HARTLAND — Many taxpayers are disappointed when they find out how much they are getting back in a tax refund or have to pay in this year, according to a local accountant.

“I’ve had to explain to several people why their refunds are not as big this year and the whole thing comes back to the ratio of income to withholdings compared to the past is noticeably different,” said Allyson Olson of ARO Accounting.

As an accountant, Olson provides bookkeeping services to businesses and is a full service payroll provider. She also prepares taxes.

“One thing I’m seeing this year is the withholding tables have been taking out less out of people’s paychecks unbeknownst to them, so they’re not realizing that they’ve paid in less than normal over the course of the year,” Olson said.

To fix this, taxpayers may need to go in and adjust their W-4 tax forms.

“Sometimes the easiest thing is just to ask for a certain percentage to be withheld from your paychecks versus letting the tables calculated it,” she said.

This is one of the benefits of having an accountant do your taxes as opposed to doing them yourself. Together with her clients, they can project what the customer’s income will be next year and calculate about how much one should withhold from their paycheck to cover their tax burden.

“Everything is pay it now or pay it later,” she said, noting that it is typically easiest to have a little taken out at a time rather than having to come up with a lump sum at tax time.

Part-timers who work more than one job should also exercise caution. She explained when a person works more than one part-time job, their employer might not be taking out much for withholdings because they might not owe taxes based on the income of that job. However, once they add the jobs together, they owe taxes.

“My advice to people is that you need to be watching your withholdings, and if you don’t know what is right for you, you need to be getting advice from someone because there is no flat answer to give everyone,” Olson said.

Watching withholdings is important because the government issues the tax tables accountants use to calculate how much get withheld from one’s paycheck. This year in particular, Olson is seeing clients who have made no changes to their deductions, yet are still facing this dilemma.

Other advice she offers taxpayers is to keep track of donations to charity, including clothing and household items deposited into drop boxes. The charity themselves may offer a receipt if items are brought to their location, but they typically don’t give an itemized list, which is needed to use them as a deduction. She also advises people to take pictures of the items to keep with the list. Thrift store values can then be calculated for the value of a person’s donation. For some, these amounts can add up quickly and make a difference on their return.

Olson said IRS scammers are out in full force this year. She said it’s important for everyone to remember that the IRS will not contact them by phone or via email. In fact, she said unless correspondence comes via certified mail, its authenticity should be questioned.

Olson opened ARO Accounting in September 2006 but has been an accountant since 1991 after receiving her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Mankato State University.

She is at 32718 Minnesota Highway 13 in Hartland and can be reached at 507-845-2763.