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Across the Fence:  Do you do your own taxes?  |
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mikesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
3659 Posts
Sherri
Elma
WA
USA
3659 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 20 2008 : 6:10:47 PM
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DH and I spent SIX HOURS today, doing our taxes. He worked in three different states last year, so we had to do Federal, Arizona, and California. Fortunately WA doesn't have a state income tax!! We had Turbo Tax, but it still took 6 hours due to my business, and the fact that I couldn't get our computer to upload the updates from Turbo Tax for about 3 of those hours!! Every year our taxes get more difficult, but I have never had anyone else do them. I think it's pretty expensive isn't it? Of course, how much is 6 hours of both of our time (and aggravation!) worth? When I printed it out it was 22 pages!! What do you all do?
Farmgirl Sister #98
Check out my new online store
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Mar 20 2008 : 6:16:40 PM
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The quick answer? Nope.
We have a lady who works for the revenue cabinet do ours. We're super simple, but I still make someone else do it.
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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Tammy Claxton
True Blue Farmgirl
1559 Posts
Tammy
Glen Burnie
Maryland
USA
1559 Posts |
Posted - Mar 20 2008 : 6:29:01 PM
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i do ours with H & R Block online. I've used it for 3 years now and I love it. Took me about an hour and everything went great. :)
Crafty Bay Farmgirl Chapter
"A friend is someone who does things that count, but never stops to count them"
Farmgirl #152
http://countryintheburbs.blogspot.com/ |
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junkjunkie
True Blue Farmgirl
1306 Posts
Judy
Lawrenceville
NJ
USA
1306 Posts |
Posted - Mar 20 2008 : 7:01:38 PM
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I have my taxes done at H & R Block. I've been going to them for many years because I don't have the patience to do it myself.
"To have life in focus, we must have death in our field of vision." Benedictine monk John Main |
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one_dog_per_acre
True Blue Farmgirl
1572 Posts
Trish
Sandpoint
ID
USA
1572 Posts |
Posted - Mar 20 2008 : 7:44:47 PM
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I used Turbo Tax for the past two years with fabulous results, it took less than 30 minutes. This year, my best friend, who happens to be a bookkeeper is doing them for us. DH has multi-state crazy business taxes.
Trish
Farmgirl Sister #91
Make cupcakes not war!
FREE TIBET! |
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willowtreecreek
True Blue Farmgirl
4813 Posts
Julie
Russell
AR
USA
4813 Posts |
Posted - Mar 20 2008 : 7:57:11 PM
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nope! With all the farm stuff and our teaching income and evertlything it would be too hard! We have like 50 different forms to file! Yuck. I'll leave it to the people who are trained to do. Plus the fee for accountants is REALLY reasonable round here!
Farmgirl Sister #17
Blog
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Felt and Fabric Crafts
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catscharm74
True Blue Farmgirl
4687 Posts
Heather
Texas
USA
4687 Posts |
Posted - Mar 20 2008 : 8:57:23 PM
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We use Turbo Tax and our was 19 pages long!! YIKES!!! It took Hubby about 4-5 hours to work it all out- between the military, living in CA but residents in Texas, school, childcare, FINALLY claiming Charlie this year...
He has the patience and he likes things like that.When I was single, I used to have someone do mine.
Cheers,
Heather
FARMGIRL #90 |
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Shirley
True Blue Farmgirl
734 Posts
Shirley
Olympia
Wa
USA
734 Posts |
Posted - Mar 20 2008 : 11:47:01 PM
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nope,
We have an accountant, with my business, the farm and all the other stuff we have going on, we couldnt do it, beside they know all the little things to inclue that saves ya money.It is a pain to get all the stuff together to take to him
Shirley
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Mar 21 2008 : 06:08:47 AM
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| I used to do ours, including the years when I worked in two different states and had other forms besides W2's to contend with. But it's just such a hassle. Last year, I took them to Jackson Hewitt. It was fast and easy, and we got the biggest return we'd ever gotten (apparently, they know some tricks I don't). I know that a lot of my friends use Turbo Tax, and they think I'm getting ripped off by paying someone else to do it. But they way I see it, I would have to buy the software, install it, do the taxes, and then package up the paperwork to mail in. Letting a professional do it costs just a little more, plus it saves me hours of time, and my time away from work is priceless to me. |
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ktknits
True Blue Farmgirl
582 Posts
Kathy
Northwest Indiana
USA
582 Posts |
Posted - Mar 21 2008 : 07:04:11 AM
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I'm a CPA, and have worked in the tax dept for a CPA firm for many years (since 1981) doing many, many (read hundreds) of tax returns a year. So, my answer to this question is, "it depends!".
Some people have very basic returns, and are fully capable of doing them themselves with no problem. Some people have very basic returns, but are so "paranoid" about IRS that they want someone else to do the return. These people really should have a professional do it so they can sleep at night. Some people have more complex returns and should have a professional do them, but they do the returns themselves anyway, and have lived to regret it. Some people have more complex returns, and have enough knowledge of the tax laws that they can work through them just fine on their own! No-one's perfect though.
Just because I'm a CPA, have done hundreds of returns, take all the appropriate continuing education, etc., doesn't mean that I won't make a mistake. But my bigger comment is, just because you get a software program doesn't mean that you've become a CPA and can file a perfect return. The people who sell software programs want you to buy them, so they make it look like their software makes you a "Pro!". Software programs make mistakes too, and if you don't answer those input questions just right, you'll get an inaccurate return, but you may not know it because you think the software program must be right.
You just have to know your knowledge level and your comfort level with the type of return you have, and make your own decision about whether to do the returns yourself or have a professional do them for you. And read the disclaimer on the tax return just above where you sign it....you know, the one that says, "Under penalites of perjury, I declare that I have examined this return.....and it is true, correct and complete". So, no matter whether you do it yourself, do it on the computer, or have a professional do it, you are ultimately resposible for it's accuracy.
Good luck, and now off my little hobby horse, and back to work.....more taxes to prepare........Kathy T
http://ktknits.blogspot.com |
Edited by - ktknits on Mar 21 2008 08:40:41 AM |
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Hideaway Farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1553 Posts
Jo
Virginia
USA
1553 Posts |
Posted - Mar 21 2008 : 07:23:15 AM
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We've used TurboTax for 5 years and will continue to do so unless we have an extremely unusual taxable event for some reason. Either way, though, the cost of the tax preparer or the do-it-yourself software is a deductible expense, isn't it?
Jo
"Wish I had time to work with herbs all day!" |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Mar 21 2008 : 08:24:52 AM
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We use either Turbo Tax or TaxAct. I use the online version instead of the CD that you buy at Wal-Mart or wherever. I used TaxAct this year as it found a little extra money for us and was cheaper.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
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lisamarie508
True Blue Farmgirl
2648 Posts
Lisa
Idaho City
ID
USA
2648 Posts |
Posted - Mar 21 2008 : 08:44:53 AM
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Absolutely not. After I messed them up 3 years in a row and got us into a nasty spot with the IRS (which we are still paying for), we have been using a great tax attorney for the past 8 years. I will never do them myself again.
Farmgirl Sister #35
"If you can not do great things, do small things in a great way." Napoleon Hill (1883-1970)
my blog: http://lisamariesbasketry.blogspot.com/
My Website:
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Mar 21 2008 : 08:56:16 AM
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The IRS makes mistakes, too. I had to straighten out an issue with them a couple of years ago. They had simply misread my handwriting in the field to report taxes paid, and thought that I owed them money. I sent them a nice letter telling them to check that against my W-2, and that was the end of it.
Because of that incident, and the many hours I spent on the phone with helpful IRS reps in filling out my taxes in a previous year, I'm not nearly so paranoid about the IRS as I could be. |
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CountryBorn
True Blue Farmgirl
1545 Posts
Mary Jane
New York
USA
1545 Posts |
Posted - Mar 21 2008 : 1:42:53 PM
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No way! I am a devotee of H&R Block.We have gone to the same lady for years and she knows all about our taxes. We have a rental house and I like to make sure everything is done right. I love budgeting and organizing all the stuff for the taxes. But, I would be a nervous wreck doing them!
MJ
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. Freya Stark |
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bohemiangel
True Blue Farmgirl
2087 Posts
Bridget
Ligonier
pa
USA
2087 Posts |
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SarahJ
True Blue Farmgirl
198 Posts
Shreveport
Louisiana
198 Posts |
Posted - Mar 21 2008 : 4:55:15 PM
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We used to go to H&R Block until we saw a SEVERE privacy violation take place. They included a copy of another persons tax return with mine, which if I was not an honest person, would have allowed me to use their social security numbers for ID theft. While this was an honest mistake, what turned me off was the response I got from the district manager when I called to inform him of it. He was just like "Oh well, throw it away will ya?"
I finally tracked the other person down and let them know what happened, and returned their forms to them.
We use TurboTax ONLY because we only have 1 income, and no complicated property stuff, and file the simpliest return ever. If our tax situation was more complicated, I would definitely take it to a professional.
SarahJ
Farmgirl Sister #116 |
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chessie
True Blue Farmgirl
403 Posts
Karen
Vista
CA
USA
403 Posts |
Posted - Mar 21 2008 : 5:05:25 PM
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yep - I have used turbo tax for the last 7 years. I hate doing it, but when we had c.p.a. do it, it was almost the same amount of work gathering the info for him and cost alot more moola. i usually buy time, 1/2 hour or so, with a consultant (thru t.tax) to feel better about the things that concern me and i buy audit insurance. Supposedly, if i get audited ( i haven't yet...) the audit insurance co. does all the work and i am not needed. We'll see, if and when audited, if this plays out as advertsed but having it makes me feel so much better about doing my own taxes. -karen
www.edgehillherbfarm.com "where the name is bigger than the farm, but no one seems to mind"
blog http://edgehillherbfarmer.spaces.live.com/default.aspx?wa=wsignin1.0
happy farmgirl #89 |
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farmgrlchick
True Blue Farmgirl
439 Posts
Theresa
Columbus
Montana
USA
439 Posts |
Posted - Mar 21 2008 : 8:11:37 PM
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I watch children out of our home and my husband is a selfemployed painter. We have right- offs that I don't know anything about, and the laws tend to change. I love our accountant and trust him, I am not sure how hard it is to find a trustworthy accountant, but it took us 4 tries to finally find one worth staying with. It's nice to build a professional relationship with your accountant. One year I went to H&R block and the following year I found our current accountant, he looked at my return from H&R and he found a lot of errors and some extra money for us. I refer everyone I know to him. That's just our experience.
Farmgirl Blessings,
Theresa
http://theresaslavenderbox.blogspot.com/ |
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Across the Fence: Do you do your own taxes? |
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Do you do your own taxes?
