Income Tax Time
As usual, I'm really busy.
Income tax time. Before I did my own I did my grandson's, his girlfriend's, my granddaughter's, my son's and his wife's. When it came to my own it was a bit more complicated this year. Mine s always more complicated because I count my writing income and spending as a business.
I've always done my own taxes--even before Turbo Tax. I'm good at reading directions and understanding them, I'm not good at math. When I use a calculator, if I add the figures 5 times, I'll come up with 5 different totals. In the days before computer tax programs, I made my husband do all the addition. I gave him the list of numbers and he added, gave me the totals and I put them in the proper spot.
Now, Turbo Tax (and all the other tax programs) take care of the math. All you have to do is put in the numbers.
I've had two years it was more complicated. One was when I inherited a bunch of stocks from my mom. The stocks had all taken a loss over the years, so I didn't have to pay any extra, but figuring out what to put where was a tad more difficult.
We decided to get rid of three stocks we had with a company for a number of years--something we should have done much sooner. I knew we'd lost money, but I couldn't understand the paperwork the company sent us for taxes. Nothing seem to fit what Turbo Tax was asking for.
I made an appointment with H and R Block and took all the paperwork in, including what I'd done so far fully expecting to have them do the taxes and pay for it. I explained the situation, that I'd always done my own taxes, but couldn't figure out what this company had sent me.
She looked it over, pulled up the page on her computer where they would do this kind of reporting, she told us what had to be done and where everything needed to be entered. I asked her how much we owed her and she said nothing. Unbelievable in this day and age.
Before I could finish the taxes though, a lot of number had to added up-she's shown us exactly what needed to be done and how to do it. It took my husband hours to add up all the figures, which were teeny. Finally, he had the totals of everything we needed.
When I opened up the tax program I really thought I probably wouldn't be able to do what she'd shown me. I did have to work at it a bit, but in a matter of less than an hour, I had it done! Final totals were done by Turbo Tax and it all worked perfectly.
And wow, did we lose a lot of money on that investment.
Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com
Income tax time. Before I did my own I did my grandson's, his girlfriend's, my granddaughter's, my son's and his wife's. When it came to my own it was a bit more complicated this year. Mine s always more complicated because I count my writing income and spending as a business.
I've always done my own taxes--even before Turbo Tax. I'm good at reading directions and understanding them, I'm not good at math. When I use a calculator, if I add the figures 5 times, I'll come up with 5 different totals. In the days before computer tax programs, I made my husband do all the addition. I gave him the list of numbers and he added, gave me the totals and I put them in the proper spot.
Now, Turbo Tax (and all the other tax programs) take care of the math. All you have to do is put in the numbers.
I've had two years it was more complicated. One was when I inherited a bunch of stocks from my mom. The stocks had all taken a loss over the years, so I didn't have to pay any extra, but figuring out what to put where was a tad more difficult.
We decided to get rid of three stocks we had with a company for a number of years--something we should have done much sooner. I knew we'd lost money, but I couldn't understand the paperwork the company sent us for taxes. Nothing seem to fit what Turbo Tax was asking for.
I made an appointment with H and R Block and took all the paperwork in, including what I'd done so far fully expecting to have them do the taxes and pay for it. I explained the situation, that I'd always done my own taxes, but couldn't figure out what this company had sent me.
She looked it over, pulled up the page on her computer where they would do this kind of reporting, she told us what had to be done and where everything needed to be entered. I asked her how much we owed her and she said nothing. Unbelievable in this day and age.
Before I could finish the taxes though, a lot of number had to added up-she's shown us exactly what needed to be done and how to do it. It took my husband hours to add up all the figures, which were teeny. Finally, he had the totals of everything we needed.
When I opened up the tax program I really thought I probably wouldn't be able to do what she'd shown me. I did have to work at it a bit, but in a matter of less than an hour, I had it done! Final totals were done by Turbo Tax and it all worked perfectly.
And wow, did we lose a lot of money on that investment.
Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com
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