Tax Season: It's Here and I Hate It
Posted: Friday, February 06, 2009
by Terry Mitchell
http://commenterry.blogs.com
I'm not a procrastinator who waits until April 15th at 11:59 pm to send in my tax return. I usually have mine done and in the mail by late February. And I have never had to send the IRS a check. Actually, I usually get a decent refund, despite the fact that I take every possible exemption on my W-4. Even so, I hate tax season and I'm sorry to see it here again.
Instead, I, in effect, have to perform uncompensated work for the federal government when I sit down to do my taxes. That amounts to about three hours every year. I know that doesn't sound like much, compared to how much time some people have to spend on tax preparation, but it's still three hours of my time that I could otherwise use for something more pleasurable.
With a sales tax as a replacement for the federal income tax, that number would drop to zero. A flat tax would be almost as good, taking my time spent down to about 15 minutes. But I'm not going to hold my breath for either of those potential improvements in the tax code.
Of course, I could always pay to have someone do my taxes for me. However, that comes with a price tag and I refuse to spend money to have someone else do something that I could very easily do. That's one of the few things that I can do for myself. I've been doing my own taxes since I was 18. I usually have to call in an expensive expert for anything else that needs to be done around the house.
I've often been asked why I don't use software to aid in my tax preparation or utilize e-filing. I prefer to do my taxes the old-fashioned way – with pen, paper, and a calculator. Software and e-filing may be faster but neither of these is free of charge. In addition, no tax software, regardless of how technologically advanced, is completely intuitive. That means I would have to read a set of instructions to learn how to use it. As a general rule, I don't do instructions.
For some people, getting that refund each year is such a thrill that they don't mind doing their own taxes or paying to having them done. For me, though, even a refund of $20,000 would not be all that exciting. I'm not impressed with money when I'm on the receiving end. After all, what has money ever done for me? Now when I have to pay it out, however, that's a completely different story. I'll fret over what I feel is an unnecessary expenditure of ten cents.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Hi Terry.I do our taxes. The last couple of years, I've used H&R Block's Tax Cut and found it to be quite intuitive and easy to use. This year, I opted to e-file the Federal return because it was free with my purchase. The State return, however, would cost $20 to e-file. So it's going by snail mail.I am so glad to have finished the nasty mess just a couple of hours ago.I'm with you. It's mean to make us jump through all these hoops just to get our money back.DianneDianne, thanks for your comments. I'm glad to hear that others hate it as much as I do.I used to always start mine at the beginning of February, but invariably I would discover that either some document hadn't come in yet or an amended one would arrive. It was so frustrating. Therefore, I now wait until later in the month to start.
Terry, I have a tax preparer do mine, I hate taxes, don't get me started lol!!!! I , like you, feel that I shouldn't have to do a thing.....I think our tax expense should be a set figure, that without question, we don't have to do any guessing on how much we have to pay to break even. I think that should be a government and payroll function. Since I am the one paying...I shouldn't have to do a thing....not at all......nada.....my tax should automatically be taken out to the fixed amount, and seamless to me....Thanks for the interesting read....Your friend in pen......GaryGary, thanks for your comments. Obviously, I totally agree.
Man, what's up with all you people getting money back? I haven't received a check from the IRS in more than 10 years. I'm pretty mad that I have to do all this work preparing these stupid forms and then pay someone on top of it all. Your work is not compenstaed but you get some money back at least, I always owe, owe, owe!Sorry for the rant, tax season gets me all worked up. I got nailed with an audit last year from four years ago when i was still married and the ex did the taxes and of course left out a bunch of stuff and we owed another $8000, which of course I'm just as responsible for as him. Oh well, you can take comfort in my misery if you want to Terry, I don't mind, and you don't even need to compenstae me for it! lol MylaMyla, thanks for the (witty as usual) comments. Hey, I know why you always owe -- you just make too much money! LOL.
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