Tax time

[Flexo]

Has anyone started their taxes yet?  I did my "dry run" last night and it's kind of scary how much I will owe.  What software is everyone using, and is anyone working with a CPA?

[nickel]

I'm working through a TurboTax dry run. I'm going to owe a lot, but that's by design. Income was up this year, so I paid in just enough to avoid penalties, and kept the balance in savings account earning interest.

[Flexo]

I'm working through a TurboTax dry run. I'm going to owe a lot, but that's by design. Income was up this year, so I paid in just enough to avoid penalties, and kept the balance in savings account earning interest.

Interestingly, I thought I paid enough estimated taxes to avoid a penalty... I planned it that way through Tax Act, but when I run my numbers through Tax Act this this year, it says I have a penalty.  I'll be putting the numbers through Turbo Tax tonight or this week.

[Springbarb]

I'm using TaxCut. I am having an issue, because one of the companies I did work for isn't giving me a 1099--apparently you don't have to if I got paid less than $600? I assume this still has to go on my taxes somewhere. (I always stash away 1/3 of my freelance checks whenever I get them, so I don't have to freak when it comes time to pay taxes.)

[Green Panda]

We used Tax Cut fr this year's return. It wasn't hard, just lots of paperwork.

[SimplyForties]

I use a CPA and don't file until October as I always owe.  I've upped my est quarterly payments for 2009 in the hopes of finally getting that under control!

[Flexo]

Do you have to pay your bill by April 15 even if you file an extension?

[SimplyForties]

You do have to pay your estimated tax by April 15 to avoid penalty on the unpaid portion of the tax.  The penalty is fairly small and I just absorb it.  Hopefully this will be the last year I have to do that, too!

[Smithee]

Well, we used a CPA for the first time last year, and I still recommend it, but I did a "dry run" a few weeks ago and found that we'd be owing about $3,300. I couldn't stomach paying another $225 on top of that.

The silver lining is that last year, the CPA told us we'd have to withhold more than our employers were withholding for us, and his estimate was spot on.

I used TaxAct Online, and e-filed for $10, and used Pay1040.com to charge the tax bill to my credit card (the one that I pay off each month). We had saved enough last year, so I immediately made a payment for the same amount to the credit card.

Using Pay1040 meant a convenience fee of between $80 and $90. But I'm getting about $60 cash back from the credit card, and having the money in a savings account all year earned us a little over $33 in interest. So it didn't really cost anything.