(Death and) taxes.


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Okay, just taxes.

 

Are yours done? Do you do them yourself, or do you find it's worth the fee to hire an accountant? If you do them yourself, do you use and like a certain software?

 

I just finished ours. I think hubby needs to buy me a milkshake.

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I do mine through a firm. They send out a pretax questionaire already filled in from last year, and I just go through and answer the questions and give details.  They call or email with any follow up quesitons or requests for documents.  I have fairly complex taxes so it's easier for them to catch things than me to do it myself.  

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Eowyn, when I was running a solo practice I discovered that for my family, sometimes it was actually possible to get a *larger* tax refund if I *didn't* claim all the business expense deductions that I was entitled to claim (within a certain bracket, apparently your refund can go up as your AGI goes up). I asked the CPAs I shared office space with if I was legally *required* to claim every deduction to which I was entitled, and they said "no" (Personally, I'm not sufficiently familiar with the tax code to form my own opinion).

That might be something to pitch to your tax guy--whether you can increase your refund by actually declining to claim some of your business expenses.

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I hate, HATE, and LOATHE taxes.  I'm not sure I can stress that enough.

 

When my mom passed away, I refused to do my parent's taxes that year (I've done mine and theirs for years).  So, I asked a close friend who is an accountant to do both that year.  SO WORTH THE FEE.  He didn't give me any discount (not that I was asking) and even at full fee, it is so worth it to me.  

 

Now, each year, all I have to do is gather the paperwork for him....and even THAT stresses me out.  Since I'm now working from home, I have to collect more paperwork (UGH!), but I've decided that each quarter I'm going to get my paperwork in order.  This weekend will be my first at organizing all my paperwork to prepare for taxes next year.  

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I actually don't mind paying taxes (with the exception of my local municipality tax, which keeps going up while the city cuts services.  That irritates me).  But in general, I'm happy to pay taxes so long as I feel like the public goods being provided are of sufficient quantity and quality.  

 

As much as we complain about how tax money gets spent, the US taxes really aren't that burdensome compared to most places in the world. (I know, a lot of you will disagree with that).  

 

Truth be told, for the right services and with a more transparent tax system, I'd be perfectly willing to pay higher taxes.  Under the current tax code, however, I'm resistant to more taxes because it's too freaking difficult to make sense of who is paying what and how and for what reason.

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I actually don't mind paying taxes (with the exception of my local municipality tax, which keeps going up while the city cuts services.  That irritates me).  But in general, I'm happy to pay taxes so long as I feel like the public goods being provided are of sufficient quantity and quality.  

 

As much as we complain about how tax money gets spent, the US taxes really aren't that burdensome compared to most places in the world. (I know, a lot of you will disagree with that).  

 

Truth be told, for the right services and with a more transparent tax system, I'd be perfectly willing to pay higher taxes.  Under the current tax code, however, I'm resistant to more taxes because it's too freaking difficult to make sense of who is paying what and how and for what reason.

I'm inclined to agree. I think some taxes are badly spent. I hear of all these liberal notions and despite my libertarian views I think those would be a much better use of taxes than some current things.

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I do my own taxes by hand (no software other than Excel) but I used to do them professionally so I know the pitfalls. It would cost me thousands of $$$ to pay someone. It takes about three weeks to do them with a little time each night. I have a busniess return and multiple investment properties.

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I do mine on April 14th at about 8pm. TurboTax.

I do about 5 or so different ways and submit the one where I owe the least amount. Married filing jointly, married filing separate, husband gets the kids and mortage, I get the kids and mortage, husband gets kids I get mortage, etc. etc. etc.

Edited by anatess
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I do mine on April 14th at about 8pm. TurboTax.I do about 5 or so different ways and submit the one where I owe the least amount. Married filing jointly, married filing separate, husband gets the kids and mortage, I get the kids and mortage, husband gets kids I get mortage, etc. etc. etc.

I always mail my check on the morning of the 15th. :)

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Turbo Tax... it was totally free this year for both Fed and State. Usually have to pay for State part.

 

I always owe...but, don't send any money until I get the first notice from them that I owe and will get a penalty if I don't pay by..

 

I send it in at the last minute.

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I know this is going to be unbelievable to all y'all but this guy fixes my A/C.

This guy in my in-law's ward works as a small appliances repairman with his own little business comprised of him and his shadow. Over 10 years ago, he got sued by the IRS for non-payment of taxes and a lien put on his house. He files his taxes every year but he always files 0 - no taxable income. He went to court told the Judge that his understanding of Federal Income Tax is Tax on Federal Income. Since he is a private contractor for small appliances repairs, he doesn't draw Federal Income of any kind, so he doesn't owe taxes. The IRS representative, of course, argued this saying that Federal Income Tax is tax on your income that goes to the Federal government. So this guy says, okay, tell me how much I owe you in taxes and I will gladly pay it if you can provide sufficient proof that those taxes are valid. The judge told the IRS guy to provide this information within x number of days. The IRS guy never provided the information so the judged dismissed the case. The repairman then sued the IRS for the lien on his house and the judge awarded him with $20,000 and the removal of the lien. Year after year he files 0 taxable income. 10 years later, a lien got put in his house again and he went on round 2 with the IRS. The exact same thing happened - the IRS guy was given x number of days to come up with what he owed in taxes, they didn't do anything, so the case got dismissed, he sued the IRS back to get the lien removed and he got awarded another $20,000.

True story.

Edited by anatess
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I know this is going to be unbelievable to all y'all but this guy fixes my A/C.This guy in my in-law's ward works as a small appliances repairman with his own little business comprised of him and his shadow. Over 10 years ago, he got sued by the IRS for non-payment of taxes and a lien put on his house. He files his taxes every year but he always files 0 - no taxable income. He went to court told the Judge that his understanding of Federal Income Tax is Tax on Federal Income. Since he is a private contractor for small appliances repairs, he doesn't draw Federal Income of any kind, so he doesn't owe taxes. The IRS representative, of course, argued this saying that Federal Income Tax is tax on your income that goes to the Federal government. So this guy says, okay, tell me how much I owe you in taxes and I will gladly pay it if you can provide sufficient proof that those taxes are valid. The judge told the IRS guy to provide this information within x number of days. The IRS guy never provided the information so the judged dismissed the case. The repairman then sued the IRS for the lien on his house and the judge awarded him with $20,000 and the removal of the lien. Year after year he files 0 taxable income. 10 years later, a lien got put in his house again and he went on round 2 with the IRS. The exact same thing happened - the IRS guy was given x number of days to come up with what he owed in taxes, they didn't do anything, so the case got dismissed, he sued the IRS back to get the lien removed and he got awarded another $20,000.True story.

A man after my own heart. He should have a statue !! :)

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I do mine, my husband's and my son's. They are all pretty basic, nothing too complicated. The CRA likes to promote tax software and do not mail out packages anymore but you can still pick them up at the post office; which is what I do. One of these days I will give the software a try but I'm more comfortable with old fashion paper.

 

M.

Edited by Maureen
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