The Tax Man Cometh!

[hmaria1609]

[Note: This thread was on the old forums so I thought I'd start a new one here]
It's tax season!  And the all the stress that comes with it.  This year's filing deadline is April 15th. 
Share your tax stories...

[pigou]

Third or fourth year filing with Credit Karma's (free) tax filing system. Still waiting for a brokerage statement, but my W-2, a couple 1099-MISCs, and one brokerage statement all took about 10 minutes to enter. I guess my financial life is pretty simple, but taxes just don't seem that complicated to me...

[RatGuy]

I filed mine yesterday. I owe my state THREE WHOLE DOLLARS.

[Cheerful]

Will get started after buying TurboTax.

Not sure whether to buy at Wally World or download from an online vendor.  Any deals?  It's usually around $50.

[clean]

If I finish by the end of Spring Break, Ill be happy.  Im teaching an online that that runs for 7 weeks and it seems to eat up every second I throw at it and still wants more!  So I probably wont have any time for taxes before then.

[Vkw10]

Submitted return on Monday. I need to adjust withholding, because I'm getting almost $500 back. I'll do that this weekend.

[polly_mer]

We will again take the big box of files to the nice folks at H&R Block, write a check for about $500 about a week later, and consider it a good deal all around.

Unlike pigou, we do have complicated enough taxes that I do a back-of-the-envelope calculation every year and feel relieved that $500 is less than my estimated time to sort out the extra forms for the various types of income we have including detailed offsets and actual losses along with the filings in multiple states where that income was officially earned.

Back when all we had were W-2s and 1099s, I did file everything myself in under an hour, even with multiple states.

[craftyprof]

Will get started after buying TurboTax.

Not sure whether to buy at Wally World or download from an online vendor.  Any deals?  It's usually around $50.

The mid-tier, itemizing version was $40 online and $40 more for the state directly from TurboTax.  I used to get a discount code from my bank, but either they stopped that or I didn't wait long enough.

If you can't find a better deal, DM me your email address and I can send you the 20% off referral code.

[pigou]

We will again take the big box of files to the nice folks at H&R Block, write a check for about $500 about a week later, and consider it a good deal all around.

I'm a bit puzzled by the value of H&R Block. The employees there are not trained accountants or tax lawyers, so the rate seems really high: at that price, why not hire a proper CPA?

[polly_mer]

We will again take the big box of files to the nice folks at H&R Block, write a check for about $500 about a week later, and consider it a good deal all around.

I'm a bit puzzled by the value of H&R Block. The employees there are not trained accountants or tax lawyers, so the rate seems really high: at that price, why not hire a proper CPA?

We're in a small town and have generally lived in small towns. It just so happens that all the local expertise available for hire to the general public is at H&R Block.  That check to H&R Block is the result of paying extra for the proper CPA over and above the random employee following instructions; our next best choice is 100 miles away and costs just as much as the local H&R Block with the CPA premium.

It's fun here in the hinterlands that doesn't work as people expect.

[ciao_yall]

We will again take the big box of files to the nice folks at H&R Block, write a check for about $500 about a week later, and consider it a good deal all around.

I'm a bit puzzled by the value of H&R Block. The employees there are not trained accountants or tax lawyers, so the rate seems really high: at that price, why not hire a proper CPA?

We're in a small town and have generally lived in small towns. It just so happens that all the local expertise available for hire to the general public is at H&R Block.  That check to H&R Block is the result of paying extra for the proper CPA over and above the random employee following instructions; our next best choice is 100 miles away and costs just as much as the local H&R Block with the CPA premium.

It's fun here in the hinterlands that doesn't work as people expect.

H&R Block employees are very well-trained. There is also a Certified Tax Preparer license one can get which enables the holder to prepare taxes even if they are not a full-on CPA.

[flyingbison]

Federal and stae returns already filed, and my refunds are scheduled for deposit later this week.

[ab_grp]

I've got almost all the documents ready for our preparer.  I printed receipts, made copies of what we couldn't download again if needed, got everything in order, and wrote up a document listing all documents and pertinent notes.  I've also done our precheck in TurboTax separately.  At the start of writing this post, I could not find one document, our property tax bill, and I had not received one of the investment documents that comes out toward mid-March.  I happened to look in a particular direction in my office and spy the tax bill that had been misplaced, and I just received an email with the investment tax document.  So, thank you fora luck or wizards or what have you! I guess I will finish up the package and get it submitted. 

[clean]

Turbo Tax is almost ready to go!  I completed the forms, but I might maybe need to wait for another tax form (a K-1 because of a stock I owned last year and sold after realizing it required extra tax issues)

I will wait another 2 weeks, unless the form comes in, and then go ahead and have turbotax file the documents! 

Im expecting $1471 back, unless the K-1changes anything.

You?  What are YOU waiting for?  What refund are you expecting?

[ab_grp]

The K-1 is what we had been waiting for.  Fortunately, it got sold off during the year, so this is the last dealings with it.  Our preparer said she hates K-1s!