Sushi Money

     As the Superbowl rolls around each year I know it’s tax time again, and I await breathlessly (not!) for each envelope to come in the mail and report dividends, interest and other taxable income.  Actually I’d love to get taxes done a lot earlier if I knew I would get a refund, or if these envelopes showed up faster.  But I try to balance the taxes paid during the year well enough so that we either get a very small refund, or need to write a small check in April.  I don’t enjoy surprises when it comes to taxes, or giving the IRS more of our money than necessary!  So it’s time to spread everything out on great big table for a week or two…

     How do you do your taxes?  Do you outsource it to a professional, or do it yourself?  I’ve been doing taxes at home for a very long time.  I started using those gigantic tax encyclopedias, wracking my brain trying to figure it all out.  Then along comes TurboTax and I was saved!  I’ve used TurboTax now for over 18 years (crazy!) with great success.  But I still have questions and do research to make sure I’m plugging in the right data.  Any software program is only as good as the information you give it.  TurboTax does a wonderful job asking the right questions to make completing your taxes simple and efficient. 

     But you also need to be aware of things you can do to reduce your tax burden throughout the year, and make sure to take advantage of every deduction and credit you are entitled to.  Regardless of the software or books I read, I always have questions and a little confusion somewhere.  Just the nature of the beast perhaps.  One day I’ll get tired of wrestling with the tax pig, and have someone else do it for us.  Or maybe the FairTax will change everything?  Lots of help out there if you do have questions though.

     Kiplinger, via Yahoo has written a great little article on the 13 Most Overlooked Tax Deductions.   Great information to be aware of when your ready to sit down and crunch the numbers.  State Sales Taxes are one of my favorite deductions in recent years because it’s not that hard to keep track of receipts and watch the money add up.  For many taxpayers in states with income taxes, the sales taxes will easily provide a greater deduction, especially if a large purchase such as a car or appliance has been made.  We’ve talked before about keeping track of those receipts to make sure to get a larger sales tax deduction.

Kiplinger also writes about “What’s New for Tax Savings?” for the 2007 filing year, and MSN Money has a lot of great information in their Tax Center.  Another really great site for tax questions, resources and a host of other information is TaxTopics.net.  Do you know of any other good sites or info?  Let us know!

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