File Your Taxes, Help the Earth

As most Americans are well aware, April 15th (the date when the previous year’s income tax return is due) is right around the corner. As April 15th comes closer, you might not be thinking about how you can green your tax return filing, but I have. And that’s why I’ve come up with the following five ways that you can file your income tax return, and help the earth, too–oh and maybe your back account as well.

1. File Your Tax Return Online
Just like banking and paying bills online saves paper and other natural resources, the same can be said for filing your income tax return online. If you do file online, you won’t be alone. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), of the 138 million tax returns filed in 2007, 80 million of them were filed online. That’s more than half of the returns–imagine how much paper people saved.

2. Get Your Refund (If You’re Eligible for One) Electronically
Here’s what the IRS website has to say about how filing electronically–and receiving your refund electronically–can speed things up: “With IRS e-file, taxpayers get refunds in half the time it takes to file a paper tax return and receive a refund check. E-filers who choose Direct Deposit can receive their refund in as few as 10 days.”

3. List Any Hybrids You Bought or Leased
Americans who drove away in certain models of hybrid cars and trucks in 2007 could be eligible for up to a $3,400 tax credit for their decision to forgo a gas guzzler. Check out this IRS webpage for details on which vehicle makes and models qualify you for a tax credit.

4. Take Energy-Saving Tax Credits You’re Due
2007 was the last year that you could get a tax benefit for making any energy-efficient improvements to your house. Too bad we didn’t get around to installing that solar water heater or putting in better windows. If we had we could have taken a $200 tax credit for windows alone or $500 for both. According to the IRS website other energy-efficient improvements that qualify include “insulation, exterior windows, exterior doors, water heaters, heat pumps, central air conditioners, furnaces and hot water boilers.” The only way you couldn’t claim this tax credit for 2007 is if you already claimed some for 2006. This IRS webpage explains more about tax credits.

5. Work With Your Tax Preparer Virtually
Our tax preparer lives on the West Coast; we live on the East Coast. Because of the distance, we work with our guy virtually, which means sending him our tax documents in advance (we scan them in and send as PDFs), then making a phone appointment to discuss everything. Truth be told, when we drove to meet with our local tax preparer, we did the same–sent her everything in advance, then made an appointment to meet with her. The only difference? We met in person. By having a virtual tax appointment, you take your car out of the equation, reducing your carbon emissions and therefore reducing the carbon footprint of your annual tax return.

Imagine if every American made one of these steps to green his or her annual tax return filing? Perhaps we wouldn’t have to buy carbon offset credits to ease our guilty minds.