Here is what I knew about filing taxes:
Hope yours went better than mine!
Love always, ~Heather
- Filling out the forms usually takes about 45 minutes, including addressing envelopes and finding stamps.
- Finding the paperwork necessary to complete the forms usually takes about an hour and a half.
- Being a student REALLY helps.
- The instructions are convoluted and generally send you in lots of crazy directions.
- I love my graphing calculator (though I don't really need the graphs for this).
- State forms are a breeze as long as you only live in one state.
- I was, at no time this year, a student (first time since I was 4).
- For the first time in a really long time, I only have to file state taxes in one state.
- I knew where the paperwork and stamps were (savings of 1 hour and 25 minutes, plus no mess from dumped out desk drawers!).
- I only had a W-2 from one place of employment.
- The instructions were not all that complicated and were generally helpful, with lots of worksheets, tips, and caution signs.
- U.S. Treasury bonds put into savings in a year when you are not a student = an increase in taxable income.
- My student loan company sent a correction to their original 1098 - on the top of one of my bills. Thank goodness I keep those in some semblance of order.
- I have filled out one version of the 1040 twice (with two different results) and another version of the 1040 once (with a third result).
- Until I own a house, have children, or get horribly sick (never hoping for the last and the first two seem to be a bit in the future), the standard deduction will be my friend.
- I have been sitting here for close to two hours poring over state and federal forms.
- None of these results are promising and I am going to have to have my dad look over my forms for the first time in a decade.
Hope yours went better than mine!
Love always, ~Heather
Comments