Early last year I shared with you our budget for 2017, covering everyday items like income, livestock care, utilities, food, car repairs and more.
In the next few posts I'll tell you how we came out at year end. First though, I want to get our taxes done, a process I am looking forward to. Why? Because for the first time in over 25 years, our income is so low, our financial life so simply mundane, that we can complete the tax forms ourselves.
No more accountants. No more asinine tax forms like Interest and Ordinary Dividends (Form 1040A Schedule B), Capital Gains and Losses (Schedule D), Profit or Loss from Farming (Schedule F), Passive Activity Loss limitations (Form 8582) and so on.
"Passive Activity" I wonder what government entity came up with that oxymoronic form title?
Ah well, you get the point. In years past it would take us days and days to collect all our sales info and other farm related data for our annual meeting with our tax guy. We never really knew how we would come out as we could not keep up with the ever changing agricultural tax laws. Thus the reason we had a tax guy. Some years we had losses and paid less tax, while other years when we were more "successful", those profits went right back into some bureaucrats pocket.
This year we'll just hop on the TurboTax site where we can complete the 1040 EZ form FOR FREE.
We received the last W-2 Form for my small nursing pension just yesterday so tomorrow...is tax filing day.
I really am so excited and I just can't hide it!
Do I detect a hint of Pointer Sisters in that last line? Wow, you can get Turbo tax for free?? We have to buy it and install it each year. Hope you get a big fat cheque at the end of all this! Happy tax time. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteIt's free if you do the EZ form, which we are. Refund wise we're hoping for enough to put lights in the new barn. Doing chores by candlelight is romantic but not very safe.
DeleteI've been lovin' the free TurboTax filings for a long time. On SocSec that's our income, no tax liability, take standard deduction and bingo. Done. Still, even that simple thing makes be anxious every year. Has a lot to say about the IRS/internet trepidations. Enjoy your tax f(i)ling! Kris
ReplyDeleteTax f(i)ling? Now that is brilliant. You should write poetry.
DeleteSo true.
DeleteAnd I do.
LOL
I love doing our taxes for some odd reason. Now that I stay at home and am not working odd jobs it is pretty simple. Yay tax season!
ReplyDeleteIn years past we would wait until the last minute to file, because it usually took us several months to come up with the taxes we had to pay. So nice not to worry about that anymore.
DeleteHee hee hee...Pointer Sisters reference? :)
ReplyDeleteI'm very VERY lucky I took some accounting courses in school because I really refuse to pay an accountant to tell me I need to pay the government more taxes...Because I'm on disability, my taxes are quite easy now that I have no business or investment income. Turbo Tax is very easy! Have fun with it! I can't believe I'm saying have fun with taxes lol! :)
I made it through 11 years of nursing management without an accounting class. The CFO of the hospital I worked for was often threatening to strangle me! I learned as I went and learned more when we started our own business and YET, I still cannot operate an adding machine properly.
DeleteA nurse needs a heart, forget the adding machine.
ReplyDeleteAnd I sometimes think it feels like tax time all the time...:(
There always was that pull between doing what was right in my nursing heart and what was right for my departments budget. I used to tell my staff "It's my job to figure out how to save money and it's your job to talk me out of it."
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