Tax Time

It’s that time of the year again – Tax Time. I am usually pretty quick to get my taxes in as I almost always get a refund. I try to play games with my W-4 to minimize the amount of a refund, but want to play it safe so as to no have to make a payment. Not sure what happened this year, but we will be getting a sizeable refund. I think its because we refinanced our house last year and shortened up the loan duration which actually increased the actual payment. I dont think I accounted for that properly. Oh well, a check is always nice, though I think Suzanne has already spent it.

Taxes for us are usually pretty simple. We don’t have any weird situations or forms to fill out. So, I use Turbo Tax. I have found it to be a simple to use tool for doing our taxes. I think it costs us $30 or $40 a year for it which is much less than a tax guy and certainly more simple than doing paper forms. The E-File stuff is also great as we have done that since it’s been around. Nothing to print out and mail or no forms/copies to attach. If I remember correctly, the cost of E-Filing the Federal and State forms was $30. It couldn’t be any easier.

I submitted the Federal and State tax forms on Sunday afternoon. By Monday night, both had been accepted and were in process. Both were promising a refund deposit into my savings accounts within 9 days. In the past, they have always met those dates they supplied upon submission.

Now I just need to do some analysis to see if I want to modify my W-4 to get less of a refund next year, but more take home cash each paycheck. Since we are paying more interest each month on the home loan, it might make sense, but since the loan duration was shortened, the interest will be paid off sooner and actual monthly amounts will come down faster, not sure if I will make a change this year or not.