Is it just me or is it true that the older I get, the more complicated my taxes get? I used to find doing taxes mildly fun. I had a ritual of getting my tax booklet from the post office or public library and sitting down with a glass of wine (or two) to calculate all of the money I was going to get back in a few weeks time. It felt pretty good telling the government that they forced me to pay too much and need to send some of that dough back my way.
But that all changed this year. I have tried doing my taxes three separate times so far this year and only on the third time did I actually complete them successfully. The first time around, I sat down after a night out at happy hour and had my W2 and my 1098 in hand, which was all I thought I needed. As I started to see the refund amount on the online tax prep software continue to shrink, I thought I had done something wrong. So, I put it away after much frustration and decided that I would do it the old fashioned way and go back to the paper form. I quickly decided that was too much of a buzz kill, so I found the free forms online. Anyway, I sat down a second time, this time with just one bottle of beer, but I couldn't figure out which forms I needed to use for my education stuff, so after an hour I gave up again.
Tonight was the night for that third-time charm. I decided being hungover after my Mardi Gras party was a good way to ensure that I didn't desire a drink while powering through this task. And apparently, my taxes have officially gotten complicated between having a job, being in school full-time, and having silly savings accounts that haven't earned anything, but I still have to report them because god forbid I forget to log the $11.29 that my savings bank "earned" on my account. I finally finished it all...and the online program even checked out my "audit risk," which is apparently very low. Phew.
I'm sad to say that I'm entering the class of people who hate doing taxes. It used to be my hard-earned, but high probability lottery ticket, and now, it's just an annoying task for grown ups.
But that all changed this year. I have tried doing my taxes three separate times so far this year and only on the third time did I actually complete them successfully. The first time around, I sat down after a night out at happy hour and had my W2 and my 1098 in hand, which was all I thought I needed. As I started to see the refund amount on the online tax prep software continue to shrink, I thought I had done something wrong. So, I put it away after much frustration and decided that I would do it the old fashioned way and go back to the paper form. I quickly decided that was too much of a buzz kill, so I found the free forms online. Anyway, I sat down a second time, this time with just one bottle of beer, but I couldn't figure out which forms I needed to use for my education stuff, so after an hour I gave up again.
Tonight was the night for that third-time charm. I decided being hungover after my Mardi Gras party was a good way to ensure that I didn't desire a drink while powering through this task. And apparently, my taxes have officially gotten complicated between having a job, being in school full-time, and having silly savings accounts that haven't earned anything, but I still have to report them because god forbid I forget to log the $11.29 that my savings bank "earned" on my account. I finally finished it all...and the online program even checked out my "audit risk," which is apparently very low. Phew.
I'm sad to say that I'm entering the class of people who hate doing taxes. It used to be my hard-earned, but high probability lottery ticket, and now, it's just an annoying task for grown ups.
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