Tax season is close at hand and when it comes time to file those documents, Americans have two choices do the work themselves, or hire a professional.

When it comes to filing taxes, individuals can either file their taxes by visiting a firm, or do it on their own using computer programs such as TurboTax and TaxSlayer.com.

Liberty Tax Service Owner Trudi Barr said many individuals are capable of doing their own taxes, but sometimes doing it themselves does not result in the maximum tax return due to missed deductions. Most of the time, a trained, tested and certified personnel tax preparer will catch the smallest items can lead to more deductions, Barr said.

“When we help people file their taxes, we look everywhere for any possible deduction and we double-check every document for accuracy before we submit it to the IRS,” Barr said.

This tax season, laws in the state of Mississippi will not be much different from last year. But people will need to be aware of the changes that went into effect under Presidents Donald Trump’s new tax plan, which he signed before the end of 2017, Barr said.

“With the new tax reform being signed, this is a good time for people to sit down with a tax preparer and learn how the reform will have an impact in their taxes next year, so they can be prepared for it,” Barr said.

The final day to file taxes is Tuesday, April 17. For more information about tax returns, visit irs.gov.