Tax day musings
I did my own taxes by hand for years, burning the midnight oil night after night, filing at the last minute. Then I tried TurboTax, but for whatever reason it seemed to make things even more complicated. And so I gave up that approach, and finally about four years ago I decided to treat myself to the services of an accountant.
And a treat it was, although of course I still had to do some prep work. But it was so much easier to take my papers to the accountants, who were so very organized compared to me. In due time, back would come a big folder with my tax returns, forms and envelopes for estimated taxes next year all neatly typed. Of course, the fee for the service was quite a bit, but it was worth every penny.
Last year they raised their prices 50%. Still worth it. This year they raised their prices a bit more, but not more than the going rate for other accountants in the area. So I gave them the information requested by the designated date, which was about a month ago.
And waited to hear from them. And waited. And waited some more. Late last week I called to ask how things were going. The secretary said fine, and I’d be hearing from my accountant before the 15th. And indeed, yesterday the accountant called me.
Called me to say that she had asked for an extension and that in two or three weeks my taxes would be prepared.
Now, this is not the end of the world. An extension is okay, but it’s not what one expects from an accountant preparing a tax return that although not simplicity itself is really not all that complicated. I’d complied with all their instructions and I’d done it on time, something she acknowledged. But sorry, they were just swamped this year.
I asked quite a few questions and it turns out that one of the accountants had quit and they were shorthanded. But the real culprit was some new software system that seems to have stymied them much like TurboTax had messed me up years ago.
Was she telling me the truth? I don’t know. But it’s just another strange example of things not quite working as they’re supposed to.
[NOTE: Here’s a tribute I wrote in honor of my father, who was a CPA and lawyer. It’s about tax season and what it meant in our house when I was growing up.]
Many many years ago I did our Taxes. They were simple. Things got a little more complicated, as did the Tax Laws. So, I went to TurboTax. Still use. I look at the forms generated, and can’t understand them at all. I just hope that TT does the job. I have not been audited, so that is a plus. Thing will be simpler next yr, and not for a good reason.
I have used Turbo tax for many years. I have noticed in recent years that it is becoming more and more complicated. The Fed portion is bad enough, but the California segment crosses the line into ridiculousness. But I continue because there is a principle involved. I object to paying someone to do my taxes; although TT is certainly not free when all is said and done.
I only recently learned from a relative that her tax professional actually uses some form of commercial software as well. I assume that it is somewhat more sophisticated than TT; but it begs the question about tax pros for ordinary people. What is their added value?
BTW, a daughter uses a national tax prep company. I believe, and told her, that their ‘get ’em in, get ’em done quick, and get ’em out’ service is costing her more in taxes than she needs to pay; on top of the hundreds they charge. She persists. After all is said and done, I always click on submit with just a little apprehension that I missed something significant. What a system. Someone asked if I thought there would ever be a simplified flat tax. No. There are too many ‘rice bowls’ tied to this mess.
I think your CPA is probably giving you the true story. In a smallish office, the loss of one could make a big difference.
We got our files to our new CPA on March 15. They wanted them by April 1. They managed to get our somewhat complicated return filed on April 7. We were later than usual because one of my husband’s 1099-Rs wasn’t forwarded by the good old Post Office. We requested a PDF copy in mid February. They refused, and sent a new printed copy, which took nearly four weeks to reach us. Next year we’ll get the paperwork (PDF files, actually) to the CPA by February 15 and not worry so much.
Fifty years ago I got a business degree and passed the CPA exam. I wouldn’t even consider trying to do our taxes today.
A relative’s small business just experienced a colossal order screwup involving two normally reliable suppliers, Walmart and FedEx. Making it right took a lot of effort and cost them all their margins I’m sure, plus inconvenienced the hell out of my relative’s customer.
I have a hunch that many formerly reliable business systems, and the people using them, are undergoing a vast amount of “AI churn” right now!
I can’t seem to get around the paywall this time, but for those with access the WSJ used tax-day to point out job growth over the past six years in high tax states, and low tax states.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/progressive-states-taxes-jobs-business-8e3d507b
The graph is amazing. States with the highest growth in private sector jobs? Texas, Florida, North Carolina all meaningfully positive. States with meaningfully negative private sector job growth? You know already. Hawaii, Oregon, Vermont, Massachusetts, NY, California.
After many decadess of doing my taxes myself — aided by a spreadsheet that I continually update during the course of the tax year — I thought I’d try one of those software tax packages a couple of years ago.
I found that while I was very familiar with the 1040 and associated schedules, I also found that the tax package kept asking me questions after questions that were well-meaning but a total bother to address. Finally I quit the entire enterprise and retreated to the paper 1040+schedules. It was *very* familiar turf and I knew it would take me less time. (Yes, I know that many of those questions can be addressed only once and the results saved for subsequent years. I’m not moved.)
I like knowing exactly what’s going on in there and more to the point, I like knowing exactly what those who designed the labyrinth were thinking and doing. I like knowing how they accomplished on paper what was provided for in the changed laws. I continually update my spreadsheet to stay consistent with changes to the laws, which keeps me very current on all items that apply to me — an added advantage.
Just a personal choice.
And oh-by-the-way, I sent in my paperwork the last week of February by certified mail, and I received my tax refunds the very last (partial) week of March [state] and the very first (partial) week of April [federal], not a terrible delay, unless somone is waiting until the last minute, which I will not do.
Have I missed anything significant because I’m doing it by hand (plus spreadsheet-assisted)? Yes, possibly (I’ve never been audited). Butcha know what? I don’t care. I did it my way (cue Frank Sinatra).
I went to the dentist a couple days ago for a teeth cleaning, and the hygienist said, “We are going to take some x-rays since it’s been a long while.” OK.
No. We’re not going to take x-rays, because some change to the system messed up the software running the x-ray machine. They called support and fiddled, but gave up after a bit.
I’ve always done my own taxes…even during the period where I owned a rental home and had to calculate depreciation and all that…and the period where I ran my own sole proprietorship business and had to jump all through the silly hoops related to that.
Did them by hand for several years…then computers became a thing and TurboTax was spawned. Used it for several years but every year it seemed like it got more expensive. Fast forward and a new upstart program called TaxAct came out, so I gave it a try. Worked just as well as Turbotax and was cheaper, so I stuck with that for a few years, then their rates started getting jacked up higher and higher.
I’ve been using FreeTaxUSA for several years now. They have options that can make it more expensive (audit protection, professional assistance, advice, things like that) but the basic software is free and Efiling federal returns is free. Cost $15.99 to file the state return, but that’s the only expense involved.
I grew up on a farm in a very rural, self-reliant environment. It just irks me to pay someone to do something I could do for myself…so I’ve been doing my own taxes (among many other things) my entire life; albeit with some computerized assistance for the past few decades.
Its well worth it to me to have others do mine. Its complicated and I value my time over the money I pay not to have to screw with them.
I had a career as a CPA in auditing and then in industry, but I always hated taxes as an area of practice. We had to take many credits of Taxes in continuing education to keep certification current, so I understood a lot of the complexities of the tax code, tax planning, and compliance, despite not practicing in that area.
It has been my choice to keep my own financial life simple, and I did my own taxes on paper for years until TurboTax had a few years to work the bugs out. One year TurboTax had a cyber breach and millions of taxpayers had their data accessed by the bad guys. TurboTax owner at the time was Intuit, a loathsome software company, and they were very flippant about the consequences of the breach.
It required me to close existing bank and brokerage accounts and move everything to new accounts, and I switched to H&R Block software, which was as capable and more secure. The only problem I have is that the software updates during filing season often fail, requiring long phone calls to tech support and having to redo the download and start my returns all over again. Sometimes the state filing doesn’t work the first time, but eventually it gets done.
All of the personal software packages are now trying to move user to the cloud, with online software all your personal info in the cloud. However you can still have downloaded software on your computer, keep the data on your hard drive, and only expose it when transmitting the returns to their Federal and state portals.
CPAs and other tax preparers use a variety of commercial software packages. They have to be extremely sophisticated and complicated in order to handle complex individuals, partnerships and LLCs, and corporate taxes. Unless you are a CPA or tax attorney you truly cannot comprehend the numerous challenges, complexities, and contradictions of the US tax code. Often there is no “correct” outcome for a tax return, taxpayers and preparers just have to hope they got it generally right and the IRS doesn’t push back.
Nothing would do more to shrink our bloatedly obese Federal government than to rescind the 16th amendment.
In 1913 America Got a Central Bank, an Income Tax, and Lost Its Senate — All in the Same Year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5dzi3WiDvQ
A co-worker recommended a tax preparer in SoCal that I used for a few years in the 90’s when I lived there that was always great at getting me a larger refund than TurboTax or HR Block ever could. One year I compared returns line-by-line trying to figure out what his super-duper software knew that the self-prep programs didn’t. Turned out — as many may have deduced — he was juicing deductions to produce a larger refund. I didn’t use him after that and wasn’t surprised to hear a few years later he’d been convicted of fraud and tax evasion.
Stuffing all the tax-related paperwork and receipts in one place all year long let’s me grind through the DIY programs quickly. I bailed on TurboTax over the data breach Craig wrote about and have no complaints about HR Block.
The problem with TurboTax is that it looks at every small thing to save a couple of bucks, and sometimes the wording of the choices isn’t clear. This year they also wanted me to verify the data in a 1099-B form — hundreds of entries not in order. They also allowed an opt out, which I took. I think that was just for legal protection on their end. OTOH, the state forms were easier than previously. I’ve used accountants in some years, they have their own problems. My favorite accountant turned out to have an alcohol problem and had to go out of business, the other accountants in town got together took over his accounts.
I found Grok invaluable for answering questions.
but I always hated taxes as an area of practice.
Way back when, I went to the library to look at the tax code. It filled two sections of shelves top to bottom. Life is too short.
To Neo, who said “So I gave them the information requested by the designated date, which was about a month ago.
And waited to hear from them. And waited. And waited some more. Late last week I called to ask how things were going. The secretary said fine, and I’d be hearing from my accountant before the 15th. And indeed, yesterday the accountant called me.
Called me to say that she had asked for an extension and that in two or three weeks my taxes would be prepared.”
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I have used a CPA since the 90’s in CA, where the tax system, with state tax and my complicated life, was a morass beyond my capacity with which to deal. My original CPA testified at my divorce hearing.
I am glad(? in a sense) to know that almost everyone else finds the filing process to be almost impossible to deal with, even with a good CPA. I do think that your CPA’s failure to communicate is borderline malpractice. This year I had a similar, less serious problem. My return was accepted and e-filed on 3/27/26, but I learned this only by finally asking the CPA directly! And received my refund today, 4/15/26.
It is My return, My life, and My money, and the least that a CPA can do (for their hundreds of dollars in fees) is to communicate important status events as they happen. Also, I would have been upset at their filing an extension without consulting me! “I don’t want no extension, I want it filed on time.”
There is a simple site via the IRS website called “Where’s my refund?” which helps.
It never ends.
My sister and I are reminiscing about the good old days when everyone filed on paper. The local television stations would send a crew down to the post office where people were lined up in their cars around several blocks waiting to give them to the post office worker. We lived in Tucson, and an enterprising mariachi band would go down to the post office and serenade the tax filers. I remember going to the library to make photocopies of tax forms I needed from their book of forms. Speaking of books, my friend and I used to each buy a copy of JK Lasser with the latest tax laws.
Good old days.
I’ve used Turbo Tax for years and mostly been satisfied. Though this year there were some annoying bugs in the software that forced me to enter some things by hand.
To me the biggest advantage of TT is that once you’ve entered the federal data it’s all there for the state and it takes little time. CA where I live has some weird exceptions and stuff like funds you can donate to (no thanks) but they hardly ever apply to me so I go through them quickly.
My late aunt did her own taxes for years then in her 90s hired an accountant. She got her return from them, looked it over and discovered an error! They apologized profusely but she went back to doing it herself.
@ FOAF > ” She got her return from them, looked it over and discovered an error! ”
What a great story – would that we were all that sharp now, let alone at 90!
AesopSpouse has always done our taxes; although he is a lawyer, not an accountant, it helps in reading the rules.
Number Four son did become an accountant, having inherited a taste for that sort of thing from my father (and looked like a clone of Dad, comparing pictures at about the same age). However, he totally refuses to do tax work (except his own).
So far, Turbo-Tax has done okay for us; the ranks of books in the library got too long for anyone but a specialist to keep up to date, once we strayed off the standard-deduction reservation.
I forgot about the data breach, but there are so many of those these days, in addition to every software company selling your data anyway, we just shrug it off.
Our home insurance added coverage for identity theft some years ago as part of the basic package.
M J R on April 15, 2026 at 3:38 pm said:
“After many decades of doing my taxes myself — aided by a spreadsheet that I continually update during the course of the tax year …
I like knowing exactly what’s going on in there and more to the point, I like knowing exactly what those who designed the labyrinth were thinking and doing. I like knowing how they accomplished on paper what was provided for in the changed laws. I continually update my spreadsheet to stay consistent with changes to the laws, which keeps me very current on all items that apply to me — an added advantage.”
A man after my own heart! I feel exactly the same! My spreadsheet runs to a dozen worksheets (each covering a single form or several, as the need arose over the years) and is also where I accumulate the data to supply the forms (often across different worksheets). Each year I copy the old tax file over and update for the next tax year. But I finally ran out of enthusiasm when I had to file the Sch K-1s for partnerships. This just seems to spray data all over the place and I gave up trying to learn all of its ins and outs, hiring an accountant for the last few years.
And I agree with vv: “It is My return, My life, and My money, and the least that a CPA can do (for their hundreds of dollars in fees) is to communicate important status events as they happen. Also, I would have been upset at their filing an extension without consulting me! ” Plus I would like explanations of features I did not quite understand, not dealing with a mysterious black box.
But this tax year I was also tripped up by the AMT Form 6251; Part I, line 1b:
“Subtract line 1a from Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR, line 11b (if less than zero, enter as a negative amount)”
Now, line 1a actually referred to the first line in the Form 6251 itself, but I hope you can agree it is not unreasonable that I thought it referred to the Form 1040 itself. 🙁
Fortunately having an accountant, he or his SW got it right and I only found my error this morning. But the error ran to several thousand $ if I had done the forms myself. And the unexpected refund paid the CPA’s fee!
Reading Neo’s post about her Dad reminded me of a story from my own childhood, or at least high-school-hood.
My father, who was close to being an accountant because of running a small business, always did our taxes, of course.
One night, he came out of his “lair” (our parent’s bedroom, where he had a desk) and asked me, with no preamble, “What is your first name?”
(I go by my middle name, as does my brother; a practice I avoided foisting on my own children with dogged purpose).
I didn’t ask why (because, tax season) and gave him my name.
He sighed and told me, “I’ve listed you as Cynthia for the last three years.”
I told him I liked that name better if he wanted me to change.
He shook his head and went back down the hall to finish.
Cynthia is quite a nice name that has gone way out of style. Cindy is maybe the diminutive, but many girls have Cindy as the name.
I did hate US taxes & fifth amendment violating requirements to file, the Slovak flat taxes are so much easier to file. 20% after a small deduction.
But also. 20% VAT consumption tax, for a much bigger % of income paid, much less disposable income.
Few are noting they could pay a lot more by just taking a standard deduction & doing easy taxes.
Likely next year there will be competing, new, AI-EZ-tax aigents to do your taxes for you. I haven’t looked, maybe some already exist.
I have a copy of my father’s 1934 tax return, and it consists of a single sheet of paper. Now my tax return is so complicated that I have to have it done.
Like Neo, we hired an accounting firm years ago. This firm did taxes for many of the partners in the large firm where I worked. A few years ago the accountants embraced Tax Caddy as a system for collecting information. A whiz! Highly recommended.
I did my taxes by hand from 1980 until 1992. The pre 1986 taxes (especially once I was actually employed as an engineer) were a pain.
We had a brief panic with the initial drafts of the 1986 tax revision. My wife was a graduate student. Her Stipend (something like 8-10k a year in 1986) was taxable and always had been. But there was a proposal to tax the waived graduate tuition fees as income. At that time that waiver was 12K a semester. That would have made an addition of over 50% to our income. Luckily that never went through.
In 1992 I got a computer (486/33 based) and started using Parsons Tax Software. That could print on a paper form that would feed through an impact printer, or be printed directly if you had a laser printer (which would have cost twice what the computer cost). I used Parsons until they were bought by Turbotax sometime in the early 2000’s. I’ve used Turbotax since doing US and MA state. It is usually straightforward although it was not so helpful in some cases around stock options and stock purchase agreements. I do find it annoying that Turbotax is trying to phase out the local version of the software. Given various corporate inabilities to keep data corralled, I am loath to place multiple Social Security numbers as well as other critical data in the hands of any entity other than myself (Honestly the US government isn’t much better having lost critical info provided for SF-86 (security clearance form). That does not inspire confidence.
Except for the fact that in the interval when I owned a small brick and mortar retail sole proprietor business, I used a very good enrolled agent tax preparer, Sailorcurt and I followed the same trajectory. Own return on paper to TurboTax to Tax Act to Free Tax USA. For me at least, it’s worked well and inexpensively. One disadvantage: it’s online only via your browser.
One tip for anyone in my circumstance – my SS income is in the top.percentile, so I can get away with this: I have a small.withholding taken from SS, and I take all my tax deferred distributions in the last quarter, and try to limit my stock trades to then, or only one other quarter. Not filing estimated taxes is a big simplification. Of course, I’m not a big trader, mostly long term investments that I rebalance once a year. I haven’t had anything but long term cap gains income for years.
Bob Wilson — i was just reminiscing with someone about going to the main post office in NYC on April 15 to drop off taxes. Even when I would get them done before the April 15 deadline, I’d check out the party atmosphere at the post office. I remember seeing people sitting on the steps, with a calculator, finishing up their taxes. TV crews there, food trucks, street musicians. Fun times.
Tregonsee314 — I remember that proposal to tax tuition waivers. It had me and my fellow grad students in a panic — tuition was very high, while our assistantships barely covered anything. (We had end-of-the-month potlucks. We also knew who offered free food and when on campus: the Hari Krishnas had a free Wednesday dinner, Chabad had a great Friday night dinner, and the Newman Center had a nice Sunday lunch. We were very ecumenical. Plus, different speakers on campus might have a small reception. Just had to read the campus newspaper for announcements. You could guess if there world be food by the venue. It didn’t matter the topic.)
@Lee Also Yes I remember taking my taxes (US and Massachusetts) to the post office. I tended to mail with return receipt/certified mail as at least once the US postal service lost (well mangled) my return. Usually, I was a couple weeks ahead of the deadline, but at least once pre software I ended up cutting it close. These days I file online and am usually done by early March
One interesting side issue is that for a long time if Patriots day (observed, actual is 4/19 it is the day of the battles at Concord and Lexington) fell on 4/15 then Massachusetts (and all New England) returns were delayed until 4/16 as the main IRS processing center for the Northeast was in Andover Ma and had the day off,
@ Ray > “I have a copy of my father’s 1934 tax return, and it consists of a single sheet of paper.”
We have all of our tax returns, and the early ones (c.1975) are about that simple.
I am going to make a book for our kids to chronicle our family history through tax filings and receipts.
My Dad had a joke from the local paper posted on his bulletin board.
“Simplified US Tax Return: How much did you make? Send it in.”
@ Tregonsee314 > “Her Stipend (something like 8-10k a year in 1986) was taxable and always had been. But there was a proposal to tax the waived graduate tuition fees as income. At that time that waiver was 12K a semester. That would have made an addition of over 50% to our income. Luckily that never went through.”
That would have been like taxing unrealized capital gains: using real money to pay taxes on fake money.
It’s very much like increasing property taxes according to what your neighbors got for selling their house, which doesn’t mean you have any more money now than you did the year before with which to pay the increased bill.
Watt posted this link on the Open Thread, but it deserves another look on this one.
https://issuesinsights.com/2026/04/15/a-modest-proposal-on-tax-day/