I’ve done my own taxes for the past 20 some-odd years, and have done fairly well, if I can say so. I even learned enough to amend a tax return to increase my refund after a rookie mistake in the early years.
But with the simplified, postcard-size 1040 this year, I’m going to TurboTax it.
Because – surprise – while the form is simplified, letting weenies in any tax bracket use it, all the complications got moved to a series of supplemental schedules. So what used to be one form for me – the 1040 long form – is now, at last count, three to four forms. With added complications and obscure instructions and forms that link you to worksheets and other instructions with their own worksheets and instructions, it’s hard to call the process simplified.
And I’m not doing anything all that complicated. A few dependents, no itemized deductions thanks to the increase in standard deductions, a renewable energy credit for the solar panels we installed last year, and a few other odds and ends. Nevertheless, I’m going to spring for the $40 TurboTax software I can get at Sam’s Club to streamline the process and not make any mistakes, particularly on the renewable energy credits, part of which appears I have to carry over to the 2019 tax year.
Also clear: It’s going to become important to increase our tax withholding as the next kid drops off the list of dependents, lest we begin paying additional taxes come April rather than get a refund.
And just so you know, I do look at myself as Prince John in this position, almost, and not as a peasant. But I’m the one doing as much squeezing as I can out of that insolent – musical – federal government.
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