I attempted to do our taxes…

I attempted to do our taxes myself for the first time ever this year. It did not go well.

In fact, it went so poorly that I packed up all the paperwork, mailed everything to a friend with accounting experience, and went out for a margarita.

I was not comfortable with my ability to complete our taxes correctly.

H&R Block offered me the opportunity to use their Best of Both online tax software, which includes access to a local tax professional who will answer questions and review your completed tax return before filing. Everything started out beautifully. I had all the necessary paperwork organized, I read the tax tips for bloggers, the software was easy to use, and the questions were intuitive with additional information available for clarification.

Then, it started asking about our 2008 tax return, and itemizing, and deductions. I got flustered, but I thought that I would take it one step at a time and use the resources available to me to soldier on, so I sent a message to the tax professional assigned to our account:

Hi, Gina. I’m completing some information from our 2008 tax return, and I do not have a Schedule A or 4684 in my records. Our taxes were completed by a CPA last year. Please advise. Thanks, Corrin

This is the reply I received from our tax professional:

Corrin, are you certain you itemized your deductions last year? If you are then you need to call the accountant and have them send you a COMPLETE copy of your return. Last year your standard deduction for MFJ was $10900, and if you paid real estate taxes then that would be included in your standard deduction up to $1000. My point is if you have over $11,900 on line line 40 of your form 1040 then you probably itemized and you need the copy of your schedule A itemized deductions. If it is 11,900 or less then you did not itemize and you will not have a schedule A. Thanks, Gina

Jigga what? I’m not certain of anything regarding taxes.

Thankfully, my friend is an accounting whiz. She reviewed the information I had entered into the software, answered some of my questions, and I was able to complete our returns and submit them for review.

I’m happy to report that after 2 weeks, several phone calls, and many many emails, we’ll be receiving a refund in 8-10 days!

I have no shame in admitting that all my struggles were user related. I’m just not comfortable with tax terminology and the consequences of completing this form over that form or filing this way versus that way.

But I learned a lot this year and I’m willing to give it another try next year.

As long as there are margaritas and a tax professional nearby.

I received access to H&R Block The Best of Both software free of charge. I was not asked for anything in exchange but chose to share my experience and the tax tips I was given with my readers. Please read my site policy if you have any questions.

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