by Tricia
Yesterday I sent out over $800 to pay for 2006 taxes. I thought it was going to be closer to $900 when I first estimated but I think it’s safe to say that rushing and using an old calculator doesn’t mix. I have no idea where I came up with some of the numbers that were there. Thank goodness for computers!
I was originally going to file with TurboTax by Intuit. I’ve used them before, and have been pretty happy with them. I went through the whole procedure that was supposed to be free only to find out that it wasn’t! They decided because I hit the Deduction Finder button (but quickly backed up because I knew I didn’t need it), they were going to charge me extra for that. After reading their help section, I found out there is no way to undo it. Sheesh.
So, I looked into TaxCut by H&R Block. I’ve never used it, but I know others do and like it. Upon looking, they had the return for free as well so I started inputting everything again. When I got to the end, it was still free and the tax amount owed was the same as it was with TurboTax so that was that. TaxCut was the winner this year and I will likely use them again next year.
I only did the federal return through the program and then printed it to mail. The state return for Michigan actually is pretty straightforward for the basic return so I went ahead and did that one myself to save some money (the state return is not free through TaxCut or TurboTax). I assembled everything, checked it a gazillion times and gave the envelopes to my husband to mail. I told him to mail them certified.
He came back home and I saw the receipts and wondered why it didn’t cost that much to mail them. I didn’t have my husband request certified mail with return receipt! Doh! Oh well. I get frazzled and I start forgetting things.
I made an important realization this year. Although I usually love doing my taxes, I only love doing them when I get a refund. Next year I am tempted to let an accountant do them and save myself the headache of trying to read and learn about everything. I should also hopefully be able to avoid costly errors like with my 2005 return.
One thing marked off my to-do list! Yay! There’s many more to go. I think it’s time I wrote a to-do list down on here again to help push me to get things done!
Tricia – I think so much of your blog and your struggle against debt, if you send me your stuff next year I’ll do your returns for free (I work for an accounting firm). Send me an email sometime and we can discuss.
Wow, free tax work from an accounting firm. You can’t beat that.
CPA1298 – wow, that is very nice of you to offer that. I will definitely keep it in mind for next year’s returns. Thanks!
I’m with you Tricia, usually I love doing my taxes but only when I get a refund. Our bill this year was painful, a couple grand. Thankfully we sort of realized this was going to be the case late last year so we had a few months to set aside the money.
We should be all set for next year as well so that this doesn’t happen again, and I’m leaning towards having an accountant handle 2007. Too much stuff going on for me to keep track of.
Congrats on getting them done and out of the way for another year. I’ve used TurboTax online for the last few years, but this year my husband and I decided to let a professional do our taxes for us. The whole thing took about twenty minutes (we didn’t even have to wait to get in, despite not having an appointment), and was so stress-free that it was totally worth the fee, even if we didn’t get a pretty decent refund. We’ll probably be letting that firm do our taxes from now on.
Save money on certified mail and file in January. That way if you do make a mistake, you won’t be hit with penalties and interest if you owe more than you thought. Plus now you know you owed $900 last year, but it’s already 4 months into 2007 for you to make adjustments to your withholdings, etc.
I never understood why people wait until April to file (let alone April 14 at 11pm – TurboTax online filers got a reality check this year).
So how does one prepare for next years tax bill? I did the form that I get with my W2 and I have to take out more money each money. It seemed a little high, so I decided to cut that down by 50%. But still….
And paying someone else to do my taxes? No way. I have more time then money.
I used H&R Block’s TaxCut this year also. I had to do three sets of federal and state taxes – mine,my ex’s, and my daughter’s. I told them next year I’m going to sit them down in front of the computer and show them how to do it for themselves. Either that, or I’m going to start charging. 😉