Tax Day Is Almost Here — How To Get Through The Stress In 2 Steps

Two things in life you can't avoid are taxes and death. There's no sense in getting too worked up about either one. While you have no clue when you'll go home to glory, there's nothing surprising about Tax Day, it's been April 15 forever. 

The IRS and Tax Day can send some people right to "stressville," that land where there are sleepless nights, headaches, all manner of anxiety, whether it's a fear of an audit, having to pony up a big some of cash, or anything else you can go round and round in your head about.

Stop, exhale, exhale again. 

Prepare to take on Tax Day with minimal stress. "Tax time can be stressful, but it doesn't have to," says Melissa Murphy Pavone, a certified financial planner and director of investments at Oppenheimer & Co.

This is not the time to let your imagination run wild. "It's very common to have lots of emotions surrounding taxes, to experience stress, overwhelm, and even depression," says Colleen Marshall, chief clinical officer at Two Chairs, which matches individuals with therapists.

She points out what you don't want to do this tax season. Catastrophizing—seeing only the worst possible outcomes of a situation—is even worse. Don't think, "I know I am going to owe more than I have."

Secondly, she says to avoid overgeneralizing, making broad interpretations from a single or few events. One good example of this kind of stinking thinking is, "I don't understand taxes. I am bad at all my finances and will be broke soon."

Slow down the train your brain is zooming on. Jumping to conclusions, interpreting the meaning of a situation with little or no evidence is likely to get you worked for no good reason. Check yourself if even before completing your taxes you believe, "I am going to owe thousands of dollars I can't afford."

Feel confident that you have properly prepared your return. Don't start freaking out and ruminate over possibilities such as, "If I make a mistake, I will get audited and go to jail," says Marshall.

What's her prescription for tax time trauma?

You don't want to be that gal or guy rushing to file your taxes at the last minute, to be in the post office at the eleventh hour to get your return in the mail. Remember, putting filing off until the last minute doesn't make the deadline disappear, and it sure ups the stress factor and more than that.

if you're looking for a way to file taxes without stress, well, luckily, each year brings new electronic tax tools to the market. For example, based on your income, you might qualify for the IRS Free File software to file your federal taxes at no cost.

Other online services include TurboTax and eSmart, points out Croak.

Ignorance is not bliss in the tax world. The more you know, the less stressful it'll be for you. Tax law is quite complex and changes often. You can start with resources like the IRS's website.

If your tax story is uncomplicated, you can likely do your own taxes.

But if not, decide to "literally pass along that tax-season stress to someone else," says Croak.