Open Tax Season - 2008

so, tax season is here and it is in full effect. usually, by this time Jess and I are in line at H&R Block to do our taxes and find out how much we’re getting back. After regaurding the situation for quite some time, I feel that we’ve been making a couple of mistakes on our taxes; they are:

• I withhold entirely too much.[1]
• Pay-for services like H&R Block charge entirely too much.
• I always thought tax prep was complicated.

[1]* I don’t claim as many dependents as I have, due to the fact I am scared shirtless that I’ll owe the KGB IRS, money (alot of money) in April.

So this year, dispite having a couple of “complex” income deals, we decided to forget about the MAN (H&R) and give TurboTax a spin. We decided we’d do it, and keep the option to run with our tails tucked up to a “Tax Professional” if we became uncomfortable with the process.

I talked to a couple of my close friends and relatives and decided the “Deluxe” package was the right one for us. I used some Best Buy Rewards Points to pick it up and then installed it on my linux box using a virtual machine, lit it up, gathered all the forms I needed (1099’s/W2’s, etc.) and got to work.

About an hour and a half later I hit the “SEND” button, and we were DONE with our taxes for this year. Last year, I would have been forking over $316 to H&R Block for paying someone a part time hourly wage to sit and do basically the same thing I just did for $40 (actually $10 since my Rewards Zone Points paid the majority).

TurboTax has a brand new supporter, and I can tell you I will use them from now on. It was SO painless and so easy to get done; I didn’t have to make an appointment, or wait in a musty room for my shot at the desk or anything - VERY COOL. I highly recommend TurboTax to anyone willing to sit down for 90 minutes and answer some simple questions. You can also do turbotax ONLINE - which is more than likely the route I’ll take next year, so i can just use my straight linux box instead of a virtual windows box. (that was geek talk, sorry - but heck, the whole post is a tax geek post, so get over it).

Here’s to getting your taxes overwith AND not owing anyone anything! Go Tipton!