Congratulations, Your Taxes Are Done

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.

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?

I Hate Preparing My Taxes

Of course the real problem is I always feel I’ve forgotten something or screwed up something. My favor? Their favor? Who knows? Any mistake is money plus or minus.

tax return info on the table.jpgFiling taxes! Is there anything we do more painful or difficult? I hate it and I’m getting a refund. I’d be suicidal if I had to cut a check as well.

For the past few years we’ve been using TurboTax. I logged in, found my account and then realized there are probably online coupons to save money. I found one and reentered the site, but it was too late. TurboTax would only allow me to pay the full price.

Helaine asked if it was worth it to try and undo the $3? No. But this is like the cell companies giving long messages on voicemail so you’ll use more minutes, right? TurboTax rakes in an extra $3 thousands… maybe hundreds of thousands of times. It adds up.

They also charge much more to do Connecticut’s taxes than the federal forms. Let me restate: They also charge much more to do Connecticut’s much shorter and simpler taxes than the federal forms! All the info and questions are already filled-in.
I guess their cost per filer is greater, but this is a little nuts–and by a little I mean a lot.

We only go through this once a year so it’s tough to remember the specific details, but the user interface seems to be a little more sophisticated, more helpful each year. It’s a mature app but they’ve found ways to improve.

Of course the real problem is I always feel I’ve forgotten something or screwed up something. My favor? Their favor? Who knows? Any mistake is money plus or minus.

As the process ends TurboTax invites you to use Mint. The choice is Helaine’s as she’s Secretary of our Treasury, but it might not be a bad idea.