Do you do your own taxes?
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  Do you do your own taxes?
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Author Topic: Do you do your own taxes?  (Read 2513 times)
DC Al Fine
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« on: March 21, 2014, 09:28:19 PM »

Since it's that time of year, I thought I'd throw this question out there.
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Indy Texas
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« Reply #1 on: March 21, 2014, 09:58:25 PM »

I already did mine months ago so that the Treasury Department would render unto IndyTexas that which is IndyTexas's.
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MaxQue
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« Reply #2 on: March 21, 2014, 10:37:32 PM »

No, it's sent in a package with my parents papers to our financial adviser.
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Atlas Has Shrugged
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« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2014, 10:39:35 PM »

No, but I did take a tax return sheet from the library and went over to familiarize myself with it in the future. Some of it made sense, but most of it didn't, but the fact that I bothered to do so at the age of 17 took away the guilt of being a parasitic American teenager Tongue.
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ComradeCarter
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« Reply #4 on: March 21, 2014, 10:42:25 PM »

Yes. Back in the States my mother would do them, as she's an accountant.

It's simple enough here. The federal government offers a program every year called eTax that streamlines the process. Is there a similar thing in the States?
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Fmr President & Senator Polnut
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« Reply #5 on: March 22, 2014, 12:53:29 AM »

E-tax is fantastic.... I'm oddly good and effective when it comes to my taxes.
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badgate
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« Reply #6 on: March 22, 2014, 12:55:26 AM »

My parents did them through their accountant for me for a few years, but not anymore. I use TurboTax
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Simfan34
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« Reply #7 on: March 22, 2014, 12:58:21 AM »

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Yes, but it cost £100.

Or where is the system where the IRS says what your taxes i going to be me but no one  actually uses it.
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DC Al Fine
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« Reply #8 on: March 22, 2014, 07:16:17 AM »

FTR, yes. (accountant)
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dead0man
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« Reply #9 on: March 22, 2014, 08:41:07 AM »

The wife does them through H&R Block online.
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True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)
Ernest
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« Reply #10 on: March 22, 2014, 10:29:56 AM »

Yes.  Unless you are running a small business or own rental property, it's only time consuming rather than complicated even if you have a number of investments.
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Tender Branson
Mark Warner 08
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« Reply #11 on: March 22, 2014, 10:33:14 AM »

Yes, here in Austria we do it over the Internet on the Finance Ministry website.

Takes about 2 minutes to complete.

Usually I get about 150€ back in taxes.

My brother had to pay back 120€ this year though, because he went into a higher income bracket last year.
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Kushahontas
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« Reply #12 on: March 22, 2014, 11:39:58 AM »

Turbotax tbh
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Antonio the Sixth
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« Reply #13 on: March 22, 2014, 11:45:37 AM »

Did them the year I was in San Francisco. That was annoying as hell... even though I did not actually have to pay anything. Seriously, why can't the government just figure out how much someone owes and directly take the money away from them instead of having them go through that hassle (which also makes tax evasion much easier)?
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Smash255
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« Reply #14 on: March 22, 2014, 11:50:52 AM »

Yes, Turbo Tax
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Simfan34
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« Reply #15 on: March 22, 2014, 12:39:07 PM »

Did them the year I was in San Francisco. That was annoying as hell... even though I did not actually have to pay anything. Seriously, why can't the government just figure out how much someone owes and directly take the money away from them instead of having them go through that hassle (which also makes tax evasion much easier)?

They do figure how much you owe, but no one trusts the government.

But take it directly take it away from them? Only you would put it it that way and think it was a good idea. Tongue
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Antonio the Sixth
Antonio V
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« Reply #16 on: March 22, 2014, 01:05:06 PM »

Did them the year I was in San Francisco. That was annoying as hell... even though I did not actually have to pay anything. Seriously, why can't the government just figure out how much someone owes and directly take the money away from them instead of having them go through that hassle (which also makes tax evasion much easier)?

They do figure how much you owe, but no one trusts the government.

But take it directly take it away from them? Only you would put it it that way and think it was a good idea. Tongue

Oh, I know that very well. There aren't many tax-lovers around these days. But that makes me all the prouder for being one of the few sane people in a world of morons. Wink
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True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)
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« Reply #17 on: March 22, 2014, 02:06:48 PM »

Did them the year I was in San Francisco. That was annoying as hell... even though I did not actually have to pay anything. Seriously, why can't the government just figure out how much someone owes and directly take the money away from them instead of having them go through that hassle (which also makes tax evasion much easier)?

They do figure how much you owe, but no one trusts the government.

But take it directly take it away from them? Only you would put it it that way and think it was a good idea. Tongue

Oh, I know that very well. There aren't many tax-lovers around these days. But that makes me all the prouder for being one of the few sane people in a world of morons. Wink

Taxes are a necessary evil, but that means they are evil.
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WalterMitty
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« Reply #18 on: March 22, 2014, 02:30:13 PM »

of course.

if your income is just from wages, why wouldnt you?  nothing too complicated.
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Antonio the Sixth
Antonio V
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« Reply #19 on: March 22, 2014, 02:31:54 PM »

Did them the year I was in San Francisco. That was annoying as hell... even though I did not actually have to pay anything. Seriously, why can't the government just figure out how much someone owes and directly take the money away from them instead of having them go through that hassle (which also makes tax evasion much easier)?

They do figure how much you owe, but no one trusts the government.

But take it directly take it away from them? Only you would put it it that way and think it was a good idea. Tongue

Oh, I know that very well. There aren't many tax-lovers around these days. But that makes me all the prouder for being one of the few sane people in a world of morons. Wink

Taxes are a necessary evil, but that means they are evil.

I beg to differ. Provided that their burden is distributed fairly (that is, in a steeply progressive tax system), taxes are a force for good in and of themselves, as they give force to the fundamental principle that the well-off have a responsibility toward the collectivity, and a share of their wealth must be devoted to furthering the common good.
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muon2
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« Reply #20 on: March 22, 2014, 05:24:20 PM »

I did my own using a spreadsheet up until about 1998. I started using Turbotax at that point. The combination of kids and a small business meant that it was easy for a nonexpert to overlook deductions. I've continued to use Turbotax for Home and Business.
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Indy Texas
independentTX
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« Reply #21 on: March 22, 2014, 05:47:48 PM »

No, but I did take a tax return sheet from the library and went over to familiarize myself with it in the future. Some of it made sense, but most of it didn't, but the fact that I bothered to do so at the age of 17 took away the guilt of being a parasitic American teenager Tongue.

Up until I was out of college, I just used the 1040-EZ, which is fairly idiot-proof. One of the few upsides to having no significant assets or income is the lack of red tape.
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kcguy
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« Reply #22 on: March 22, 2014, 05:49:19 PM »

I've done my own since 1995 (when I was 25)--and I still do it on paper--but this year was the first that I started to regret it.

First of all, I bought a home 3 years ago.  Because of my mortgage payments, I now itemize my deductions, which makes my taxes much more complicated than they were when I was renting.  (Because of itemizing, I even have to declare my previous year's state tax refund.)

On top of that, my employer switched to Health Savings Accounts last year, which means I am required to file a form listing the total contributions and total outlays to my HSA, even though the numbers have no effect on the actual taxes paid.

The one good thing about doing my own taxes the old-fashioned way is that I know EXACTLY how my taxes are being calculated, which I suspect most people don't have a clue about.
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Miamiu1027
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« Reply #23 on: March 22, 2014, 06:02:02 PM »

any literate teenager could do my taxes
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Simfan34
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« Reply #24 on: March 22, 2014, 07:36:25 PM »

Did them the year I was in San Francisco. That was annoying as hell... even though I did not actually have to pay anything. Seriously, why can't the government just figure out how much someone owes and directly take the money away from them instead of having them go through that hassle (which also makes tax evasion much easier)?

They do figure how much you owe, but no one trusts the government.

But take it directly take it away from them? Only you would put it it that way and think it was a good idea. Tongue

Oh, I know that very well. There aren't many tax-lovers around these days. But that makes me all the prouder for being one of the few sane people in a world of morons. Wink

Taxes are a necessary evil, but that means they are evil.

I beg to differ. Provided that their burden is distributed fairly (that is, in a steeply progressive tax system), taxes are a force for good in and of themselves, as they give force to the fundamental principle that the well-off have a responsibility toward the collectivity, and a share of their wealth must be devoted to furthering the common good.

You put it in such noxious terms!  For me taxes are there to raise revenue for the government. If it is meant primarily to redistribute wealth, than it is improper. Redistribution should be at most a side effect of taxation and not its raison d'etre.

And of course for someone like me the moral justification for progressive taxation is fairly weak. In short I try to pay as little tax as I can. If I had more faith in the government, I might consider being less stingy but I'd much rather prefer to give a large share of my income to charity, which I do (about 20%), although a good chunk of this is just membership at the Metropolitan Museum and the Philharmonic. And I tend to "export" the rest to Africa.

It's not a lot of money, barely a thousand. But I feel it goes somewhere worthwhile whereas taxation seems like throwing money in a hole.
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