Tax Season

For me, tax season is the time of the year I dread the most. Each year I’m reminded of how I could live or invest more if my “take home pay” was anywhere near what my salary is.

How many of you complete your own taxes (the entire process)? How long does it take you? Do you file early? Any nightmare stories?

For the past 3 years I’ve done my own using Turbotax. Prior to that, scheduling someone was difficult as most of the trusted locals were booked. I used H&R block once but swore not to ever again as the junk mail, emails, and being talked down to as a customer was a turnoff.

Last year, it took me about ~3.5 hours start to finish. I have quite a few forms with mortgage interest, student loans, rental property income, dividends, HSA, Retirement, donations, etc. The last time I had someone hired to do mine it cost $165. Turbotax costs me $40 and the time invested on my own.

We do our own thru TurboTax, its pretty simple and I don’t mind doing it. We pay for the Deluxe version at $76 for State and Federal. Not to get into the politics of it, but if everyone had to physically write out a check/echeck for what is currently withheld, I think we’d be a lot more demanding on govt spending.

BigWerm wrote:

We do our own thru TurboTax, its pretty simple and I don’t mind doing it. We pay for the Deluxe version at $76 for State and Federal. Not to get into the politics of it, but if everyone had to physically write out a check/echeck for what is currently withheld, I think we’d be a lot more demanding on govt spending.

The sad part is the gazillion of $$$$ us taxpayers pay is not enough. The government gives it away twice as fast as it comes in.

BigWerm wrote:

We do our own thru TurboTax, its pretty simple and I don’t mind doing it. We pay for the Deluxe version at $76 for State and Federal. Not to get into the politics of it, but if everyone had to physically write out a check/echeck for what is currently withheld, I think we’d be a lot more demanding on govt spending.

Totally agree. Not to even mention all those people that think they won the lottery with getting a tax return. Sheep.

BigWerm wrote:

Not to get into the politics of it, but if everyone had to physically write out a check/echeck for what is currently withheld, I think we’d be a lot more demanding on govt spending.

Not to mention some people act like a refund means they got free money or they use withholdings as a savings account. Pet peeve -> I’m using my refund to by a ______.

mplspug wrote:

Not to mention some people act like a refund means they got free money or they use withholdings as a savings account. Pet peeve -> I’m using my refund to by a ______.

Yup, it peeves me too. I’ve had friends tell me I’m crazy for preferring to pay in, rather than get a refund check, like it’s free money.

I run multiple businesses and the complexity is more than I want to spend time on. I run my own books, but the accountant puts it all together. I have compared my own tax preparation to my accountants’ and he always wins.

Not to get into the politics of it, but if everyone had to physically write out a check/echeck for what is currently withheld, I think we’d be a lot more demanding on govt spending.

Not to mention some people act like a refund means they got free money or they use withholdings as a savings account. Pet peeve -> I’m using my refund to by a ______.

AMEN! Why do you think the system is set up this way?

I’m still trying to figure out how a guy can have a total of $2,000 withheld, file his taxes, and get $6,200 back??? I want to find a few of those investments!!!

I did my taxes thru turbo tax for years. It was a total pain in the you know what. I’ll gladly pay the local guy.

I’ve tried to keep my withholding calculated so that I do not have much of a return nor have to pay in. Unfortunately, it has regressed to claiming 0, making donations, and praying I don’t have to pay-in. I give our government enough as a regular volunteer, law-abiding citizen, and middle class taxpayer. They do not need an annual interest-free loan as well. Anytime I am within $500 either way (paying in or refund), I consider it a win.

The two biggest issues I have are the child-tax credits and the ability of private businesses to write-off many things without hesitation. I understand why both are in-place, but the fact that that credit equates to actual cash is a joke for some.

Case A: I have a neighbor I know quite well who has 4 children, divorced the father who works construction with great earnings, collects child support, and then buys a new vehicle or takes a huge ($15k+ trip every March). The children are all school-aged, she is healthy, in her mid 40’s, and does not work. Their house is probably 10 years old, ~3000sq feet, and cleaned by a hired worker.

Case B: I have a great buddy who owns his own dirt-working company. His business hardly ever records much of a profit. A good year = a couple new “company owned” work trucks with a panoramic roof, cooled and heated seats, a company generator for his ice castle, a camouflage ranger for “small dirt projects” or more comforts in his shop that’d make most of our houses look minuscule. Many openly state that any small business recording a profit is “dumb.”

At what point is the system broken beyond repair? (As a relatively moderate person, I’m not trying to turn all political either…as I don’t think the newest tax legislation will change a lot for me, just shift the tenancies in favor of the large corporations)

I hire a pro and try to get the +/- as close to zero as possible.

Randy Wieland wrote:

I’m still trying to figure out how a guy can have a total of $2,000 withheld, file his taxes, and get $6,200 back??? I want to find a few of those investments!!!

You would have to have a household income of about $16,500 and have 3 or more children. I sure am jealous of them!

I do my absolute best to not have to pay in or get much, if at all of a return. It’s taken me a couple of years to get to that point, and I think I’m finally there. I do not escrow my property taxes on my properties because I hate the idea of it, so I use the minuscule refund to pay a small part of that. I file mine with Turbo-Tax and it works good for me.

When I hear someone say “I got a $6,000 refund this year” I cringe. I’ve heard all sorts of stories of people illegally working the system…one day it will catch up to them. For me, I do it to the T and don’t give a dime more than I think I’m required. I’m sure that if I hired someone they could find a little extra money on the table, but I’m happy where I’m at and don’t like the idea of tax loopholes.

Have been going to a guy in the cities last few years. Takes about an hour sits down and goes through everything. Less stressful than doing it myself and better then dropping stuff and having to go back. After done going through stuff with him know exactly how I stand.
Personally I like to get a little bit of a refund and throw it at the principle of the mortgage.

buckybadger wrote:

How many of you complete your own taxes (the entire process)? How long does it take you? Do you file early? Any nightmare stories?

I’ve used TurboTax for at least the last 7 years. I’ve heard that other tax software is nowhere near as good.

Once I have everything it takes me about 2 hours.

What is early? Not late? I file as early as possible. Usually mid February to mid March. You are supposed to do it as early as possible so someone doesn’t steal your identity and file it for you.

The only issues I’ve had were regarding my mortgage interest. The mortgage was in my name and another persons name (their name listed first) so the mortgage company reported the interest to the IRS in their name. I just had to prove my name was also on the mortgage and that no one else was claiming the interest on their taxes.

The other issue was when we refinanced the same thing happened.

The second time I just called the IRS and told them the situation. They took my word and fixed it.

Neither situation had anything to do with TurboTax.

It’s not how much you get back that matters.

It’s how much you get to keep.

If you aren’t aiming at $0, you are doing it wrong. What is a refund but an interest free loan to the IRS?

I’m actually proud to see so many here who get it.

suzuki wrote:

I hire a pro and try to get the +/- as close to zero as possible.

Same here. I did them for years, but once they started getting more complex, I found a reasonable and trustworthy pro to handle it. I try to minimize my return, but things always change from year to year.

When construction work was slow we got those sizable refunds for a few years. Yes double or triple than what was paided in. That, state paid for health insurance and much, much more if we wanted it. Pretty sure I could of even had my mortgage paid for to. County calling my wife on Friday telling her to let them know by Monday if she quit her job to keep benefits. All I know is they make it very easy to be poor in this state.

You can print the forms from the .gov website

Super simple on this end using Turbo Tax. Make six figures, claim zero because I do have a couple of things that could generate additional income, pay 15K in mortgage interest, I am the only one on the title\loan. My only deduction. My son goes to a private school, my daughter is in daycare 2 days a week. My gal makes considerably less than me, we are not married. I pay for everything, then she claims it, since any benefit is almost totally phased out at my income level. Scamming the system, nope. She wears that big shiny ring, we just haven’t taken the walk. Finances over feelings.

Agree with Mike. Told the FW we should get divorced, family qualify for state health, there’s $13k a year, plus her refunds as a single mom, 3 kids, credit after credit. Easily $20k+ year we would have extra. Probably get some free peanut butter and Cheerios out of the deal every month as well

TurboTax, 20 plus years.

Tax prep, prior to even touching the forms/software 6 to 8 hours. Document, document, document. Would have to do this whether I did it or a preparer did it.

Working through TurboTax and filing, 2 to 3 hours.

If I owe money I file very close to the deadline; if I don’t, I file as soon as my taxes are complete. Hopefully my withholding and my tax due are zero sum process.

All I can tell you is that the IRS may be polite, but they are not payed to be nice.

If you have deductible expenses take them. If you have credits due take them.
If you are cheating or exaggerating you claims I hope the IRS catches you. You are stealing from me and your fishing neighbors.

I do the taxes in March, after all the forms come in. Takes me a few hours.

Used TubroTax, then switched to TaxCut. Then paid someone to do it a few years and they confirmed that I was doing it right. I always owe. This confirmed that I still owed plus had the pleasure of paying a preparer.

Back to TaxCut after a couple years.

Turbotax is more intuitive but I won’t go back to them after their rootkit indecent a decade back.

Since we pay every year, I wait to file the night of April 13th. Those bastrardos can get their money a day before it’s due and not a day earlier.

The kids do their taxes on turbo tax and I like it. I have a accountant firm do mine as they do my business return also and there are some complications with having business partners in different states so the cost is worth it to me.

I always end up paying in so the return gets sent on the April 15th.

We go the CPA route. I’ve tried the software routes and that worked well when things were simple, no kids, no business, no non-tax-sheltered investments. Once things got more complicated, the software became unworkable.

The CPA was worth his weight in gold one time when out of the blue one June when we got an IRS intent to audit letter stating that we owned our full yearly taxes as if nothing had been withheld from either of our incomes for a full year and nothing had been paid. Talk about cr@pping a brick.

So a few tense hours in the CPA’s office on the phone with the IRS and a few emails of our completed returns and the IRS eventually admitted that it looked like a junior employee had been “practicing” on our return in the live system. Instead of making a copy, he just started editing our return to “see what would happen”.

CPA was totally worth it for that little adventure alone.

Totally agree on the weirdness of treating a refund like some kind of bonus. We keep everything tuned such that we pay in every year. This is a fine line because under-withholding below a certain % carries an added penalty, but if you stay above the line you get the benefit of having all your money for the full year rather than giving the government a free loan.

Grouse

Turbo tax for me for over 20 years, not too bad.

I always pay in.

As far as our country’s debt, that is easily fixed, but nobody wants to do the right thing and not spend what truly does not exist, and that includes your legislators and the people who elect them to send home the bacon time after time after time …. Like Reagan once said

” We don’t have a trillion dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion dollar debt because we spend too much ”

Ok Uncle Sam I am ready
CPA is the way to go.

Since I work in WI and live in MN, I get to file two state returns.
WI gives some back to me and MN doesn’t take as much…

Since I am paying WI tax I don’t see why I can’t buy a WI resident fishing license.

I did the turbo thing a few years. Now it’s a half hour spent with my WI CPA (as long as I have my papers together).

We had a slight horror story last year.

We married in Oct. 2015 and for the 2016 tax year our accountants told us to switch from claiming 1 to 2 as we’d get closer to the breakeven mark (not receiving much of a refund or not paying in much). So for the 2016 tax year we changed everything to claim 2, however at the same time we switched it from ‘single’ to ‘married.’ Little did we know that makes a HUGE difference. We ended up paying in thousands last April when we expected to break-even.

Sad thing is my wife works for the accounting firm Obviously she’s no accountant and works on the marketing side of the business.