If you are getting a refund, don't forget that too.
If you are getting a refund, don't forget that too.
I saw a headline in my little news feed from Google that said "Experts say tax day is April 18th". I know that we're bumping in to whatever that DC holiday is because the 15th was a Saturday and everything, but I thought that was a pretty weird way to get that information across. "Experts say next year will be 2024". or "Experts says Chevrolet produces a car call the Corvette".
I procrastinated the hell out of getting our taxes done this year because I was anticipating having to write a decent sized check because my wife had withholding all screwed up at one of her jobs last year, so I figured things would be off a bit. Somehow, though, we wound up overpaying by about the same amount that I thought we had underpaid.
Mailed mine in a few weeks ago. Since the last tax law change and it hasn't been worth itemizing deductions in years, I pretty much get back nothing, so it's not worth even buying Turbo Tax. Like last year, I applied the meager $20 refund towards 2023. I noticed the Charitable Donations line was removed from the form, although the increase in the standard deductible made up for it... On the plus side, my taxes take about 15 min to do. The (PA) State takes longer since it's all online and you have to fill out (what feels like) a million fields - all for a "zero" result (PA is a flat rate with minimal deductions).
When you apply for US citizenship, you have to pass a test. One of the potential questions, along with things like "what is the bill of rights", is "what day are your taxes due". I found that quite amusing.
That beautiful time of year where a large portion of the population is obligated to give TurboTax money just for existing? Yea.... I should probably do ours tonight.
I do my taxes manually. Getting EastsideWife to go online and get her interest from various accounts was like pulling teeth this year. Because of that, I am rushing at the last minute, instead of having it done in February like I prefer.
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
Just remember, the standard deduction increased, while they took the personal exemption (applied whether you itemized or not) out, capped SALT, and removed a bunch of other things that benefitted the middle class. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was a travesty.
Also my annual reminder that Turbotax is evil and lobbied against the IRS mailing you a completed form with your taxes already done, so if you want to not give them money, freetaxusa has worked for me the last 3 years and been completely free for federal, with no income cap.
Flynlow (FS) said:Also my annual reminder that Turbotax is evil and lobbied against the IRS mailing you a completed form with your taxes already done, so if you want to not give them money, freetaxusa has worked for me the last 3 years and been completely free for federal, with no income cap.
I agree that TurboTax should not exist and it angers me that they spend a ton of money to keep the US tax code as mind-bogglingly complicated as possible. In spite of that fact, I have used TurboTax every single year to file my taxes since I bought my first house in nineteen hundred and ninety-five.
We have met the enemy and he is us.
Got my taxes filed Friday. Nice return for the first time in forever. The CEL on my Vitara came on Saturday and now it won't run for E36M3.
Easy come, easy go.
Error404 said:That beautiful time of year where a large portion of the population is obligated to give TurboTax money just for existing? Yea.... I should probably do ours tonight.
The accountant in our building makes some crazy high percentage of his annual income in the first four months of the year.
I know he's here early and stays late 7 days a week the the past few weeks.
In reply to Flynlow (FS) :
I said "F-U" to Turbo Tax over a decade ago after my ex- insisted I would get a better refund than the manual way I had been doing my taxes since... the mid-80's... So to appease her, I bought Turbo Tax and diligently filled out the info asked for... Then when I was done, for kicks, I did my taxes manually anyway (since it only takes a few minutes to fill out the PDFs and add numbers on a calculator), and my refund was larger. That was the last time my ex- and I really talked about money...
Keith Tanner said:When you apply for US citizenship, you have to pass a test. One of the potential questions, along with things like "what is the bill of rights", is "what day are your taxes due". I found that quite amusing.
death and taxes, my man, death and taxes.....
My lame joke at work around 3pm is to loudly announce in the office;
crap, I gotta do my taxes tonight......
Datsun310Guy said:My lame joke at work around 3pm is to loudly announce in the office;
crap, I gotta do my taxes tonight......
No joke, one time I went to the post office on April 15th, when they were open until midnight, and some guy walks in to the lobby with a fat sheaf of dog-eared paperwork and starts filling out a 1040... at 10pm.
BTW, if you live in California (all but three counties) there's an automatic extension of time to both file *AND* pay until October, due to emergency declarations related to the flooding.
(seems a bit overkill in many cases, but hey I'll take the six months of interest)
doing mine tonight. back to the garage tomorrow night.
Mailed 2 states & the Feds checks at lunch. Didn't want to wait to the very last minute... 
I used to go to the downtown Cincinnati post office right about quarter to midnight every year on tax day. There would be cars snaking around the blocks and postal workers standing on the curb, taking mail so that it would all get postmarked by midnight. I'd stop in Covington on the way back home and grab a sack of sliders. It was a fun tradition.
I found out two things a couple years ago: #1: they aren't open until midnight on tax day anymore. #2, apparently if it's postmarked the day after tax day that doesn't automatically mean penalties.
My dad and I take turns buying TurboTax. This year he bought and gave me the disk. I installed it in my 2012 MacBook Pro and found out afterward that it won't run on the MacOS version that I have and cannot upgrade beyond. Dangit.
So I did ours using TurboTax online.
wae said:#2, apparently if it's postmarked the day after tax day that doesn't automatically mean penalties.
IIRC the penalty for filing late is based on how much you owe, so if you're getting a refund then they don't charge you.
Also some states will give you an automatic extension if you don't file by April 15.
1988RedT2 said:Flynlow (FS) said:Also my annual reminder that Turbotax is evil and lobbied against the IRS mailing you a completed form with your taxes already done, so if you want to not give them money, freetaxusa has worked for me the last 3 years and been completely free for federal, with no income cap.I agree that TurboTax should not exist and it angers me that they spend a ton of money to keep the US tax code as mind-bogglingly complicated as possible. In spite of that fact, I have used TurboTax every single year to file my taxes since I bought my first house in nineteen hundred and ninety-five.
We have met the enemy and he is us.
Not to get too political, but if I ever run for office my platform is:
1) Destroy TurboTax & H&R Block (make a single-line tax code)
2) Roundabouts
I've been using taxact.com for years. Seems to be a solid company. I found out that I could file my taxes and set them to pay both fed and state at a later time as long as it was the 18th or earlier. I'm happy with that.
In reply to ProDarwin :
It is easy to make a simple tax code deceptively regressive, but barring that you have my vote.
But roundabouts are a pain in areas that don't really justify them. Like intersections that see one or two cars per minute when it's busy. Along several places what used to be arrow straight 55mph 2-lane with no stop signs now has a roundabout every few miles. The annoying kind with the Scandinavian flick before the entrance instead of just having a yield sign.
This was my first year using an accountant due to starting my business last year. That was really easy :)
The good news is that because that guy was pretty good (or it's a lot easier than I thought?) My taxes were only about half of what I set aside. Yay!
I did mine a couple months ago and got a nice little return, but I finished my fiance's last night. She did some contracting, so she owed, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Hopefully that's the last time we (meaning I) ever have to file two separate tax returns though, I hate doing taxes lol. Once is plenty.
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