April 15 is quickly approaching, which means it is time to file your taxes.

Joan Schilke, a certified financial planner with Investment Strategies in Theinsville, offers some last-minute tips on preparing your returns and getting the refund you are entitled to.

How much money you receive back from the government is all based on what was withheld from your paychecks. The withholdings are ultimately based on the number of exemptions taken from the W-4 form you filled out when you started your job.

The fewer the exemptions taken, the more money is withheld and therefore you will get more money back in the end. If you take too many exemptions on the W-4 forms and not enough money is withheld, you may end up owing money when filing your taxes.

The good news is there are several credits you may be eligible for and not even know it. Filing these will lead to a bigger return.

There are several credits available to some college students that can mean a bigger return. The Homestead and Hope credits are two of these tax credits. If you cannot be claimed as a dependent by anyone, you may be eligible for these credits.

The Homestead credit is a special credit for state of Wisconsin residents, available for people who have a low income and are either paying property taxes or rent. Claiming this credit requires minimal paperwork and can add hundreds of dollars to your return.

The Hope credit is a credit for tuition costs. It can only be claimed for the first two years of undergraduate education and reimburses a chunk of the tuition you paid for on your own.

After the first two years of college are up, you can still claim tuition with the Lifetime Learning credit, which can be used as long as education continues. Both of these credits will likely give you a substantial increase on your refund.

If you can afford it, the easiest thing to do would be to go to a tax preparation firm and have them do your taxes for you. Professionals rarely make mistakes and they know how to get the most money back for you.

Chains like H&R Block may cost you more money but are usually reliable. You can opt for a private firm such as Investment Strategies, which are equally as reliable and will most likely cost less. The average cost a typical college student will have to pay to get their taxes done is about $75.

Another option would be to buy a tax software program such as TurboTax. These kinds of programs walk you through the steps and remain relatively easy to understand depending on how difficult your taxes are to do. A software program will cost abour $40.

Whether you use a little help, or prepare your taxes the old-fashioned pencil, paper and calculator way, make sure you get the return you deserve.

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