I hope all of my readers had a very nice Christmas holiday and I hope you are looking forward to a New Year filled with hope and promise.  To begin, I want to tell all my readers that the 2017 tax season will officially start on January 23 and the deadline for filing this year in April 18.  The way to make those hopes and resolutions come true is to get out and make them happen.  You’ll never get what you truly want by sitting around.  You must take action!  Since this is the start of the New Year, we are thinking about filing taxes.  In that regard I want to remind you that in order to take charitable deductions for cash contributions you must either have a bank record (canceled check), credit card receipt or a letter from the charity confirming your gift.  On another tax note, when looking for a tax preparer, you should (1) avoid one who claims he can get a larger refund than other preparers, (2) beware preparers who guarantee results or base fees on percentage of refund, (3) avoid firms where your work will be delegated to someone with very little experience, and (4) try to use a firm that is affiliated with a professional organization that requires continuing education and holds preparers to a code of ethics.