I Finally Filed My 2018 Federal and State Tax Forms Yesterday.

[MineralMan]

Ever the procrastinator, I waited, once again, until the final day, after filing my Extension form back in April.

Why do I do that? Because I can. I hate the tax-filing process. It's boring, at a minimum, and frustrating if I can't find the papers I need in the little pile of accumulated papers in the hutch over my desk.

Once again, I sent what I owed in a paper check to the address on the forms. Once again, I will see just how efficient the IRS is in cashing that check, which always seems instantaneous, compared to the sluggish response if a check is due to me.

2018 worked out well, though. Our MNSure exchange for health insurance works very well, and we got a nice fat credit that ate into the taxes we would otherwise have owed.

Each year, I pledge that I will file on April 15. Each year, I end up filing for an automatic extension and file in October. Will I do better next year? Oh, probably not. Did I say I hate filing tax forms? I do.

[Permanut]

1. You didn't ask for sympathy..

but I offer it anyway. I was doing the exact same thing yesterday, finished at the last minute, and talked to my partner about filing in April next year. Like that's gonna happen.

[MineralMan]

4. No sympathy needed. I don't mind paying my taxes.

I just hate filing them.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. I didn't used to mind until I had to start paying for the Trump administration.

[MineralMan]

12. I always pigeonhole my taxes in my mind for some good purpose.

It's not like we pay a lot of taxes in the first place. Being freelancers, my wife and I rarely make enough money to pay a lot of taxes. We make enough money to get by OK, but not enough to pay much except for the Self Employment tax which will eventually come back to us via Social Security and Medicare.

It's a carefully calculated thing. We earn what we need for our very modest lifestyle, and that's just below the amount that incurs much of a tax liability. Every once in a while, we screw up and earn too much money. That's awful when it happens.

We've been careful for almost 30 years that way. There was one year, though, where we took on a writing contract and made over six figures. That led to a mortgage on our paid-for house, just to pay the taxes that year. We learned from that.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Hahahahaha!

I did the same thing for years because I, too, hate the process. I procrastinated, lost stuff I needed, and inevitably made mistakes (even after getting the extension). Finally, because of some minor complications that came up a few years ago (not because I was making piles of money, which I wasn't), I turned the whole mess over to an accountant and never looked back. Now I put all the tax stuff in a folder as it comes in, and when it's all there I deliver it to the accountant, wait for him to tell me the returns are ready to sign, sign the returns, and pay the accountant's bill when it arrives. The work is done correctly - something I rarely managed - and I am relieved of hours of frustration. There are a few things I will happily pay someone else to do: anything involving ladders, snow removal, and tax returns.

[MineralMan]

6. I should probably do that, too, but I won't.

I'll just keep on doing it late, as usual. Anyway, I always owe something, so I'd rather pay later than sooner.

[tblue37]

8. I always use a nice older man at H&R Block. It costs just about $300, but it makes

what seems to me an impossibly complicated process much easier. I keep relevant deductible receipts in a manila envelope (I do freelance writing, editing, and tutoring on the side).

It is so worth it to have someone else do that for me.I

Oh, and I get a deduction the next year for the cost of filing.

[MineralMan]

13. I use TurboTax. The version I use cost me $129.

It asks me questions and I answer them. Then, it checks my forms and asks if I want to eFile. I say yes, and it does that for me. Except I don't eFile in Minnesota because Intuit wants $25 for that. So, I print the forms, we sign them, and I mail them in.

I deduct the cost of TurboTax each year on the next year's taxes. Takes about 1.5 hours to do the whole thing. I have my papers in a stack in a cubby of the big hutch that sits on top of my desk. When I get something having to do with taxes, like 1099s, I put them in there, with the oldest stuff on the bottom and the newer stuff on the top as it comes in. Receipts, etc. .

It's easy. Once I'm done, I put everything in a big envelope and write Taxes 2018 or whatever on the outside. I copy my forms, in pdf format onto a USB drive and toss that in there, too, in case I need to print them out later for some reason. I have dozens of usb thumb drives around here that I got for free from one place or another. I use those. I also keep a copy of the pdf files on my PC and on a backup thumb drive where I back up everything important.

No sweat.

[tblue37]

14. Some sweat, though, if you can't make yourself do it until the last minute on extension.

I have trouble getting to it, too, but having to make an appointment with my tax preparer helps force me to--usually on the last Saturday before April 15.

[TheBlackAdder]

3. IRS is in cashing that check, . . .instantaneous, compared to the sluggish response if check due 😂

.

Isn't that the truth.

In NJ, when Chris Christie was robbing Peter to pay Paul due to his mismanagement, so if you were owed more that several hundred dollars, they'd ask for PDF paper document submissions and a 2 month review of those documents, so if you filed early, they would defer the refund four months or more so a check wouldn't show up until after June or July.

.

[MineralMan]

5. The State of Minnesota refunds part of your property taxes

if you meet the requirements. They don't start sending those refunds until August, though, so filing in April means a wait. If you file in October, the refund normally gets direct-deposited within a week or two. So, there is that incentive for delaying.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. But you get the refund *later* if you file in October.

If you file in April you get the refund in September. If you file in October you get it in October. I get about half of my property taxes refunded in early September because my wonderful accountant filed my taxes in April (and took care of the extra chore of calculating and sending in the form for the refund). If I had done them myself, with the inevitable extension to October 15, I wouldn't have the refund yet.

[MineralMan]

9. Well, we typically need that refund more in October than in September.

It's a wash, really. We also get about half our property taxes back each year. Why don't they just lower the taxes, instead. That'd be great!

[TheBlackAdder]

10. NJ is the #1 donor state to those anti-socialist Red States that love handouts. We can't get refunds

.

NJ, CA & NY are too busy floating all of those Red States what love taking money from Lib states.

Even though, 45% of the residents are Republican, they still love taking the moolah.


Actually, that's just their excuse to be anti-socialist while lined up at the socialist, wealth redistribution trough.

.