Taxes Are Done !

[Fishindude77]

Got everything put together this week from 2024 along with projections for 2025, packed up and sent to our CPA.
Hopefully won't have to pay too much. Glad to have this annual chore behind me.

[ua_guy]

Ugh...we got stuck trying to do it ourselves. Sent everything to the CPA this last week. There goes a couple hundred bucks plus this year's Turbo Tax license, which we didn't end up needing.

Why filing taxes must be so complicated is another national mystery.

[disneysteve]

Great job.

I finished compiling everything yesterday and have to email our CPA to see when I can drop it off.

DD is getting everything together right now and I’ll do hers myself this week.

My mom needs to gather hers and then I’ll send that off to her CPA.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Being single no kids and standard deduction not being able to claim any deductions I pay every year so I wait until the end of March to file. I do it myself using Free Tax USA but I pay for the upgrade which cost about $25 each for Feds and California filing. I used to file an actual paper forms until maybe 3 years ago. Tax software is so easy.

[kork13]

Nicely done, I know it's nice to have it finished. I think I finally got the last of what I need a week or two ago, so I'll get into it at some point over the next few weeks.

But I do agree with ua_guy -- taxes shouldn't be this hard. I'd love to see taxes dramatically simplified ... driven solely by income level, or maybe just switch to a tailored VAT were we never even have to file anything & it's all based on spending.

[disneysteve]

I'd love to see taxes dramatically simplified ... driven solely by income level, or maybe just switch to a tailored VAT were we never even have to file anything & it's all based on spending.

You can’t do it based on spending. That would be outrageously regressive. Lower income folks spend a far higher percentage of their income on basic necessities. Unless you also taper it based on income so that lower income folks are exempt, a spending-based system would destroy the lower class and a good chunk of the middle class.

[kork13]

You can’t do it based on spending. That would be outrageously regressive. Lower income folks spend a far higher percentage of their income on basic necessities. Unless you also taper it based on income so that lower income folks are exempt, a spending-based system would destroy the lower class and a good chunk of the middle class.

Countries all over the world use VAT. Basic food staples, base materials, and other essentials have a dramatically lower tax rate (<1%), while other products/materials are taxed at a higher rate (ex: 10% here in Japan). Some classes of stuff (or organizations) can be tax exempt entirely ... or for luxury goods, taxed through the nose.

[disneysteve]

Countries all over the world use VAT. Basic food staples, base materials, and other essentials have a dramatically lower tax rate (<1%), while other products/materials are taxed at a higher rate (ex: 10% here in Japan). Some classes of stuff (or organizations) can be tax exempt entirely ... or for luxury goods, taxed through the nose.

Okay, that makes sense. I was imagining a flat national sales tax. Sure, if you exempt food, clothing, medication, and other necessities and only tax discretionary stuff, I could see that.

[Tabs]

Mine was eerily easy. I had it done early February, the moment my 1099s became available online. That... was it? 2024 was the first full year that I retired, so no W-2s, standard deductions, and all passive income is within the 0% capital gains tax bracket so.... I ended up with $0.

I feel rather uneasy that it was so easy. Like I am missing or forgetting something. However, I did get notification that the filing was approved....

[disneysteve]

Mine was eerily easy. I had it done early February, the moment my 1099s became available online. That... was it? 2024 was the first full year that I retired, so no W-2s, standard deductions, and all passive income is within the 0% capital gains tax bracket so.... I ended up with $0.

I feel rather uneasy that it was so easy. Like I am missing or forgetting something. However, I did get notification that the filing was approved....

I still had a small W-2 but even without that our situation is too complex to file that early. Heck the last of the 1099s wasn’t issued until a few days ago so we couldn’t have filed earlier if we wanted too.

[comicguy]

All of my tax info has been entered into Turbo Tax but I have 1 K-1 form that will not be issued until march 15th according to their website. My son and DIL are suppose to drop off all their tax info to me sometime this week for me to complete it next weekend.

[disneysteve]

All of my tax info has been entered into Turbo Tax but I have 1 K-1 form that will not be issued until march 15th according to their website.

Yep. People tend to think that all tax forms have to be issued by Jan 31 but that’s not the case. Some forms don’t come until late February or mid March.

[ua_guy]

Yep. People tend to think that all tax forms have to be issued by Jan 31 but that’s not the case. Some forms don’t come until late February or mid March.

Fidelity has a pending FY2024 5498 for me that won't be available until May! The form isn't required for me to file taxes, but when I've been issued them in the past I typically include those with my filing.

[kork13]

One of the RELPs I'm in recently sent an email recommending that we file for an extension, because their K-1s are going to be delayed. Not a factor for me right now, because I didn't get any income from it in 2024 .... But that may be a sign of years to come.

[disneysteve]

One of the RELPs I'm in recently sent an email recommending that we file for an extension, because their K-1s are going to be delayed. Not a factor for me right now, because I didn't get any income from it in 2024 .... But that may be a sign of years to come.

That's ridiculous. You shouldn't be forced to delay filing because they can't get their act together in a timely fashion. I wonder what's actually behind that. What data do they need that isn't available at the end of the year? What is it that will take them more than 3 months to figure out?