Day 39- Taxes!!!

Day 39-Taxes!!!

Today is February 8, 2008. If you haven't received your 2007 W-2's, there is something wrong. By law, they have to be out of the hands of your HR by the last day of January. Credit Withdrawal has a great guide on how to get your W-2's if they haven't shown up yet. Which I did, and now they are on their way.

Once you get your W-2's, what should you do with them?

One thing is for certain, don't wait until April 14th to open them up. You should have already opened them, looked at them and checked for irregularities.

I would also recommend taking care of them immediately. How many times have you lost a really important envelope, only to have figured out that it got scooped up with the junk mail and thrown away?

Accountants: There are different schools of thought on accountants for taxes. On one hand, why pay some one for something you can do yourself? On the other hand, professionals know what they are doing a lot better than you do. If you are just filling out a 1040 or 1040 EZ, you probably don't need to get one. But if you are stuck, why not spend the $100 to get it done right? It might just pay for itself. (Another reason to start now)

Filing: Filing is not so hard. I got it done in, like, 45 minutes last year. There is a reason why it is called a 1040 EZ. You can get your forms on-line, at the post office or public library. Really, this time of year, you have to work hard to avoid finding your forms. FiveCentNickle has a list of commonly forgotten tax deductions.

Your return: We're in Debt has a great link to a rebate calculator, now that the rebate bill got through Congress. Lifehacker reminds us this a rebate, not a bonus. This is your money that you paid to the Government. They are just giving it back to you. So do smart things, not dumb things. Think of this a snowflake instead of a golden ticket.

Look, filing your taxes is aggrevating, I know. It is full of all sorts of math. And we are dealing with money. And there is the fear of getting audited. And are you getting enough deductions?

But in the end, it isn't so bad. On the side of the IRS building it has a quote from one of my Unitarian forefathers, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, "Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society". And the putting the political implications of that quote aside, we pay our taxes to have roads and schools and police forces and all the things we need for our country to be great. Every April 15th, we just double check that we paid our fair share.

Lets not worry that you have paid too much or too little or anything like that. Lets just stay in an accountable (sorry for the pun) relationship with our government.