Tax season is upon us (in case you have not noticed it yet.) I noticed it a long time ago, and not because I really enjoy this time of the year or find it fascinating. If anything, I find it cumbersome. Quite disturbing. Alarming. I pick a night to work on my taxes, I pour myself a glass of wine, settle in front of my computer and by the time I open my spreadsheets and glance over my tax forms, I want to give up on a glass of wine and look for the bottle. I feel like I am clawing my way out of the tax mess hour by hour, day by day. It is overwhelming.
I have to admit that my previous tax seasons were not as painful and time consuming as this one. This one is kicking my butt. Big time. I am trying to punch it’s face in return. So far very unsuccessfully. So I hate it. And it hates me back.
I created this mess myself. I made a lot of mistakes last year from shopping like a deranged shopaholic to not saving enough. But my greatest mistake is going to cost me some money this year.
Things I Did Wrong Preparing For the Tax Season:
- I did not gather all my receipts in one place. The receipts are scattered in all different places. It is taking me forever to search for them. I found most of them but one is still missing. The most important one – charitable donations.
- I did not reconcile my Paypal account last year. Not even once. Now I am sweating over it because numbers do not add up. This is the most time-consuming task of all. I did not keep a good record of my Paypal transactions last year. Now, I am spending hours going through my account, trying to reconcile and balance it. It is turning into a nightmare.
- I did not revisit my withholdings last year. Now I have to pay more in taxes. I hate this fact. Some people recommend minimizing withholdings in spite of the fact that it means paying up at tax time. The argument is that minimizing your withholdings gives you more money at your disposal. It is all good until you realize that savings account interest rates are at almost zero. I’d rather get a tax refund. But this is not happening this year.
- I did not organize my time enough, and I ended up working on my taxes sporadically, doing several things at the same time. I am exhausted. I like some sort of organization, some sort of schedule. I definitely like to establish a routine. When things don’t fit into my organized schedule or routine, it throws me off, and I stress.
I promised myself that for next tax season I am going to devise a much better system.
- Envelopes. I am going to have separate envelopes for all my receipts and tax forms I receive throughout the year. I will store them in one place.
- Better tax planning. I am going to revisit my withholdings and calculate (estimate) what needs to be done.
- Timely account reconciliation. I am going to reconcile my Paypal account on a consistent basis.
- Scheduling. Schedule my time to work on taxes not sporadically but systematically.
Let’s hope for the better (and more organized) tax season next year! How is your tax season going?
Tax season hates me because I’m the most unorganized person on earth!
Aloysa,
Is there not some kind of free service in your area? The university in town — my alma mater — offers a free tax service for Missouri residents and families who made less than $50,000. They do federal and state taxes for you.
Also, don’t wish a tax return on yourself! That’s an interest-free loan the government had from you. Yes, it’s a bummer to pay taxes too. Ideally, your withholdings lead to $0 changing hands between you and the government at tax time.
-Christian L. @ Smart Military Money
I hate tax season. I’m not the most organized person and there are so many 1099s this year. 🙁
I hate tax season, too! Although I am looking forward to a nice return this year–thank you, property taxes!
No one likes tax season but what I do like is being organized. I hated having to rush around looking for receipts, documents bla bla bla. Now every year we start off with folders each and envelopes and everything goes straight in right away. It’s made the crappy process of tax season just a bit better. Cheers
Phew! I’m paid my taxes over a year ago.
After last years nightmare I pay a professional to sort my tax now, I’m pretty stress free!
I wound up owing last year, and changed my withholdings to zero exemptions. My employer STILL didn’t withhold enough. Getting a refund, but not anywhere near what I was expecting.
I’ve been trying to avoid the taxman for as long as I possibly can!! They can’t spend the money wisely why should they have it!!!