Just Paid My Taxes
 

If things were logical....

If only we did not have to pay preparers to do our taxes for us

You don't. You can literally do it all yourself, for free. The issue is they can be very complicated so we pay so we don't get in trouble.

There is the old meme:

IRS - taxes are due
ME - how much do I owe?
IRS - you have to guess
ME- so I pay what I think I owe?
IRS - no, we know what you owe. If you guess wrong, it will involve fines and/or jail time.

I used the free Cash App service the last few years with no problems.

Got nailed as usual with AMT, NIIT and IRMAA again next year. Ouch!

I could but they have made it overly complicated and last few times I did it made a few errors paid a few fines and got lots of aggravation.

I do 1 LLC return, 1 estate return and 2 regular returns every year. ..
Using turbo tax, its pretty straight forward, the improvements made in the last 10 years have been extremely helpful.

K1s are the worst, as most times, they will not impact your tax return from publicly traded partnerships. From estates etc, they may appear strange and weird. . .

I was ready to file, and realized that I forget capital gains from a Fidelity schedule. So I had to chat with the turbo tax peeps to figure out how to reopen the file to continue entering in data. Didn't do it correctly the first time, but the second time, it worked. It didn't change any numbers due to tax loss carry forwards, but the process is very detailed and requires some level of numerical organization as well. I love the large standard deduction, as we don't have enough for itemized entry any more.

But, if you are not a finance nor accountant type, and are unfamiliar with accounting concepts, or have certain types of financial transactions, then tax returns may be extremely difficult as there are lots of little pieces which need to be identified, added/summed together, and then entered. I personally hate doing it anymore, as it's just a waste of several days of adding and subtracting, and data entry, rinse the excel data and repeat the next deductible account. . . of course the banking statements don't help when they just say check number 4567 is $7,000 and I am supposed to remember to whom I asked bank bill pay to send a check back, 1 year ago? tedious
process.

hopefully, everyone got theirs filed on time. . . and we can all return in about a year to whine and complain again!

I aspire to achieve the level where I owe so much that if I did not pay nothing would happen!:D

Our return is simpler but we do have a K1 to deal with. Biggest problem we have is having to file an extension due to late delivery of that K1.

I use H&R Block Tax Cut software. It seems easy enough to use and complete enough for my needs. This software allows me to go back to any section to add or change information. For example, I estimated the K1 info in order to get an idea how much I should pay along with the extension filing. Later when the actual K1 comes in I'll be able to open that section to fill it out properly and file.

The only thing I dislike about the H&R Block software are the fees to file an extension and to file State returns (when that mattered). This year I used the IRS Free File for the extension form to avoid the H&R Block fee.

I agree that K1's are the worst. I don't even get my final ones til October because limited partnerships don't have their act together. I have to file an extension every single year, and guess my tax liability for estimated payments. I hate it.

How about the capital gains this past year if you had mutual funds. To make matters worse the gains I made were wiped out in 2-3 trading days

We will see. 20k IRS people have sought early retirement. Good or bad?

This is the first year that I have to pay estimated taxes.

99% of my income is social security, dividends, and capital gains.

I know what my social security will be but how do you estimate dividends and capital gains?

Last year, I think all of my capital gains came in the 4th quarter.

And am I supposed to pay in April for gains that don’t arrive until December? Does the IRS expect you to sell stock to come up with the money? How do you pay estimated taxes on income that you don’t have?

Two methods.

Most complete but most difficult:
I receive statements each quarter reporting the dividends, interest, and capital gains. Use the reports that cover the period and the calculations from the IRS forms to calculate the tax. This should put you close to paying the correct amount of tax for the year.

Simplest but safest:
Use the 100% (110%) “safe harbor” rule. Take your total taxes due from last year, multiply by 110% if necessary, divide by four, and make payments of that amount. This may not be close to the amount you ultimately have to pay but should be sufficient to avoid penalties.

You need to make the timely, estimated tax payments. If that means selling stock then that’s what you’ll need to do. We have enough in deposit accounts and CDs to cover our payments but YMMV.

It wouldn’t upset me nearly as much paying taxes every year if they would use the money to pay down the national debt.

Find out what day the cap gains are recorded by the mutual fund, and see if you can find the gains prior to the end of the year, and then send in the Q3/4 payment late with the estimated tax. . . Some years you get cap gains, other years you don't. . I got caught again this year with my dad's estate, and estate tax goes from 15% to 40% over 5K of any income not distributed. . . I agree it sux, but it's better in a taxable account to use ETFs, that's why they were invented. .

That's why ETFs are considered a tax advantaged strategy, as the cap gains aren't distributed at the end of the year. Not sure what benchmark your mutual fund uses, but you can find an ETF which tracks the same index, and then you only pay cap gains when you sell, as the difference between the sale and purchase price, solely.

good luck

Was very happy when my limited partnerships were done and did not have to deal with them.

Running a business and reporting wages was more than I wanted to deal with.

totally agree. It sux to have oil and gas publicly traded LLCs because the IRS requires you to pretend to be an owner of 0.000001% of the company, and you have to file all the expenses of the company as if you were the company, times 0.000001%., including oil and gas recovery taxes and credits, etc. . totally sux. . The GP files a very limited income tax return. . .

Even though the interest rate was great, the filing headaches were more than enough to sell the stock
ASAP. . and reminder to never buy another one again. . .

Bill14564's advice is very smart. I have often underpaid my estimated taxes and ended up paying interest and penalties. Its a really dumb thing to do. Use the safe harbor method and pay your estimated taxes.

Same here. I had to pay about a $100 penalty for underestimating taxes due because my interest, dividends, and capital gains were higher than anticipated. Yet on the years where I got a significant tax refund because I overestimated estimated taxes, I didn’t get a credit for giving the government an interest free loan.

the problem with that is if your ID is hacked, and someone files a return in your name, you have a huge hassle to get it back. If you owe a small amount of taxes, then you are not waiting for a refund if someone scam files ahead of you. .

pros and cons. . so best is to pay 99% of estimated due, and the penalty won't be very big. .

First world problems. You prob won't get much sympathy here.

I use HR Block as well and agree with your fee gripes. However, that's the same with TurboTax and TaxCut.

I have been using freefillableforms.com for years to file my extension (yes, K-1s) for free. The state form can be printed and mailed. Less secure than e-file, but I'm not willing to pay extra out of principle. Some states will let you e-file for free on their website. You can calculate the return in HR Block and then transfer the data to the state's website. Or just pay the $20. Your choice.

Back to the OP: Today is the 16th. Are the roads fixed yet?

The other advantage of my CPA he tells me how much and when to pay estimated taxes to avoid penalty and interest. Also when I come up with a new deduction he tells me if it is a reasonable one keeping me out of trouble.

Paid no fees. Got a refund of almost everything we paid in last year. I suppose it'd probably be really nice to have enough income, that we could complain about how much tax we had to pay.

But we'll settle for being poor enough that the standard deduction means we can afford to replace our 20-year-old oven range.

Too much money in collecting and getting out of paying taxes, why flat tax will never be that simple. Only the poor middle class suffer. :D

We have never paid a penalty, interest, with the family CPA firm used since I was 14, always free for me until I graduated.
He retired his daughter took over the firm, but tweaked our quarterly’s so we get a refund just under $200.

Her fee is well worthwhile will continue, even once all the LLCs, and other residential homes are deeded to our kids and grandchildren.

depends on how much time and energy you want to spend
 

Over 20 yrs ago after going through multiple accounting and income tax classes, I did taxes for family and friends for a lesser price. This was a deal for them and extra money for me. In my experience, if you are up on the latest tax laws and are knowledgeable on changes then it is great. I came to a point where I was not in the tax world anymore and did not want to spend the time or energy to stay current on the knowledge. I have the ability, but at this stage of my life my energy is better spent elsewhere.

What's a K-1? I just ignore all that stuff and eventually they'll let me know what I owe them. After not filing for years I'll go on a payment plan. Chances are I'll be 6 feet under before they catch up with me.

Why do we go through the aggrivation of telling them what we think we owe in taxes when they already know what they say we owe them? Seems like it would be easier if they just sent out a yearly bill to everyone.

Taxes
 

Capital gains is the killer. Not to mention tax on Social Security, which has already been taxed. Seems if your middle class, you get screwed the worst.
The tax system and the IRS need a major overhaul.

If you itemize, have a Schedule C, and for other situations, the IRS doesn’t known your tax obligation..

I use H&R Block online tax program to do my taxes. It updates all the latest changes. If you can follow instructions it’s not that difficult to use this program. I highly recommend it!

Over the last few years I have acquired shares in a handful of MLPs and they have done very well both in appreciation and payouts. This year some of the K-1s had not arrived in time for my CPA to plug the numbers into his tax prep software so I got on-line to obtain them. It was easy once I found the tax package support website which handles all of them.

I do agree each K-1 requires multiple entries on a tax return which can be a hassle.

Funny
 

I sent them additional $8,100 this year and I didn't see any change in what they provided for me.

Then my wife would not have a job. Blame the complexity of the tax code, way too many ways to make mistakes unless you know the rules inside and out.

Don't blame the IRS, road repairs are paid for using the gasoline tax,

Depending on what the K-1 is for, it may be to the taxpayer's advantage to include it on their return. MLPs and REITs often provide a reduction to taxable income during the holding period.

Conversely, if you owe taxes on K-1 income, I assure you the taxman will want his cut, in addition to penalties and interest if you fail to include on your return.

For sure it is not your wives fault it is that our elected representatives have made a mess of the tax code and nobody wants to fix it.