CLAMP Campus Adventures

For me, doing my taxes is a race to see how quickly I can get my refund. I rarely have to pay anything since I have more than enough being withheld by my employer. However, this year, I’m itching to see if I reach that obnoxious, made-for-the-upper-class-but-never-adjusted-for-inflation-so-hits-the-middle-class plateau also known as AMT (Alternate Minimum Tax), which is something I could see affecting me but it’s not a sure thing.

So, the biggest waiting game for me is for all my forms to come in. I wait for my 1099s, 1098, and W-2 with glee. I’ve gotten all 1099s and my 1098, except for one from my local bank as of yesterday, since the majority are downloadable via the Internet, but my W-2 is holding me up. Usually, because I have to wait towards the end of the month, or early February, to see my W-2, I don’t get to do my taxes until February, which holds up my refund until early March. I’d love to have them done by mid - late January and just not have to worry about them for the rest of the year.

This year, I’m also going to have to use the Internet to file my taxes for the first time. I refuse to use Intuit’s TurboTax to file (Reason 1, Reason 2, Reason 2a - Basically, I refuse to deal with a company willing to install Spyware on my machine, I don’t care how many years ago it was and how they made amends, remember this Sony…), and since H&R Block pulled Mac Support from their TaxCut product, I’m required to look at online solutions. In addition, I decided this would be a nice opportunity to see if I can review various online solutions for Money Stuffed. Let’s see which is easiest to use and gives me the best refund. Plus, bang for buck. Which gives me the best result for my money? Unfortunately, because I’m waiting on my paperwork, I can’t have it done for next week’s article, so look for it in mid-February. I did add any (so, yes, Intuit is included) website which would allow me to file my state and Federal taxes and which didn’t give me the Looks like a fly-by-night operation shivers. I used the free file list happily provided by the IRS, even though I don’t qualify for free file.

Meanwhile, I have to figure out what I’m going to write for Money Stuffed next week.  Wish me luck.