# It's tax season! Yay!



## Ravellian (Aug 17, 2009)

Share your tax horror stories here!

I decided to use TurboTax this year to file my taxes, and I picked the "free" option, thinkinig that I would be able to file all my taxes for "free." Then I got all the way to the end, all set to file, and they charged me $54 for filing the two state tax returns (I worked in two states last year). Apparently only the federal was free, though they didn't say that. I guess they figure once you get that far you'll just give up and pay rather than redo everything.

Also, when do you usually file your taxes?


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

We purchase the Turbo Tax deluxe edition every year. We have a friend who works for Intuit so we only pay $10 (USD) for the program. 

We file electronically (always free). If one wants to 'rush' their return, an additional fee (a percentage of the expected refund) is required. The purchased version of Turbo Tax allows the user to one opt for one state return along with their federal ... there is like a $39 charge for a 2nd state. 

Usually, we are done with this task by early February, but this year we are later. Any refund amount we get goes towards paying our annual auto insurance policy. 

Kh


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

It is totally free to file your tax return online in the UK (not quite so money-grabbing orientated as the US), which we all had to do by 31 January.

How obscene is it to charge you to take your money??


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Delicious Manager said:


> It is totally free to file your tax return online in *the UK (not quite so money-grabbing orientated as the US)*, which we all had to do by 31 January.
> 
> How obscene is it to charge you to take your money??


What the OP is talking about is a software company's product - TurboTax - that charges him to use their software to file his state return, although they let him use it to file his federal return for free. Of course, the US government doesn't charge us to file our returns (and neither do the state governments), and you can do it yourself for free.

But of course, if you use the services of an accountant or those of a software company, then you pay, just like you'd pay for a word processor if you wanted to use its convenience, but wouldn't pay to handwrite your notes.

The original poster at the point when he realized that the state part of the software wasn't free, could have stopped and filed his state return on his own, without paying for the software company's service. Just like any other software, you often have a simpler, free version that you can download, but if you want to use other capacities you have to pay for a "pro" version. Nobody has forced the OP to use this software company's product. He chose to do so for his convenience.

But don't mind me. I'm often grumpy on Mondays.

As for the OP's question, I do it through an accountant; I pay him for his services, he prepares my return and asks me if I want to file it myself or if I want him to do it for me online at no extra charge. My appointment with him to finalize everything is on March 30th.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

The husband said to his wife: "The IRS is auditing me. I have an appointment with the auditor; how do you think I should dress, humbly so that he thinks we don't have that much money, or should I dress up to convey an image of seriousness and reliability?"

The wife said: "Just follow my mother's advice when I asked her before our wedding night if I should wear fancy sexy panties, or just simple cotton panties."

Husband: "And what was that?"

Wife: "She said - it doesn't matter; whatever you wear, you'll get screwed."

:lol:


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

That's a good one, Almavia ... :lol:

Thanks for sharing ...


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I'd certainly be pissed off as a taxpayer in the States if I knew that my taxes had gone to shore up greedy and irresponsible financial institutions. 

I don't mind here so much seeing as we have universal healthcare and schooling and now a lot of it will go to rebuild our devasted second-biggest city.


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## Ravellian (Aug 17, 2009)

Almaviva said:


> What the OP is talking about is a software company's product - TurboTax - that charges him to use their software to file his state return, although they let him use it to file his federal return for free. Of course, the US government doesn't charge us to file our returns (and neither do the state governments), and you can do it yourself for free.
> 
> But of course, if you use the services of an accountant or those of a software company, then you pay, just like you'd pay for a word processor if you wanted to use its convenience, but wouldn't pay to handwrite your notes.
> 
> The original poster at the point when he realized that the state part of the software wasn't free, could have stopped and filed his state return on his own, without paying for the software company's service. Just like any other software, you often have a simpler, free version that you can download, but if you want to use other capacities you have to pay for a "pro" version. Nobody has forced the OP to use this software company's product. He chose to do so for his convenience.


My goodness, you ARE grumpy, Alma, especially considering how I ranked you in my top ten favorite Talkclassical posters 

I've often thought about where I'd like to retire (40+ years from now), and New Zealand seems a great choice. A calm, beautiful island away from all the ruckus of the rest of the world. How do you like it there, mamascarlatti?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

It's lovely, peaceful, green, relaxed, easy-going and remote... when it's not tossing buildings up in the air at 1.9G.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Ravellian said:


> My goodness, you ARE grumpy, Alma, especially considering how I ranked you in my top ten favorite Talkclassical posters
> 
> I've often thought about where I'd like to retire (40+ years from now), and New Zealand seems a great choice. A calm, beautiful island away from all the ruckus of the rest of the world. How do you like it there, mamascarlatti?


Hehehe, yes, I was pretty grumpy on Monday, sorry, but then I recovered, by posting the joke on Tuesday.
Maybe the mention of taxes made me grumpier. I'm expecting a rather stiff bill.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Classical music is always taxing, whether you're listening to it or performing it.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

superhorn said:


> Classical music is always taxing, whether you're listening to it or performing it.


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