you as a dependent on their taxes. Therefore, you’ll have to file on your own, and you can proceed to the next steps.
• Gather everything you need. This includes (but is not limited to) W-2s from your employer(s), 1099s, tax forms that report other types of income, tax deductions, and corresponding receipts. You’ll also want to have your bank account and routing number handy to be able to receive your refunds. UBT’s routing number is 104910795, and you can find your account number online using these step-by-step instructions.
• Do an income and expenses double-check. Did you forget about earnings from a side hustle or another form of income? Keeping track of receipts can help you itemize deductions for qualifying expenses to potentially decrease your tax liability. (Check with a pro on this one — and we know you know this, but you should report all income regardless.)
• Choose the right filing status. You don’t want to leave money on the table or file an amended return later! For example, say you’re single and have a dependent child. You may think you should file single status, but you may be better off filing as head of household, depending on factors such as how long your child has lived with you and how much of your child’s financial support you’ve provided.
• Look into credits and deductions.
  • Education credits can help offset the cost of higher education by reducing the amount of tax owed on your tax return. To claim these credits, you’ll need to fill out IRS Form 1098-T, a tuition statement.
  • Deductions you can take whether you use the standard deduction or itemize can include IRA and HSA contributions, teacher expenses, and student loan interest (Form 1098-E), but there are also other miscellaneous credits and deductions for individuals. With a small amount of investigative work (and our handy links!), you may be able to increase your return or at least be better informed about the outcome. (Again, it’s best to consult a tax professional.)
• Lastly, double- and triple-check for errors. Review the calculation of your income, the spelling of your name, and the accuracy of your address, date of birth, Social Security number, and bank account information. Inadvertent mistakes can significantly hold up your return or even raise unnecessary red flags.

Filing resources

So where should you turn with your tax-filing questions? Help is available, and in many cases, it’s just a click away. We’ve compiled a list of helpful links to hopefully make your filing as painless as possible:

• Start with the IRS. For answers to questions both general and specific, links to forms, and helpful articles on tax topics of interest, you really need the Internal Revenue Service.
• Filing assistance and how to find it. The IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs offer free basic tax return preparation to qualified individuals. For general information on these programs, the VIT/TCE locator tool, and the AARP locator tool, you’ll want to visit this page on the IRS website. AARP Foundation Tax-Aide provides in-person and remote tax assistance free of charge to anyone, with a special focus on taxpayers who are 50 or older or who have low to moderate income.
• For taxpayers in the Cornhusker State. Nebraska Department of Revenue’s website is chock full of information, both general and specific. Additionally, Lincoln VITA offers tax appointments for United States residents and for international visitors in the Lincoln area who qualify. An added bonus: The Lincoln VITA Coalition, through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, prepares tax returns for low-income, working families and students for free. In the Omaha area, Creighton University’s VITA program and The Omaha EITC Coalition offer tax filing assistance to qualifying individuals.
• For Kansas filers. The Kansas Department of Revenue is a great resource for state-specific filing information. Additionally, K-State Research and Extension offers VITA virtual and by-mail filing assistance.
• For those who serve our country. MilTax from Military OneSource and the Department of Defense offers free tax services, including tax prep and e-filing software and personalized support for current, retired, and honorably discharged military service members.

We hope we’ve given you enough info to help you get started — and alleviated some tax time anxiety in the process. At the end of the day, don’t be afraid to utilize all of the resources available to you. And when in doubt, contact a tax advisor in your area for specific guidance on your unique situation. We wish you a painless tax season!

Check out our tax resources page for more help.