After the new year starts everyone is focused on their New Year’s resolutions – as am I. But once I’m set into my routine including my new goals – this year it was to hit the gym and lose weight – my focus quickly shifts to something else. Taxes.
I have a love hate relationship with my taxes. I love getting a refund but I hate collecting papers all year and calculating my income and expenses over the last 12 months. I like to do as much as I can using the Turbo Tax Calculator online to prepare my taxes before I take them to my accountant because he charges by the hour. The more work he has to do the more it costs me and I already think it’s ridiculous to pay a fee for a service that is mandatory by the government – but that’s a whole other story.
Personal confession: I’ve never filed my own taxes
It’s true! I have to admit I’ve never filed my own taxes. When I was 15 and got my first job working at McDonalds my Dad filed my taxes. When I was 17 I started working two jobs and after my parent’s divorce my Mom took my taxes to her accountant. At 18 I moved away from home to go to college and started filing my taxes out of state with H&R Block.
Now I’m 34 years old and I take my taxes to an acquaintance who I met through a colleague at work. It’s actually turned out to be a great relationship; he sends me clients who need a financial planner and I bring my friends to him to file their taxes. It’s a win-win situation. But he still charges by the hour.
I’m sure if I really wanted to I could probably figure out how to file my taxes, maybe – but probably not. Even though I work at a bank numbers still give me a headache so I much prefer to have someone do them for me.
Are you a brave soul who files their own taxes?
Hats off to you if you do. I honestly don’t think I could do it – although I’d like to think I can the truth is I probably can’t. I would sit at my kitchen table for 15 minutes staring at all my tax slips and forms and then get up to take some Tylenol.
I have a 9 to 5 job as well as my own freelance hustle on the side so I wouldn’t even know how to start doing my own taxes. On top of that I wouldn’t know where to begin looking for tax credits. So for me it’s worth paying a professional to file my taxes.
If I had a very basic tax return I would probably be able to crack down and do them myself, but even then we have to add BF into the equation. Do you file joint taxes?
If you do file your own taxes our friends at H&R Block have a special offer for you. Right now you can get their Deluxe or State desktop software free. More details here.
Happy tax time!
Photo from IdPinThat
