Taxing taxes

As my life gets more complicated, so does my tax return.

When I first entered the work force and I had to fill out a W-2 form, I looked at it in cross-eyed confusion. Exemptions? Wha’? When I got my first pay check I was giddy and excited…until I saw all the money they took out for taxes. And when tax season came I only filed a return because my mother told me to. She volunteered to be my personal accountant and didn’t charge me any fees. I just signed my name on the line and trusted that she knew what she was doing.

Then I started to make money outside of my full-time job and became utterly confused about Schedule C’s and 1099 forms and self-employment tax. Was I supposed to be making estimated tax payments during the year? Huh? What? So I eventually cracked 6 years ago and paid $20 for software instead of trying to read and understand all the forms. TaxAct asks me odd questions, like whether I own farm equipment or if [...]

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