My husband's w-2 is in... My 1099 is in. It is time for that terrible time of year. Tax time. So far I still use Turbo Tax. I use the home and business program. I have 3 different business, a kid in college, a hubby and some stock 1099's. For as little as I make it is a lot of work.
It is a time of reckoning. By the time I crunch the numbers I will know exactly how much money I spent on each business. I will know how much I earned.
It is a horrible tedius process. I use the computer checking and stuff to help analysise my numbers.
It usually takes me 2 or 3 days to get it all together.
Entering the numbers is the easy part. I have a home office.... When I didn't need the deduction I didn't take it. How do you tell the IRS yes I have a home office but I sometimes work on my dining table, the couch or even gasp my bed. I will sit on my bed with the phone in one hand and my computer in the other. I do have a dedicated office space that I claim.
Then I have to figure out how many miles I drove on business. Oh.. Oh... My record keeping isn't that good. Good thing most of my driving is business. Then I have to figure out which business... Is it the real estate business, property management or my personal rental business. How much did we spend on the doctor? How much on tuition. Pity I can't claim the money I give my other non- dependent sons. I gave them at least 15% of our income to pay for college. I might have given more because I help with airline tickets. I buy them presents. I send a check if they are short (actually I shove it in their bank accounts). They are good kids and I want to help them until they can totally stand on their feet.
Then my rentals. They are the hardest. Because I have to figure out how much I spent on each of them. I love memo's on checks but they do not exist on charge cards. Perhaps this year I will implement a system to devide each charge as they come in. Thankfully I have a business checking account and a business debit I use on the rentals. I am an excel wizard. Except my new computer has open office.
Everything I do I would have to do whether or not I used an accountant except for answering turbo-tax's qustions and filling in the numbers.
When I started I always used to say I would use an accountant when it became complicated. It just became complicated slowly. Through the years. This year I think I will owe the IRS. If this is true it will be the first time in my adult life that I didn't get a refund. The tax deductions are growing into fine young men and I am earning more money. Those are good things.
In our feild I fear the audit. I do the taxes to the best of my ability. I do them with good intentions.
As a Jew we have a time where we examine our soul. Tax time is a time we measure our finanicial success.
So how do you do your taxes?
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