Tax Day rants

[shesulsa]

Okay ... My husband and I break our necks to get all our receipts, annual statements, income statements, expenses, mileage, etcetera in order by Valentine's Day every year because that's when our accountant intakes our return information.

For the third year running, we are down to the wire waiting for him to call us with our taxes done. The call hasn't come. My husband went to the office to find out he's filing an extension. An extension! I've NEVER filed an extension in my life!

I'm SO PISSED OFF right now because we practically ruin our post-holiday weeks with stress to get everything ready for this man two months in advance of the deadline and for what???? More stress????

**** it! Next year, I'm doing it myself.

 

[Empty Hands]

I would suggest TurboTax. It is an excellent little piece of software, and really simplifies the whole process. It already has all the requisite forms, holds your hand all the way through, and at $40, beats the hell out of an accountant.

 

[exile]

For a lot of these folks, tax time is the big Cash Cow, the way Black Monday is for retailers or the day before Valentine's Day for florists and chocolate merchants. So they really load up on work—take on all they can get, which probably means that your carefully assembled materials get stuck on a stack along with what's contributed by ten or fifteen other people a day for two months before the 15th. More and more people are using accountants, because the structure of the US income tax calculation has finally passed the complexity threshold where even tax lawyers have a hard time figuring it out. I'm not kidding—my mother's lawyer did a minor in tax law, and she reports that there are some aspects to the current setup that are almost impossible to find a consistent interpretation for. So more and more people are throwing in the towel and Handing It All Over To Someone Else To Do. Which would mean way more work that the tax gurus take on, and way slower completions, I suppose...

 

[Bob Hubbard]

I've used both TurboTax and TaxCut, and did so until I incorporated and needed to find someone who understood all that stuff. Shame we're in different states, I've got 2 accountants that are top notch all the way I could refer.

 

[shesulsa]

I've used both tax programs mentioned. This guy's a great accountant just ... I dunno ... tardy?

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Okay ... My husband and I break our necks to get all our receipts, annual statements, income statements, expenses, mileage, etcetera in order by Valentine's Day every year because that's when our accountant intakes our return information.

For the third year running, we are down to the wire waiting for him to call us with our taxes done. The call hasn't come. My husband went to the office to find out he's filing an extension. An extension! I've NEVER filed an extension in my life!

I'm SO PISSED OFF right now because we practically ruin our post-holiday weeks with stress to get everything ready for this man two months in advance of the deadline and for what???? More stress????

**** it! Next year, I'm doing it myself.

I feel your pain but unfortunately for me my tax return is way to complicated to do so I have to stay with an accountant.

 

[terryl965]

My accountant had mine done the first week of March, he has always had stuff done for those that get everything to him on time. Sorry you are having trouble Georgia

 

[Kacey]

Sorry you're having problems, Geo... I got my stuff to my accountant in mid-February, and he was done a week or 2 later. Maybe it's time to switch accountants - and tell him why you're switching.

 

[jks9199]

I generally use Turbotax. I didn't the year I bought my house... and probably should have, since it sure seemed to me that the tax preparer was just using an in-house equivalent...

I used it the year I got married -- and probably shouldn't have! My wife's taxes were messy to begin with, since she lived in one state, and was paid in another. Then add getting married, quitting her job, and moving to my state (#3), it was a pain in the ***, and just not what the programs are set up to handle. (But it all worked out... I just snarled and growled for about 3 days as I fought through getting things to come out right.)

 

[MJS]

My wife suggested using Turbotax last year. It was done in no time and much easier than having to rely on someone else. My Father had offered to do ours quite some time ago, and up until last year, he was still doing ours, in addition to a few others, including himself, so to give him a break and help speed up the process, thats why we switched. Used it again this year and we'll most likely continue.

 

[harlan]

I always do my own taxes, and really like that the forms are online now. Sometimes...I do them 3 or 4 times a year. It's fun, now. I did purchase Turbotax one year, and was frustrated with the learning curve. I really wanted to perform several 'what if' scenarios, and it just didn't make me happy.

Went back to pencil.

 

[Ping898]

My accountant had mine done the first week of March, he has always had stuff done for those that get everything to him on time. Sorry you are having trouble Georgia

Ditto here - I get everything to him as soon as I can since most years I overpay to make sure I am covered for any stock sales, so I want my rebate ASAP....
He's more expensive than turbo tax or tax cut but he always gets me more back than I expect or has me owing less than I expect....

 

[Tez3]

Wow that sounds horrendous! does everyone have to either do their own tax or get an accountant? Over here if you are employed by someone your tax is deducted from your pay, only self employed people have to do it themselves and I think 9 out of 10 get an accountant to to do. We don't have all that stuff about receipts etc. There's things we can claim for but that's literally a case of fillling a form in and it's done at any time of the year.

 

[tshadowchaser]

yes i do I dont make enough to pay someone to due them. and yes I am paying the goverment once more while those oil companies make billions and most likely pay a smaller percertage back than I do

 

[jks9199]

Wow that sounds horrendous! does everyone have to either do their own tax or get an accountant? Over here if you are employed by someone your tax is deducted from your pay, only self employed people have to do it themselves and I think 9 out of 10 get an accountant to to do. We don't have all that stuff about receipts etc. There's things we can claim for but that's literally a case of fillling a form in and it's done at any time of the year.

It's a lot more complicated than this is going to come across, because there are all sorts of non-typical situations like contractors and self-employed people, but... the general situation is that the money to pay your taxes is deducted from your paycheck by your employer. However, you're required to file a return showing how much tax should have been taken out, adjusted for various deductions and credits, by April 15. You then either pay what wasn't taken -- or get a refund of your interest-free loan to the government. (Most of us have to do this for both the federal government and our state government...) An accountant would tell you that the ideal set up is to either match exactly or end up owing a little -- because that means that you didn't give the government a loan. But lots of us view that refund as kind of "Christmas in April" and use the refund money for purchases that have been delayed or something like that.

 

[ArmorOfGod]

I'm not being a jerk, but could you start sooner next year?
My wife and I did our federal in early Feb. and our 2 states about a month ago. I tend to procrastonate, but not on taxes. I want them done and out of my sight.

AoG

 

[shesulsa]

I'm not being a jerk, but could you start sooner next year?
My wife and I did our federal in early Feb. and our 2 states about a month ago. I tend to procrastonate, but not on taxes. I want them done and out of my sight.

AoG

Well, again, we don't get all our end-of-year stuff until Jan. 31 and we are in at the accountant's two weeks later. Our appointment is right around Valentine's Day every year.

So after having had our stuff for two months, this guy didn't finish our taxes.

 

[Ping898]

Wow that sounds horrendous! does everyone have to either do their own tax or get an accountant? Over here if you are employed by someone your tax is deducted from your pay, only self employed people have to do it themselves and I think 9 out of 10 get an accountant to to do. We don't have all that stuff about receipts etc. There's things we can claim for but that's literally a case of fillling a form in and it's done at any time of the year.

Tez, taxes aren't straight forward here, because your pay check is only the first step. One of the things that makes it more difficult to do your taxes is investments. Sell a stock and what you owe is based upon what you paid for it and when you bought it. The government doesn't take a chunk of it then and there, but they still want their piece. That doesn't count taxes related to bank interest and dividends.

I'm not being a jerk, but could you start sooner next year?
My wife and I did our federal in early Feb. and our 2 states about a month ago. I tend to procrastonate, but not on taxes. I want them done and out of my sight.

AoG

Not always possible, it was the end of Feb by the time I got all the documents I needed and actually I just got another one in the mail 2 weeks ago. Luckily it was for an investment in my IRA, so I didn't have to worry about taxes on the dividends.
Plus even though I mailed them off to my tax guy ASAP he only got them to me by the end of March, cause he is so busy this time of year too, so even if you start early, may not mean much...