Maximizing your tax refund takes careful planning throughout the year. Look at your filing status and the number of exemptions you take. If you want more taxes taken out of your paycheck, increase your exemption size.

Take all tax deductions available to you. The right tax software program will walk you through each deduction, asking important questions so you can take advantage of every deduction possible. Also, maximizing your retirement account contributions and using tax-loss harvesting when selling taxable investments can help you get the largest refund possible.