Chic on a Shoestring Decorating: Death and Taxes


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Death and Taxes

Hello there friends!  I have some awesome projects to share with you very soon,  I can even cross something off my Home Goals 2012 list already!!  And it's still January (barely)!!! Woot, Woot!!
I just have to take some really purdy "after" pictures so you can see the fabulous improvement.  The weather hasn't been cooperating, the sun needs to be shining to make my pictures purdy so I'm on hold until the weather cooperates. 

In the meantime, let's talk about some of our favorite subjects, (insert sarcasm here) death and taxes.  Ok, I'm kidding about death, we're going to talk about taxes.  Fun, Fun, Fun. 

Wait! Wait!!  Don't click the X in the corner to get rid of me, this is going to be good (as good as a discussion about taxes can be, that is.) 

Anywho, you've probably heard the old quote "the only two certainties in life are death and taxes."   Ben Franklin said this over 200 years ago and it still holds true.  (for most of my life I thought my dad made it up!)

Tax time is coming up quick and we have to pay them (unless you're a mob wife or involved in some other illicit activities that surely my readers do not partake in).

We had an accountant prepare our taxes for us the first several years we were married. We both worked at the time so our budget wasn't as tight but mainly, neither one of us knew how to do it.

After becoming a stay home mom the check to the accountant for tax preparation was a little bit painful to write.  What mysterious knowledge did they have that they could charge so much money just to file our taxes.  I always came away with the same thought... this isn't brain surgery, it's tax filing, everyone has to do it, how hard can it be?

I was fed up with the accountant costs, each year it went up (sort of like taxes) with extra fees for this or that.  I started to research the brain surgey-esque procedure that is self tax filing.  That's when I found Turbo Tax.

It was cheap and supposed to be foolproof, (even for me??)  I was going to try it and if I couldn't figure it out I'd head back to my pricey accountant. 

The first time I was really scared.  What if I did it wrong and the feds put me in the pen for cheating on my taxes!? 

"But I wasn't cheating your honor, I'm just a grown woman who has no idea how to file my own taxes!", they'd never believe me.

Ok, that's a bit of a stretch but I really was nervous, what if I screwed it up and got audited... or worse, what if I screwed it up and got less of a refund than I deserved?! 

As I started filing with Turbo Tax I realized that everything was going to be ok.  It was a detailed, step-by-step program that walked me through it.  It was amazingly easy.  The best part was the little running tally in the top corner that showed you what your refund would be (or what you owed).  The best part was typing in your deductions and watching that little refund number grow.  Cha-ching!

Besides being easy, they guarantee that it will be 100% accurate, your biggest refund and that your information will be secure. 

I'm recommending Turbo Tax because I'm a satisfied customer.  I've been using it for the past 6 years and I'd never go back to my accountant.  It's just too easy and I actually get some satisfaction from filing them myself.  Something that used to scare me is now easy-peasy. 

They have a free edition and several upgrades that are very affordable (especially compared to what my accountant was charging me). 

If you've been considering filing your own tax returns, click the link below and check out Turbo Tax.  It's not brain surgery.






Disclosure:  I am part of Turbo Tax affiliate marketing program.  All viewpoints are 100% mine.  I only recommend services and products to my friends (aka readers) that I have used myself.

3 comments :

  1. We've used Turbo Tax for years, regardless of my hub's huge finance/business expertise. It's just so simple, why not?! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Eeeeek! I can't imagine having to do this, well done on finding away to do it yourself! (I'm not evading taxes, we just don't have to file them in the UK)

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  3. Well, it is understandable to feel anxious and nervous when filing your taxes on your own for the first time. The idea of being audited can be overwhelming but the good news was, you were able to make it! For me, I think the best part of preparing your own tax returns is that you can see the numbers and know whether there is something wrong with the figures. And yes, the deduction and refund part is definitely the fun part!

    [Joel Walter]

    ReplyDelete

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