1040, done

[digitS']

I have last year's copy & this year's, strewn across the bed so that I can compare them page for page - to make sure I have no space blank that should not be. This way, I will review until I go to bed and then stuff the 2014 return in an envelope!

When did we go with a 1040V for tax payment? I'd forgotten that thing since using online filing for the last 4 or 5 years. Not this year - back to licking a stamp! uh ... mmph ... spit!

Online service wanted $80 from me this year. Free software does NOT like my Schedule F. The heck with 'em!

Steve

 

[Smart Red]

New changes, new 1040s. I suspect the "V" is for the ACA (Obama Care) paperwork.

I will be lucky to get mine done by the middle of April, especially as DH is no longer any help in the process.

Good going, digitS'. Ya'll want to stop by and help with mine? I hear TurboTax has removed C, D, E, and F from its regular program so I'll have to spring for the expensive Premier format as well.

 

[digitS']

Well, that's the outfit I used for several years. I just can't see paying very much for it. The "fillable forms" are available so I don't need to do anything weird like trying to locate a typewriter ...

No, the V is your payment voucher. Honestly, I'd forgotten the thing - one more example of how I forget what I'd just as soon, not remember.

Steve

 

[Smart Red]

Okay, I remember needing that voucher a few times. I haven't had to pay quarterly, but that lump sum April check is a good thing only when it's a small lump. My system for every other year tax liability means I'm not always paying in.

 

[Carol Dee]

Good Grief. Thanks for the reminders. I dislike tax season! (Who doesn't) It is NEVER painless. DH and I almost always grump at each other during the prep. Will have to work on them when he is home between trips for work. The sooner the better.

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

Super glad that I don't have to deal with taxes yet. I have trouble handing the cashier even a few dollars!

Any tricks for decreasing what you pay at tax-time? I know that having less building on your property and earning less. Does how much acreage you own effect how much you pay (even if those acres are empty)?

 

[journey11]

I got started on mine and stalled out. I've had too much mess with the dog being on Prednisone this week and the carpet. That's about all I've gotten done.

I use the IRS fillable forms and run an online tax interview simulaneously to make sure I haven't missed anything. Once the numbers come out the same, I close out of the tax software and submit my fillable form for free. My taxes aren't too complicated, although I do itemize deductions. I am not willing to part with one hard earned cent if I don't have to. I do my state taxes later and submit by mail because I'm not in too big of a hurry to get that couple hundred dollars. My federal return came back in one week last year! Woo-hoo.

@TheSeedObsesser , they start out really easy and get harder as you get older!

 

[Smart Red]

Different taxes, SeedO, unless your area has personal property taxes. Real estate taxes are based upon the value of house, land, and buildings. Less buildings and small house should mean less taxes. Tax on your acreage is based upon the land use and value. Land use, means woodland acres have a lower tax rate than tillable land. Still related to real estate rather than the Ides of April curse.

My tax reduction tip is alternate year standard deductions. 2014 saw few doctor visits, no charitable deductions, no property tax payments, etc for other deductible items. That year I will take the standard deduction on my tax forms. 2015 will be payment of property taxes in January (2014) and again in December (2015); all medical issues that can wait until this year; charities will get a donation in January and again in late December. Eye glasses every other year. Whatever I can spend on needed deductible items is spent every other year when I take the actual deduction. That works out to be more than the standard deduction = less tax liability. If I didn't do my taxes this way I'd never get more than the standard deduction year after year.

Working for someone else -- a business -- rather than for yourself makes for an easier time with filing your taxes. The more you do with your life and your investments, the more confusing tax liabilities get. It is the schedules you need to fill out that complicate taxes. I fill out "A" itemized deductions; "B" is for interest and dividends (savings and stock market) "C" is for a home office -- hard to prove and difficult to get; "D" is capital gains and losses; "E" is for rental property; "F" is for farm income; and the schedules go on through the alphabet to "R" credits for the elderly. Each schedule come with its own set of additional numbered forms to be filled out as well.

So, if you work on a 9-5 job for someone else, your taxes are pretty much limited to income from that job and are easy to fill out. Each addition you make to your financial life comes with its own set of governmental complications.

 

[digitS']

I have made several mistakes over the years. One would have been fairly costly and I was left feeling rather silly after the feds rescued me. Another was in the other direction and it took me until the next tax season to figure out what the mistake was. I had just written a small check at the time after standing around, scratching my head for an hour.

The third mistake was forgetting to sign my form. Oh boy! It wouldn't have been so bad but I was very much into last minute mailing at that time. I'd drive through the post office line on the afternoon of April 15th. Weelll, guess who had to pay a late fee that year! Putting the inevitable off didn't make much sense after that.

In no way am I in the big time. That's when things can get complicated. Property taxes are local, SeedO'. (Somehow, I imagine SeedO's shoulder making creaking sounds as he reaches for his wallet .)

Steve

 

[seedcorn]

Remember those days. Driving to post office at 11:55 to mail it in with appropriate amount on check..... Didn't want them to have my money an hour before they had to.