OK folks! Change topic: From 10W-40 to 1040 Federal Income Tax. How do you file yours?

[ATex7239]

Saw a funny story about taxes: A father is explaining taxes to his child and gives the child a full bag of M&M’s. The father then says “ok you must pay me a portion of this candy which is all yours to help cover the household expenses.” The child says “ok that seems fair so how much?” The father says” well I know exactly how much but I’m not going to tell what that is until after you give it to me.” The child says “so I have to just guess how much?” The father says “yes and I decided the amount long before you even had the candy and it may or may not change based on how much candy is currently in the bag.” The child says “that’s really confusing dad what if I’m wrong?” The father then says “… you're going to prison and I’m taking the whole bag.”

1) I have an accountant. I have no desire to cheap out or pretend I know what I’m doing when dealing something as complicated as taxes.
2) Electronic
3) I don’t play around with Uncle Sugar or his money. I use a professional. See story above.

 

[jalf]

I'm retired and old school. I still file a paper return for both state and fed. Always have, always will, until such is outlawed. But first I run all the numbers through the online tax calculator at dinkytown.net, so I know what my end point needs to be. I copy every form and place them, and every tax document, in 3-ring binder for perusal the following year. Each envelope is mailed in mid-March at the post office.

 

[Rand]

freetaxusa
It does everything you need and no upsell bs..
HR block wanted another 50$ so I could put on a 1000$ lottery winner one year(1099g)... but doesnt tell you that until you get there.
That was the year I moved to freetaxusa.

My taxes are not bog standard w-2 only having 2 properties and royalty income.. It took a minute to figure out connecting the 1099's to the royalty worksheets(deducts, depletion etc) but it works quite well and guides you.

State I either pay the 10$ or type it into the OHIO website for free. (takes about 15-20min.)

Local I use their website. with google for answers its not too bad.

 

[Dave Hess]

3) I don’t play around with Uncle Sugar or his money. I use a professional. See story above.

Yep, same here.

I don’t play any games and every penny gets reported.

 

[PandaBear]

Usually FreeTaxUSA these days as I have to pay to file state income tax anyways (RSU, capital gain, federal standard deduction and state itemized deduction means low end site like CreditKarma doesn't work for me).

I would pay that $20 or so to file electronically. Everything I file is pretty much public anyways and if they were to steal something it would be the paper mail that got stolen / lost (happened once) instead due to human neglect.

I've only use a professional once and he made lots of mistakes (SSN is wrong), so I only did it to learn what I didn't know back then. They are helpful if you need advice for next year, not filling paperwork. If I have a lot of deductions and depreciation, not sure about the laws, have certain legal liabilities to avoid, then yes I would pay for a pro.

 

[billt460]

I'm just disgusted with the whole thing. I file a 1040, and Toyota sent me a letter saying they want 0W-16. The IRS has never even heard of it.

 

[macarose]

I operate a dealership and to do my taxes I have to manually go through about 1600 transactions in my credit cards, checkbooks, and other areas.

I create a spreadsheet on Google docs with all that information. Been doing it that way since 2011. From there I have to calculate the SEP deduction (and contribution), health care deductions and the mileage deduction, along with about a half-dozen other unique calculations that are IRS specific.

I always file an extension. Always overpay a bit on my estimated taxes. Whenever I retire my second biggest thing I won't miss is doing all this busywork. I lose about 30 hours a year on it and that's with plenty of practice The first? Lowballers, lowlifes, and other chronic bullshirters who waste my time in this business.

If I could have a secure and enjoyable full-time income for half the money I now make, I would light a match, throw it over my shoulder and walk away forever. Taxes is one area where most of the folks worth liking on this planet have me beat.

 

[Pablo]

Oh crud. Taxes!!

No I have not started our personal taxes yet. April 10 or so, seems ok. I finished all the state and fed biz taxes in February.

Great thread title. None in stock, no demand.

 

[2005jettatdi]

Oh crud. Taxes!!

No I have not started our personal taxes yet. April 10 or so, seems ok. I finished all the state and fed biz taxes in February.

Great thread title. None in stock, no demand.

My taxes are done by a CPA, who is me. I get my year end accounting done on January 1st and usually file by mid February. Doing it early helps to familiarize myself with the changes made by IRS and Congress each year.

 

[walterjay]

I use a CPA. Only because I have to deal with a more complex situation after selling my business. And he is not all that expensive.