Done your taxes yet?

[CameronBornAndBred]

I FINALLY did my taxes tonight. I don't know why I don't do them when I'm ready. I've always gotten a refund, so you'd think if you're getting money you'd jump right on it. I've used TurboTax for the last 4 or 5 years, it's awesome. Just punch in the appropiate numbers and you're good to go, it imports everything from the previous year. This year was the first time I've done any reporting on stocks (I have a Sharebuilder account that's fun to play with, no big money, but that's for another thread). The stock reporting was even made easy, as long as you have access to all your records.
Tomorrow my kids get to both file their taxes. We're going to sign them up each with a TurboTax account, and walk them through the process for the first time.
Have you gotten yours done? Did you do them yourself, or did you use a service?

[DukeUsul]

I did them using TaxCut. Very easy, my finances aren't too complicated. It's a good year. We upgraded to a bigger mortgage payment and also had a baby. I always tend to put them off til April, but I had to do them early since I knew Uncle Sam would be sending me a check.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I FINALLY did my taxes tonight.

Tomorrow my kids get to both file their taxes. We're going to sign them up each with a TurboTax account, and walk them through the process for the first time.
Have you gotten yours done? Did you do them yourself, or did you use a service?
I've always done my own. I've used Tax Cut software all but one year, ever since they changed the LT Cap Gains rules (for mutual funds) about 10 or 12 years ago. The tax software figures all that automatically when you enter the figures from your 1099's. Before that I did it all by hand and calculator - ugh! The software is far faster (and easier!). Last year I used Turbo Tax because it had a better deal when I bought it. This year I'm going back to Tax Cut because they give you up to 5 E-Files for free, rather than just one, and I'll do two different returns. Haven't done them yet, but I have obtained the software. Also got the new version of Symantec Internet Security, which comes with enough rebates with the tax software (either Tax Cut or Turbo Tax) so it is about free too. I have bought them together for years. Oh, the Internet Security comes with a 3 seat (3 computer) license.
No, I haven't done my taxes yet, but I will in the next week or so.

[gadzooks]

I did ours last weekend, after we got all of our forms. I use TaxAct, which does the same thing, imports all the previous year's data, and also does our state return at the same time. Love it!

[CathyCA]

Still waiting on my W-2 from the San Jose Unified School District. It took them three months to send me my June paycheck. I expect that the geniuses in their payroll department will take at least that long to send me my W-2.

GRRRRRR!

[ArkieDukie]

Mine are a work in progress. I'm using TurboTax, as I always do. They're taking a bit longer this year, though, since I moved. Haven't even gotten to the two state returns, though. :eek:

[snowdenscold]

I did mine - sort of. Using TurboTax and having done it with them last year, it was really easy to just import all the data and figure out which numbers I needed to change (I didn't have any new sections to add which was nice). Unfortunately my online brokerage doesn't send out their 1099-DIV's for another couple days, so I can't actually hit submit till I get the exact #, but other than that I'm good to go.

HELLOOOOO REFUND =)

[CameronBornAndBred]

Unfortunately my online brokerage doesn't send out their 1099-DIV's for another couple days.
With mine, I could print them out instead of waiting for them. It would surprise me if you can't do the same.

[Lavabe]

We haven't had a federal refund in years, even though we keep raising the amount that gets taken out of our paychecks. I don't think we'll go TurboTax this year, as the move, house buy/sell, and everything has us doing the fed and two state forms. Too complicated this year.

Cheers,
Lavabe

[OZZIE4DUKE]

We haven't had a federal refund in years, even though we keep raising the amount that gets taken out of our paychecks. I don't think we'll go TurboTax this year, as the move, house buy/sell, and everything has us doing the fed and two state forms. Too complicated this year.

Cheers,
Lavabe
So you are going to trust a live person to do all the complicated stuff? You do know that he or she will be using software to be guiding them through the maze, don't you? Might as well see if you can do it yourself first and save a bunch of money. Either way you have to gather all your stuff together, and answer questions about it, and you know the answers to those questions better than somebody asking them.

[ArkieDukie]

We haven't had a federal refund in years, even though we keep raising the amount that gets taken out of our paychecks. I don't think we'll go TurboTax this year, as the move, house buy/sell, and everything has us doing the fed and two state forms. Too complicated this year.

Cheers,
Lavabe

That's my situation as well, minus the house buy. I'm braving it with TurboTax. It's really not bad as long as you have all the paperwork together. The move has made me a bit more disorganized than normal, so I've had to dig for some papers.

[bjornolf]

My wife always does our taxes. I'm good with numbers until you put a dollar sign in front of them, then I just seem to get lost. She did them this weekend, cause that's when our last form came. She does them by hand cause it makes her so angry that the IRS charges a fee to e-file, which SHOULD make their life EASIER, not harder. We always get a pretty big check, cause she left her withholding the same when we got married. We have three kids, a pretty substantial mortgage that's still 75+% interest in the payments, and we give a couple grand to charity each year, so those are nice deductions. Also, we have school tuitions and other expenses like family vacations, and we don't trust ourselves to save the extra few hundred dollars per paycheck, so we get it in a lump sum and immediately take care of the expenses and put some in savings.

[CameronBornAndBred]

That's my situation as well, minus the house buy. I'm braving it with TurboTax. It's really not bad as long as you have all the paperwork together. The move has made me a bit more disorganized than normal, so I've had to dig for some papers.
I'd second what AD and Ozzie said. You have three levels of support that you can do TurboTax with, each asking more questions in regards to deductions, with Premier being the highest and most expensive (still not that expensive.) When I did it, the software decided on some questions I answered that I use the premier, but would be fine with the middle level I had chosen. The software even figured out the we should get some education credits that I thought we could get, but didn't think the software would suggest.

[Windsor]

I've done ours, my mother's and my daughter's all on Turbo Tax - my daughter (college student...2 W2s was the whole show) already has her refund and mine should be in the bank this week...I love e-file!

Worked for a CPA in a previous life - did tons of taxes so I am the sicko kind that actually likes them (although I always enjoyed corporate returns more than individual)

[snowdenscold]

With mine, I could print them out instead of waiting for them. It would surprise me if you can't do the same.

Yeah they hadn't put it online yet either. Kind of frustrating.


Now what to do with the refund? LASIK?

[DukePA]

I just finished my taxes using TurboTax for the second year. Easy, easy, easy!

[YmoBeThere]

My refund is already in the bank...

[pamtar]

OK, I've got a question.

My wife and I are filing as married filing jointly. We have both been in school the past year so our incomes are pretty small. When we plug in her W-2s it says she gets $800.00 back. Then we plug in my W-2 and one 1099 (total of $4K, taxes paid on $3200, 15% or $120 unpaid on $800 sole proprietorship) and we get $100 back. How the hell do I owe money on a $4000.00 dollar total income. If we do married filing jointly we end up owing like $200.

If anyone can make sense of this please help. I'm trying to avoid paying H&R Block $92 just to look at it. Thanks!

[Lavabe]

So you are going to trust a live person to do all the complicated stuff? You do know that he or she will be using software to be guiding them through the maze, don't you? Might as well see if you can do it yourself first and save a bunch of money. Either way you have to gather all your stuff together, and answer questions about it, and you know the answers to those questions better than somebody asking them.

I'll leave it DiK to respond properly to this.

Just out of curiosity: if you get audited when you send in with TurboTax, who is there to stand up for you?

My experience with do-it-yourself anything is awful.

If it wasn't for the real estate transactions this year, I might try it. That stuff IS complicated.

All the stuff is gathered together and is on a spreadsheet.
Cheers,
Lavabe

[YmoBeThere]

My experience with do-it-yourself anything is awful.

Please tell me you haven't outsourced getting dressed...

[Lavabe]

Please tell me you haven't outsourced getting dressed...

No, but I HAVE outsourced my picks for DBR NASCAR 2009.:rolleyes:

[CameronBornAndBred]

I'll leave it DiK to respond properly to this.

Just out of curiosity: if you get audited when you send in with TurboTax, who is there to stand up for you?

My experience with do-it-yourself anything is awful.

If it wasn't for the real estate transactions this year, I might try it. That stuff IS complicated.

All the stuff is gathered together and is on a spreadsheet.
Cheers,
Lavabe
TurboTax acutally is really cool on the audit front. There are some protections you can pay extra for, but they watch your back for free too. At the very end of mine, they put my return through some software that checks for audit flags, mine came up as low. But they point out what might raise questions. As long as you have all your records, and can stand by your return, you should be ok anyways. I got audited once, and got screwed. It was a year when I made absolutely squat, basically qualified as being dirt poor. 2 years later the IRS audits me, and says I owed 500 bux, because my employer at the time screwed up his records. I had kept nothing, couldn't prove anything, and they took it from me. Bahstahds. I keep everything now.

[cl15876]

TurboTax acutally is really cool on the audit front. There are some protections you can pay extra for, but they watch your back for free too. At the very end of mine, they put my return through some software that checks for audit flags, mine came up as low. But they point out what might raise questions. As long as you have all your records, and can stand by your return, you should be ok anyways. I got audited once, and got screwed. It was a year when I made absolutely squat, basically qualified as being dirt poor. 2 years later the IRS audits me, and says I owed 500 bux, because my employer at the time screwed up his records. I had kept nothing, couldn't prove anything, and they took it from me. Bahstahds. I keep everything now.

Hmm, I used to get the 3 volumes of Tax Document books for years and used turbo tax and would inevitably miss stuff that my tax guy would always find. Regarding whether turbo tax, tax cut, your tax person or anyone else will be there to help if you're audited, the answer is you are responsible for everything on your tax return (not that I've been audited... knock on my hard head of wood), but that is the way it is! Make sure you understand everything before filing!

[devildeac]

Please tell me you haven't outsourced getting dressed...

Leave it to Ymo to think of this...

LMAO;)

[throatybeard]

I have not yet done ours, because the [expletiving] IRS not only lost our stimulus check last year, but also our refund. I talked to them and they said to check back in like 30 days so I know whether I can apply the $1544 they owe me as a credit on my 2008 return.

[ArkieDukie]

I have not yet done ours, because the [expletiving] IRS not only lost our stimulus check last year, but also our refund. I talked to them and they said to check back in like 30 days so I know whether I can apply the $1544 they owe me as a credit on my 2008 return.

Un-be-frakkin'-lievable! Or, is it un-frakkin'-believable? :o Here's hoping it gets sorted out soon.

[Indoor66]

I have not yet done ours, because the [expletiving] IRS not only lost our stimulus check last year, but also our refund. I talked to them and they said to check back in like 30 days so I know whether I can apply the $1544 they owe me as a credit on my 2008 return.

You know the old saying: Hi, I'm from Washington and I'm here to help you! :cool::eek:

[BluDevilGal]

Just finished mine. Hadn't planned on using any software to do mine, but ended up using Turbo Tax. I really liked it for my federal return... my refund is actually much larger than I thought it would be. But my state taxes are so complicated this year (3 states, 2 of which I was a resident, one I was not) that Turbo Tax was missing stuff, so it's good that I had already calculated things on my own.

This was the first time I had used any kind of tax program, and I was overall pleased with Turbo Tax.

[hurleyfor3]

Only the little people pay taxes.

[dukestheheat]

Mine are too complicated so I let someone else do them; I actually was audited last year for the 2005 return and it wasn't so bad. The only really bad thing in that whole audit thing was dealing with my bank; I bank on-line and I had to wait for about 4 weeks so that the bank could go back and dig up all the checks that the IRS wanted to see. That was an amazing experience, and far tougher than dealing with the gov.

dth.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Only the little people pay taxes.
I am so small they missed me. Duck.

[Lavabe]

Just finished mine. Hadn't planned on using any software to do mine, but ended up using Turbo Tax. I really liked it for my federal return... my refund is actually much larger than I thought it would be. But my state taxes are so complicated this year (3 states, 2 of which I was a resident, one I was not) that Turbo Tax was missing stuff, so it's good that I had already calculated things on my own.

This was the first time I had used any kind of tax program, and I was overall pleased with Turbo Tax.

So, if I go with Turbo Tax or Tax Cut, I can't do state returns from different states? Huh?

[OZZIE4DUKE]

So, if I go with Turbo Tax or Tax Cut, I can't do state returns from different states? Huh?
You can, but you have to buy the additional state(s). With some versions, one state is included in the original price.

[ArkieDukie]

So, if I go with Turbo Tax or Tax Cut, I can't do state returns from different states? Huh?

Yes you can. However, I have found this part to be a bit confusing. It's hard for me to determine what I should claim for each state.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

So, if I go with Turbo Tax or Tax Cut, I can't do state returns from different states? Huh?


You can, but you have to buy the additional state(s). With some versions, one state is included in the original price.


Yes you can. However, I have found this part to be a bit confusing. It's hard for me to determine what I should claim for each state.
Never having had to do it, I can't help you with multiple state returns. Sorry.

[Jfrosh]

Finished mine last week! I have used TaxCut for years and will continue to since it imports everything for you from prior returns. Collecting everything is the hardest part, imputing it in is really quick and easy.

[feldspar]

Got my refund back two weeks ago.

[bluebutton]

If you know you're not getting a refund (and we shouldn't b/c we should owe short term capital gains on exercising & selling options from early in the year...before the remaining options died a horrible death), is there any reason to file early or is there any reason not to wait and send that check in as late as possible?

[OZZIE4DUKE]

If you know you're not getting a refund (and we shouldn't b/c we should owe short term capital gains on exercising & selling options from early in the year...before the remaining options died a horrible death), is there any reason to file early or is there any reason not to wait and send that check in as late as possible?
If I owe money to the IRS or the state, I mail my return on the very last possible day, usually April 15th. Certainly no reason to give them the money earlier, unless you want the entity to have the money to spend sooner, which you probably don't.

[DukeFencer]

So, if I go with Turbo Tax or Tax Cut, I can't do state returns from different states? Huh?

Last year was my first year doing taxes "on my own." (It feels a little bit like cheating to call using Turbo Tax "on my own" because it was so easy.) I had one of those many states situations - moved after graduating and became a resident, worked while at school (not a resident), and had residency in my "home" state too. Realized late that I would have to buy the extra states on Turbo Tax so did it all by hand for NC and it really wasn't all that different (although it did require an extra phone call to my dad who had done my taxes for me through my Duke years :) )

This year my employer has still not sent out W2s and I'm getting a little antsy for my refund. We keep getting notices that it will be another week late. Someone told me they're supposed to be postmarked by Jan 31st. Do they get penalized at all for this? I have talked to other people in the area and apparently many are in the same boat. One family said last year they didn't receive theirs until late March.

[Kimist]

If you know you're not getting a refund ... is there any reason to file early or is there any reason not to wait and send that check in as late as possible?


You can file any time you want to do so, even if you owe a bunch of money to the IRS. The PAYMENT is not due until April 15th (and even with a filing extension remember you still have to pay what you "think" you may owe by then to avoid interest/penalties).

If you are not e-filing, just send in the payment voucher in time for the payment to be processed. If you are e-filing, most software will allow you to select a future debit date for the funds to be withdrawn from your bank. In case problems occur (rare) I would suggest no debits later than April 10th or so, to allow for "Plan B" options. The same rules apply to state returns, although the available state payment options vary.

k