31 mar 2012

i like to do my taxes on paper. i like to read the form, find the box, fill it with the correct information. i like to see all the other items on the form just to be sure whether they apply to me. bureaucratic financial serendipity, if you will. i also enjoy the mental challenge and the ability to say that i do my own taxes. it's the marathon of home finances. you've got your little financial 5Ks where you balance the checkbook and pay the monthlies. you've got your 10K decisions whether to purchase this or that big ticket item, and your little sprints to the grocery each week. but the taxes - that's the marathon, baby! and i like not only the control of doing them myself, but being able to say, i do my own taxes.

two years ago, i decided to file in a certain way that i thought would be more beneficial to me but required more forms. last year, i got a bit tangled up in the forms and ended up paying hr block nearly $400 to disentangle me. that was humiliating and expensive. this year, i am back to doing them myself the old way from before i got all fancy with it.

this year my tax comes to 13% of my taxable income. i have no credits to stand between me and this figure, so that is what i will pay - 13%.

it is a lot of money and i am not even close to persuaded that i am getting my money's worth.