Taxes. Oh, the joy.

[gerisullivan]

I did my taxes about 3 weeks ago, but I waited until tonight to check them over and fill in the final copies of the Massachusetts forms. After 3 years of TurboTax, I went back to doing them by hand to save the expense of the software. My overpayments are going toward 2008 estimated taxes, so it's not like I'll miss out on getting refunds any sooner.

The Feds make it easy. Download the PDFs, fill 'em in on screen, print as many copies as I need. The only hand writing involved comes with the signature. Taxachusetts on the other hand.....

Massachusetts tax forms are the best reason for using TurboTax, some other software, or a paid provider that I can imagine. Not only are the rules perverse and arcane, the downloadable PDFs have to be filled in by hand. Well, okay, I suppose I could manually turn the darned thing into an electronic process by using Acrobat to make hundreds of little fill-in boxes, then filling them in, but that would take me even longer than writing the numbers in the boxes by hand.

So, I did it all by hand, double-checking rules, noticing too late that I don't *have* to fill in a Massachusetts Schedule C since the numbers are identical to my Federal Schedule C. I can substitute the Federal form...but only after writing "No Massachusetts Differences" across the top of it. Okay, that's useful to know for the future.

I keep reading and re-reading the rules and can't find anything requiring me to submit copies of any of my Federal forms, so why did TurboTax prepare and send the Commonwealth a Fed Schedule C and Form 4562 as well as a Massachusetts Schedule C last year? I haven't a clue.

Form design...we won't talk about form design.

So, anyway, I finished the forms, made photocopies for my files, and started to fold the originals so they'd fit in the envelope. There, on the top of the Form 1, centered, in bold face: "PRINT IN BLACK INK." It's not on any of the other forms. I don't see it in any of the likely places in the instruction book.

Sure enough, I'd done everything in blue.

I'm aware that I can be overly rule-abiding at times. This is one of them. I'll fill out the Massachusetts forms all over again after I've slept. If I do them now, I'll screw something up in my tiredness.

So much for not using TurboTax and filing electronically.

Much as I like the automated arithmetic and the electronic filing that tax preparation software offers, I far prefer my own, long-established routine for filling out the various forms. Even after a couple of years, using TurboTax took me longer than sitting down and doing everything by hand. Plus, it was much more maddening in the process.

I am glad to be done with it for another year!

Comments

[lesliet-ma.livejournal.com]

I feel your pain. I used to take pride in doing everything by hand. Until the year that Massachusetts came up with a fiendish two-page Schedule D that was totally incomprehensible. That sent me fleeing to TurboTax.

My fear with TurboTax is that sometimes I don't understand how what I'm entering into the program corresponds with the actual forms. Last year I totally missed a major deduction I was due on my Massachusetts taxes. So now I do a more careful review of the resulting forms, reading through the instructions for each line item and following through on the forms. So maybe it would be just as well to do them by hand. It's hard to tell.

It's much harder for you, of course, because you're self-employed. The lucky people who just have to report salary income all nicely spelled out on their W-2's have it a lot easier.

Congratulations on being all done for another year!

Taxes

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Rumor is that mine are done, too.

B

Re: Taxes

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I've heard mine are done, too.

K.

Re: Taxes

[(Anonymous)]

Okay, now I know that ours are done.

If you're in the neighborhood, please pick them up. If not, I'll get them on Friday morning.

B

Re: Taxes

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Oops.

That was me.

B

[richardthe23rd.livejournal.com]

In my case, it's all over but the payin'.

[ckd]

I got spoiled many years ago when I worked at a company that had a license for some real professional tax prep software. The guy who used it always wanted a "simple" return to run through it first to get the feel for any changes they'd made, so he did ours for free (and this being before e-file, printed out IRS- and MA DoR-acceptable forms that we could just sign and mail). Bliss.

(Then he'd run the numbers and help us adjust our withholding so we had a negligible refund for the following year, with more take-home pay during the year.)

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

I tried one of the tax softwares one year and it took more than twice as long to do it that way than my usual by-hand. So I've done it by hand since.

[fishbliss.livejournal.com]

I put all my stress and energy into compiling all the papers from the year, then sorting and adding and subtotaling, and entering the values into the tax planner my accountant gives me.

Then taking that, plus my winnowed pile of papers to the accountant and presenting them,
answering questions, and feeling relieved that I didn't have to figure out what numbers go where and why.