Posted on 04/15/2013 7:20:19 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
You prepare your own taxes?!?
Are you insane?
I ran into a friend at the local coffee place recently. She made the mistake of mentioning that her husband prepares their household taxes, by himself. What? Is he insane?
I know, seriously, I keep telling him not to. Dear friend, dont do this to yourself.
I would no more do my own personal taxes than I would hand-sew my wifes wedding dress, do her hair and makeup just before the ceremony, and then administer the vows for the both of us. Because I might, just might, make a mistake along the way.
I would rather rebuild the household toilet, sewage and drainage system and connect it to the city system, while everyone was living there, than do my own personal taxes. I mean, what could go wrong?
I would no more prepare the infamous fugu sashimi for my friends and relatives than attempt my own taxes.
Who writes the tax code?
The income tax code consists of hundreds of specialty provisions written by and for relatively narrow interests who know how to maximize their advantages.[1] Trying to navigate this even half-way intelligently makes no sense for a non-specialist.
Now, Im no Steve Forbes, but I too long for the day when taxes are so simple we can all prepare them ourselves, for free, in a couple of minutes.
I dont expect comprehensive overhaul of the tax code, however, will be Obamas legacy it doesnt seem his style, and hes got nobody on the other side of the aisle who would risk giving him that legacy opportunity but, boy do we need it.
Until that tax simplification and overhaul however, Im not doing my own taxes.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
TurboTax Rocks! Working stiff and pampered part time working wife, TT is all I need.
He's a specialist.
The above link provides a free tax calculator with nearly all pertinent forms for a small business.
If you can’t run your own taxes, you probably shouldn’t be in business.
If not in business, you need to run your own to track the consequences of the many laws and regulations on the books upon your bottom line.
It also helps cut through the colloquialisms used by adversarial politicians when they call itemized deductions, “loopholes”, yet Congress itself is the body which established them as deductions.
Next year, go with TaxAct. Combined cost for fed & state: $25.
I've used that program for over 5 years. Doesn't have all the bells & whistles that TurboTax has, but they aren't necessary for 99.9% of filers.
H and R Block has saved us tens of thousands of dollars over the past 10 years.
People who think that payroll taxes going from 4% to 6% is a 2% increase definitely should not do their own taxes.
Actually, simplified taxes are a good idea, but I thought that Cain’s 9-9-9 plan was too damned high. We need to cut back massively on government spending. And we need to move toward simplified taxes step by step, not by doubling most taxpayers’ expenses.
As for why I seek out every deduction, I have two reasons.
1. I need to money to pay my family’s expenses.
2. The less money I give to fund government waste, the better.
I have had to cut back on charitable giving as the government keeps screwing us. I’d rather donate to a real charity than to food stamps for illegal immigrants.
The normal Turbo Tax price is like $35, but I let them import all my IRA info and similar financials for an extra charge. I was being lazy and it cost me.
Still, I always appreciate a good money saving tip! Next year I'll be more pro-active and save myself some money. No, seriously! Don't laugh!
How dare you speak about me in this way?
I was always told if you ‘earn’ more than $50,000 it’s not cost-effective for you to do your own car maintenance, yard maintenance, or taxes.
You get paid more per hour than you’d pay someone to do that work - plus for me - that means I get to spend the time with my kids.
Seconded. As another former drunken sailor, I would typically spend my own money, not reach into my shipmates pockets, grab their money at gunpoint, and spend it with no recriminations nor without paying it back.
/Brig time, that would be.
As long as you know her age and the IRA balance at the end of the previous year you can figure out the RMD. If not, the custodian of the IRA should be providing the info already.
True, but they are still an indicator about how I feel about them. And I pointed out in there that *I* had to point them towards one of the methods to lowering my tax bill. They did not volunteer this to me except that I asked about it.
Thank you. My mom just has bank accts in her IRAs.
Just match the $$ number they tell you to take out. That’s it, don’t overthink it.
I have to admit, I stopped doing my own taxes about ten years ago. I use TurboTax online.
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