Of all the things I do on a yearly basis filing income tax is my least favorite! There are always face/palm moments. There are always periods of tension between Helaine and me when I’m glad we don’t keep a gun in the house. I did my best to put it off until today. We just finished.
“An hour and a half,” Helaine said with the kind of self congratulatory satisfaction only a wife can show to a husband. “Not bad.”
You know what? It wasn’t bad. It went smoothly with very few questions or concerns.
Here’s the secret of the Foxes finances: Helaine handles it all!
Seriously, she’s in charge of every penny. I’m not sure I wrote more than one or two checks all year. I certainly didn’t pay any bills or make any deposits.
This is all based on my history as a bachelor. Back then I was paying bills when I got around to it… which I seldom did.
We sat at the kitchen table. Helaine had already separated the results of the Fox family monetary policy into logical piles representing the various institutions that sent us forms. She also had a handwritten sheet with our charitable contributions.
We used TurboTax again this year. I have no idea if it’s better or worse than any other service, but once you’re ‘in the system’ most of your numbers are automatically entered for you. That doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it is. It’s part of the way they get you hooked!
I was pleased to see a brief admonition as I started. TurboTax recognized I was using Chrome Version 11 as my browser. They made note there might be minor incompatibilities, but added, “Way to be ahead of the curve.” Nice touch.
We’re getting some money back. That’s good though it’s really bad! Any accountant worth his salt will tell you I had too much deducted and lent the government money with no interest.
Too bad. I’d rather get a refund. It feels good whether it actually is or not.
Back when we started e-filing taxes friends were skeptical about the safety and security. I think it’s the norm now. Maybe we trust too much?