Taxes are inevitable. I don’t mind paying them–but I don’t understand how it all works.
In the past, I’ve had simple jobs and low income. I was able to file my own taxes, but I’ve always got to wonder: Am I overpaying? Could I take more deductions?
I’m going to make it my mission to make sure I understand our family’s taxes.
If you overpay, the government won’t tell you, but if you don’t pay enough, you can bet your boots they’ll let you know.
Lucky for us, one of my favorite bloggers is starting a new feature on taxes.
She’s smart, interesting, and a CPA.
I think her posts will be informative, useful, and easy to understand.
Visit her first post in the series here.
Thank you, I really appreciate that.
you don’t mind paying taxes Kacie? C’mon everybody hates paying taxes ;)
I don’t LOVE paying taxes but since there’s nothing I can do about it, I try not to grumble too much about them. Also, I should say that this year it looks like we’ll be getting a return instead of owing. In the future, I want to break even at tax time…but I’m happy about this :)
I shouldn`t have as much taken off my checks as I do, but I find it an effective way to save if you lack willpower. I got a nice chunk of change last year on my return (almost $3,000) and to think it could have been making interest is irritating. However, it`s more likely that money would have been swallowed up instead of invested. When I got that money I had enough to pay off the remainder of my credit card debt and take a trip to Europe -so it was worth it.
Michelle,
I just wanted to say that I good way to save that takes care of the lack of willpower is automatic savings. It’s taken off directly from your paycheck but it accumulates interest.
Hey! I’m no tax expert, but I’ve learned a lot about taxes from Kay Bell (http://www.dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/).
She also writes for Bankrate.com
Oh, and I should probably also say I’m not affiliated with either Ms. Bell or Bankrate. Just a enjoyer of their websites.
Thanks for the link! I’ll check it out.
Yeah I have only just started to think about that option. I’m not sure how to go about it, but it makes perfect sense.
Last year, I took a tax course at H&R Block - it cost about $100, and was a great investment. I was fortunate enough to have a really good instructor (from what I have heard, this is rare), but even without a great instructor I found the federal books to be a great source of information.
Also, if you take the tax course, you usually qualify to work at H&R Block during tax season. I did work there, and the experience was great - it was really interesting to see how some people made good financial decisions to reduce their tax burden. However, the pay was not great at the location I worked at.
In my opinion, it is something to at least consider if you really want to learn more about taxes. Hope this helps!