by Paul Kern,Ascensus
It’s that time of year again! And no, I’m not talking about the holidays and gift giving. In fact, the timing has more to do with a little bit of ‘bah humbug’ in the form of 2012 IRA, HSA, and Coverdell ESA Tax Reporting. = )
Nobody likes to be the Grinch, and a little preparation today will help make the process run smoothly and let you save the Holidays!
The overall process is deceptively simple:
Get Started
First, make sure that your credit union knows the important dates for this reporting. Knowing the deadlines to report IRA/HSA/ESA information to the IRS and your IRA/HSA Owners or ESA Designated Beneficiaries will aid in planning your work load over this busy season.
Understand the Forms
Secondly, make sure you are able to recognize which IRS tax forms to use for each type of reportable transaction will allow you to prepare your core system for what is about to come.
Review Your Policies and Procedures
You also want to take this opportunity to fully review your credit union’s IRA/HSA/ESA procedures or policies to help take the sting out of any surprises that may come your way.
But like anything else, once you start digging in more deeply the details can very quickly get confusing, especially to those of you that may not have had the pleasure of working on the year-end tax reporting before.
