It’s that time of year. I usually look forward to it, but this time around is a lot more stressful. Tax season. I have a checklist of forms I’m waiting on before we can file.
In 2012 we took on extra jobs, completed a short sale, paid out a ton of money in childcare, and received a stock cash out. My main concern is in regards to the short sale. Something I haven’t quite discussed here yet. It was one of the hardest – but best – decisions we’ve ever made. I will work on an entry about this.
So far we have both received our W2′s from our full-time employers. I also received our 1098 form for the mortgage interest payments. Now we await the following…
Form 982 – Reduction of Tax Attributes Due to Discharge of Indebtedness
1099-C – Debt Forgiveness
1099-DIV – Stock
1099-MISC – Husband’s part-time job (contract worker)
Form 2441 – Daycare expenses
I also need to get the amount I paid for vehicle registrations, property taxes, and PMI for 2012. Too much to keep up with this season! According to the not-so-reliable online calculators, the results so far indicate that…
$140.00 Refund – H&R Block
$72.00 Owed – Tax Brain
$502.00 Owed – Turbo Tax
$348.00 Refund – 1040.com
Soooo….I have NO idea!! I’m just going to expect that we’ll owe this year. If we don’t that will be a nice surprise. I do not understand the tax codes in this country. I’ve tried and tried, and every year they get more twisted. Flat tax please!! {I can dream.} I entered all the same information in every calculator and every website gives me a different result.
On top of our tax stuff, I’ve been dealing with it at work. I was sad to find that Paypal no longer offers a download history in QIF format (Quicken), so I had to manually sort in Excel. I also had to handle a bunch of 1099 drama among sub-contractors and temp workers. It’s amazing how many people think they aren’t responsible for paying taxes on the income they earned!
I also agreed to itemize my friends receipts for a little extra cash (all those envelopes above!) We haven’t discussed a price, and I’m not sure what to charge for it. He is a truck driver, and most of his out of pocket expenses are in cash, so it’s important that he keeps a log of his receipts. I’m not filing his taxes, I just sorted and itemized the paperwork, typed them into a spreadsheet, and created a cost breakdown for his CPA. I kept track of my time, and right now I’m at 12.43 hours for 11 months worth of receipts. What would you charge? A flat rate per month? Hourly? I find it hard to put a value on my time, especially with friends. Anyone else stressing over taxes?!
Nicole said,
January 24, 2013 @ 9:12 pm
I hate tax time. I always enter my info at like 3 different tax sites to make sure they are all the same. Most of the time it’s off by a couple bucks. But nothing dramatic like yours. Still waiting on a couple forms. But I don’t think we will get a big refund this year.
Angella said,
January 24, 2013 @ 9:49 pm
I enter the same info on every site, so I don’t understand the irregularity. And we received the short sale 1099 today, except they sent us a 1099-A instead of a 1099-C. I knew this tax year would be a nightmare.
Why is it so hard to find a good CPA or tax professional? | said,
March 5, 2013 @ 7:16 am
[...] season this year is a nightmare. We have so much paperwork to deal with, and while I’m confidant that I understand it, I’m not very confidant in [...]
2012 Taxes? Done! | said,
March 11, 2013 @ 7:10 am
[...] has been anything but cooperative throughout the process. {I’m working on a short sale post.} We had so much paperwork. He also had a 1099 from his part-time job, and adding that on to our regular income, put us in an [...]