The Tax Man Cometh!

[pgher]

My eldest is about to graduate college. They have a job lined up. They filed their OWN taxes this year. Finally an adult! And off my payroll.

[Anon1787]

A PIN to set up an account arrived in the mail last night so I can file my state income tax return electronically. Filing a state return can be as much a PITA as filing a federal return.

[namazu]

After some hassle involving two-factor authentication not working properly and then some drama involving tripping over a laptop cord and breaking the laptop screen, our taxes (federal, state, and local) are all filed.  Whew!

[paultuttle]

I knocked my laptop onto the floor in the middle of going through the TurboTax screens (I'm somewhat clumsy when I get up to get a glass of water, apparently). There was a pretty big clatter and some choice words that I can't repeat here, but nothing was broken.

My laptop didn't even lose its Internet connection. I went right on and SHAZAM! clicked "submit" 15-20 minutes later.

[clean]

I have taken all of the steps I needed to do before I could file our taxes! 

Turbotax indicates that it has been sent.  It will take a few days to determine IF they were accepted or not.

IN a few months I will check to be sure that I am on track for the taxes for 2022.  I hope not to be in a position to wait to file on the last day!  I prefer not to live this close 'to the edge!'

Plenty of taks to do today other than taxes, that I can now get to!

[ab_grp]

I'm glad I was so on top of getting our packet to our CPA in time in March.  She ended up filing an extension anyway.   After discussing how that affects what we owe now and also what we are projected to owe next year, I made the payments.  One addressing the tax due for 2021, two to cover the first two estimated payments for 2022.  Okay, great! Now today we receive an envelope from the state.  It's a check in the amount that we paid for our tax due and is marked for the year 2021.  We do direct deposit so shouldn't even get a check, but this mailing notes that getting a check instead is "due to the adjustment" on our state return.   Last year we didn't receive our refund for months, and it was by check, and that was due to an adjustment of a few dollars because the previous year amended return hadn't been taken into account.  But it is awfully odd that there would be an adjustment this year that is exactly the amount we owed and was issued days after we filed and does not have an accompanying calculation sheet to show how the adjustment was arrived at, as we received last year.  After we filed, it said in our account that we owed that balance.  I have a screenshot! Sorry, just venting about having to follow up on yet more paperwork.  Grrr!!

[kaysixteen]

WaPo today says IRS still has over 20m paper 2021 tax year returns unprocessed.   IRS says it is just over 19m.  They just do not have the resources to do things correctly.

[ab_grp]

The fun keeps coming! Now the IRS has sent us a letter 5071C to verify our identity before our federal return is processed because they have some concern that our return could have been filed fraudulently (googling suggest it could also happen at random)?  Luckily, they seem to accept the ID.me accounts as proof of identity, and my husband has one of those as a military veteran, so hopefully that part will go smoothly, and then we will have to verify info on our current and a previous tax return.  Yay.  More following up.  Just what I was hoping for!

[Anselm]

I filed on April 18th with paper forms and I am still waiting on my refund.  I also failed to record the refund amount so now I can't check to see how things are coming along.  I think last year I got my refund in August.   

[clean]

The IRS is very backed up with paper returns.  They require a lot of processing time.  I believe that they said that the goal was to get this year's paper returns finished before they start the next year's rush (in February!)
Anyway I hope that August is a realistic time, but I hope that you havent 'already spent the money'!

[ab_grp]

As a follow up to my previous post about the IRS requiring us to verify our ID in order to process our return, I will let folks know what I had to do in case it comes up for any of you. 

As I mentioned, I had signed my husband (and myself) up for ID.me earlier in the year, which involved some docs like his DD214 discharge papers and probably some ID documents.  That was supposed to make this an easier process.  If so, it was still kind of a pain.  I ended up having to upload a front and back pic of my driver's license and answer questions, and then I had a choice of either a "video selfie" or a video chat with an agent.  I chose video selfie.  This involved allowing access to either my webcam on my computer or getting a link sent to my phone.  I chose the link and stood in front of my office door, and I just followed instructions on moving the camera closer, to the left, back a bit, and then lights started flashing.  I think they were blue and red.  I don't know if this is problematic for people susceptible to seizures or such.  It did a scan of my face, supposedly checking for liveness? I'm sure I was frowning, at least.   

Once it verified that I was me, I had to report several numbers from my 2021 federal tax return  (I think it was AGI, refund amount, whether I had indicated I wanted the refund by direct deposit or not, the last 4 of the bank account listed if so).  It told me which exact lines to look at for this info, which I appreciated since that can be confusing (e.g., total refund? or refund to me after putting some of it toward estimated taxes?).  It seems to have worked out successfully, and I was offered the opportunity to get an Identity Protection PIN, which my CPA was glad I did not opt for at this time (you apparently never get rid of it once you have it).  It didn't take TOO long (maybe 20 mins?) but was longer than I had expected given that we already had ID.me and that I had my return and was fairly well versed in it since I had checked the numbers myself.  I felt like I had to stand up and sit down more times than I had planned for to take pictures and selfies.  Not too bad overall, though.  I hope this helps.  I am not sure what would have been required if we had not already had the ID.me account.  I think it said something about allow 9 weeks for processing of the return, so who knows.

[hmaria1609]

*Bump*
Tax season is here! 2023 filing date: April 15th

We're getting the rest of our federal tax materials delivered this week. AARP tax prep volunteers are back, appointment only again.

[sinenomine]

I have my CPA my paperwork this morning and she dropped off the completed forms this afternoon. By far the quickest I've ever had my taxes done!

[apl68]

The tax forms we've ordered for our patrons have arrived.  The instruction books still haven't.  At least the arrival of forms implies that books are on the way.  They're not keeping us guessing for as long about whether we're going to get anything.  I've had to beg another library for tax materials before so that we could have something for our patrons.

[hmaria1609]

Yay, I've hit the "Send" button for my taxes through TurboTax!

It's almost Tax Day now. Share your tax stories!

This year we didn't get as much hard copy tax materials at the library. We have some 1040 instruction booklets left for patrons. Last month DC finally sent out D-40 forms/booklets. As our box of D-40s ran low, I requested another and a box of them was delivered next day.
We've been printing out forms on demand for patrons.