NATCHEZ — The filing deadline is just under two months away, but there is no reason to wait to submit income taxes for 2008.

Dennis Switzer, a certified public accountant at Silas Simmons LLP in Natchez, said that all pertinent documents should be in-hand now and because of that the filing rate should begin to pick up.

“People have now gotten their 1099s and W2s and things,” he said. “W2s have to be delivered by Jan. 31 and the 1099, particularly from brokerage firms, have to be out by the middle of (February) so people should pretty much have those.”

Even though the information is now in hand, Switzer said it is important to be up-to-date on tax laws and regulations before beginning the process of filing an income tax return.

He said being uninformed can be detrimental to the wallet.

“Probably the most common mistake would be that people are not aware of all the deductions they are entitled to,” Switzer said. “Particularly, business taxpayers that may be entitled to certain deductions.”

And since regulations change and new deductions are added each year, Switzer said staying on top of your taxes is a never-ending process.

One new regulation this year is a slight modification of a past regulation on real estate taxes. Switzer said in the past, people wanting to claim the taxes paid on real estate had to file an itemized return. But this year, that is not the case.

“This year, for the first time, people who do not itemize their deductions, and who own real estate, are able to deduct up to $500 of their real estate taxes,” Switzer said. “It used to be a requirement to file an itemized return, but now it is not. You can claim your actual real estate tax or $500, whichever is less.”

Another change in tax regulations deals with first time homebuyers. Switzer said anyone purchasing a home for the first time after the first quarter of 2008 could get a tax credit of up to $8,000.

“The way it works is if you bought a home after April 8 of 2008 you might be eligible for a credit for the home purchase,” Switzer said. “If you do get the credit, it is kind of like a loan in the fact that you have to pay it back over a 10-year period as an addition to your income taxes.

“It will reduce it this year, but next year you’d have to pay a 10th of that back.”

Although only a specific group of people qualify for those deductions, Switzer said there are others that are wider reaching. He said one of the most common is the child tax credit available to people with children.

“I’m not sure that many people miss that one, but we are certainly picking it up here,” he said.

There is also a deduction available for people paying for childcare for their children.

“If both spouses have to work, they can get a credit for the childcare expenses that they have to pay as a result of that,” Switzer said.

A recovery rebate credit is also new this year. The credit is figured like the economic stimulus payment from 2008 but not everyone will qualify.

Those eligible will be people who did not get a stimulus payment or those whose economic stimulus payment was less than $600, $1,200 if married and filing jointly for 2007, plus $300 for each qualifying child you had for 2008, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

According to an article on the IRS Web site, www.irs.gov, one of the best ways to ensure a correct return is to think ahead and not wait until the last minute.

The site suggests spending time thinking about options like using a tax preparation service, filing online, or seeking help from volunteer services or and IRS representative.

And to make sure people are getting all the deductions they are entitled to and to lessen the stress of filing season, Switzer had one piece of advice — be organized.

“The best thing for people to do it to try to be organized,” he said. “Being organized helps us to ensure that they have all the income and deductions that should be on their returns.”