Today's Tax Tip

Many taxpayers like to file thier taxes as soon as they can.

But some taxpayers may not be able to file as early-bird as they like: The so-called bailout bill passed by Congress last year included a provision that gives brokerage firms and mutual-fund companies additional time to send tax forms to investors, specifically Form 1099-B used to report proceeds from brokers' transactions. Instead of the Jan. 31 deadline, brokers now have until Feb. 15. (Since Feb. 15 is a Sunday and Feb. 16 is a federal holiday, they actually have until Feb. 17 this year.)

Also, the IRS said, that for 2008, the Feb. 17 deadline "also applies to other tax information that brokers report to their customers, including such items as interest and dividends, on a combined year-end statement."

So be patient and remember to wait to at least February 17 before scheduling your apppointment with your accountant.

See IRS Statement Here:

http://irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=203200,00.html