Tax Time Chaos...
By twoey68
@twoey68 (13627)
United States
March 1, 2008 9:03am CST
It's that time of year again...at least it is for me. Any day now my Mom will call and ask me to come spend hours on end at her house helping her get her tax receipts together. I enter them into the pc and she prints out a list to turn into H&R Block when she files. There are dozens and dozens of shoeboxes full of receipts for everything. Thankfully I took bookkeeping and accounting in school so I can understand the majority of it...at least enough to get through.
She always waits till the last minute to do it and puts it off as long as possible. She usually has to file for extensions and so it's usually June or July before they get finished. I try to encourage her to be organized but it never happens. Good thing she's my Mom and I love her or it'd make me freakin' nuts.
Thankfully Hubby and I don't have to file taxes anymore but I keep a bill box that our canceled bills go into every month so if I need one I can pull it out. Not the perfect filing system but better than nothing.
So, what about you? Do you file? Are you very organized so it takes as little time as possible? Are you like my Mom and put it off as long as possible?
**AT PEACE WITHIN**
~~STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS~~
9 people like this
27 responses
@cynicalandoutspoken (4725)
• United States
1 Mar 08
I usually wait to file until April so I get my tax return and have the money for the things I want to do over the summer. I get the earned income and child tax credit so my refunds are usually around $5,000 and that makes for a lot of summer fun.
So I guess I wait until the last minute to do it but not because I procrastinate. I just know that if I have my money in January I will do something stupid with it like go buy a $1000 dog or something :)
2 people like this
@KKKBsmom (1092)
• United States
1 Mar 08
Tax time does not bug me! Just one of those other things we do on a yearly thing!
I am not really organized... but it is all in this 3X5 desk somewhere! lol
I usually get them done during the month of January, if everyone gets there w's and 1099 back to me in a timely manner! I usually have all my info allready in the computer waiting for them!!
I usually have my overpayment back by the middle of February, which I totally love!
@Cajunhellcat (2073)
• United States
12 Mar 08
Thank God I don't file taxes but I know when it comes time for me to retire I will have no money to fall back on
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
16 Mar 08
You dear soul! I hate to say it, but your mother is my worst nighmare :) I'm a CPA and right now is just too much fun for me. Some people bring us their QuickBooks file, some bring us shoe boxes of receipts. If it wasn't for the fact that I love what I do I'd have gone crazy years ago!
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
1 Mar 08
My husband is unorganized like your Mom, so I take over that part. I file away everything we would need and when the time comes, we use an online service through his Union and between the 2 of us, we get our taxes done. We only had a few problems this year, because this is the first time we have used this service, before it was turbo tax which was a little easier..
So she has dozens shoe boxes full? And they are all important paperwork? Well at least they are in boxes, I remember before I took over for my husband in the organizing part, he would have papers everywhere in different bags and rooms..
1 person likes this
@chrislotz (8137)
• Canada
16 Mar 08
What does that mean, your hubby and you don't have to file your taxes anymore? Everyone in the whole wide world has to file taxes.
When I owned my own cleaning company I did my books every month so when it came to tax time I wouldn't be rushing around like with your mom. I think you need to just take control and do her books every month because it would make life a lot easier that way. Some people hire companies to do it and they do reports every month. It sounds like your parents own a company because if it were a personal thing she wouldn't have all these receipts she could write off in the first place. So why isn't she more organized than that?
I have a sister that does bookkeeping and has a income tax company she owns and at tax time she hires me to help her to the financial reports for the companies she does the bookkeeping for, so she can enter their numbers easier and quicker, into the tax forms. She has about 50 different clients that are small business owners so it is a lot of work and that is why she hires me to help.
@Alloy42 (372)
• United States
2 Mar 08
My wife does our taxes with what appears to be relative ease every year (though I know it is harder than she makes it look). We always get $3-6K back by using Turbotax and this year it is free for us (thankfully!)
She does save every single receipt we`v ever had and the house is a bit of a mess from it, but for the amount of the return we get, I guess it is worth it.
We`re considering buying one of those machines that scans all the receipts in so we can just drop them in a shoe box and forget about them like your Mom does until tax time rolls around.
@GnosticGoddess (5626)
• United States
2 Mar 08
How come you don't have to file taxes anymore??
Yeah we have to file and usually we've got our money and spent it by this time LOL. But we just haven't felt like getting out there and going yet this year. We don't have all that much to claim - just the house, and our home equity line - other than our income of course :)
I keep our bills and everything really organized. We bought a filing cabinet some years back and that really helps. And I go through it every few years and put everything in vanilla envelopes and store it in our basement. I keep everything except receipts (we don't have anything to itemize other than the above mentioned). I am paranoid - that's why I always keep everything LOL.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
2 Mar 08
I hate income tax time ever since when I started working, and the boss did not take enough deductions and I wound up paying. Even when the next jobs they took the right amount and I got a refund, I still hated doing income tax. I think the only ones who love it are the ones who started to get refunds on their first job.
My husband does our taxes online and I just had him my envelope of charitable donations, Canada Pension forms, etc. and tell him how much I made on line and interest on my bank accounts, but since I do not make over the deductions -I am listed as a dependent - and I do not make enough to file my own form - he says not to bother. We do it as quick as possible, because we are going to use the refund money to finish our basement.
@musicman6 (2406)
• United States
2 Mar 08
My tax experience goes back a long time!
The year I graduated high school, was the year I started doing my own taxes!
When my dad started his trucking business, I was thirty, and I did his business returns for him, back then they were mailed in anyway! I did his taxes for him, until he retired and didn't have to file anymore!
So one year when the job I was on, went out of business, I drew unemployment and took tax courses, and now I've been doing taxes for a company for 4 years!
I've always liked business courses and accounting in college, so this was just a natural step for me!
On itemizing deductions, and business returns, I have found it easier to tabulate them every month, so at the end of the year, I just have to add the twelve months together!
@teapotmommommerced (10359)
• United States
3 Mar 08
I just e-filed my taxes tonight yayayaya. We are getting a rebate this year. I cannot believe it. We made more money but we also spent more money on home intresest.
I have the money earmarked for things we need. like a vacation this summer. yayayaya.
@8ctavarium (552)
• Australia
5 Mar 08
I am still yet to work as I am still a full time student, so I count myself lucky not having to do much during the tax times. :)
@irishmist (3814)
• United States
5 Mar 08
I file my taxes as soon as I recieve my tax statement or statements. I don't itimize so I don't have to worry about keeping track of a bunch of recipts. I also have a bill box hanging on my kitchen wall, I keep the bills for awhile to make sure there are no problems, then I throw them away.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
3 Mar 08
I throw things into a box so we have it. Getting my husband to put things in a box is another matter. We usually do ours April 1st, but my brother would get his return in weeks and we would get ours in months. So we just did ours Feb. 29th. So I'm proud of us! That's over a month early. So now we're not April fools anymore! March will be a much better month. No stressing and we should get our return. Take care
@kgwat70 (13388)
• United States
1 Mar 08
I usually like doing mine right away since I get refunds most of the time. I also like to get it out of the way as soon as possible so I do not have to worry about it later. It is a pain in the butt but worth it if you get money back. I still do it the old fashion way with pen and paper to avoid paying fees for the software and whatever other fees are involved. My taxes are not too complicated and when I get stuck I ask my dad.
@Thoroughrob (11742)
• United States
1 Mar 08
I keep receipts in a folder, if they have anything to do with taxes. I cannot imagine having to file an extension every year.
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
1 Mar 08
Taxes are already filed and I have gotten my return:)
I use turbo tax and it is wonderful and super easy. I file as soon as I get all my info that I need from the banks and employers. I always get a huge return so get very anxious to file.
@Mirita (2668)
• United States
1 Mar 08
Well, I have a folder where I put all my important tax papers and I still let my best friend do the taxes for me even is she lives in another state.
@bobevanse (36)
•
2 Mar 08
It is very complicated. In China, we are taxed every month. It is much easier for us to do that.
