I started doing my taxes on January 31st and only just finished them tonight (whew!). I had started by entering my data into TurboTax Online so I could assure myself I wouldn't owe. But after doing a price comparison of several tax filing services, I chose a cheapie cheap mccheapster option to give it a whirl. Well, eSmartTax left me high and dry unable to serve up their own pages even in early February (and I absolutely hated their interface), so I chose to go the lazy route and finish what I had entered into TurboTax Deluxe.
All I had left was to enter in all our non-cash donations to hopefully beef up my $500+ refund. I had no idea we had donated so much stuff in 2005! We made 8 donation trips last year and according to ItsDeductible! donated goods worth $1881 (we always used to undervalue goods, now I make sure to use ItsDeductible).
Putting in the detail on our non-cash donations basically doubled my refund and I'm now expecting a federal refund of a little over $1100! I chose to e-file in hopes of getting that money via direct deposit very quickly. I entered my HSBCDirect account so it heads right into an interest bearing account, but I'll have to make a decision about whether to use it for the emergency fund or jump starting my 2006 Roth (you know how I love to get my Roth-O-Meter on).
Oh! And right before I paid TurboTax, I found out that as a Fidelity customer I could get $10 off the federal preparation fee. So my total tax preparation costs were $34.90 total which wasn't too bad. (I had to log in via the Fidelity link a few times before the right price registered).
Unfortunately I do owe state taxes but I won't have to pay that $297 until April. I know your heart bleeds for me ;)
A check for $1100 is pretty good. Congratulations! Thanks for pointing out the ItsDeductible info. I'm going to use that from now on.
ReplyDeleteYay refunds! Congrats on finishing
ReplyDeleteStill haven't started mine. I need to sit down with my spouse and block out a weekend on our calendars to do it.
ReplyDeleteI hope I get back $1100 too! Last year with child tax credit, EIC, and mortgage interest write-off, we cleaned up.
Well done! That Itsdeductible site sounds good, I will have to check that out in the future.
ReplyDeleteYou are finished AND you get a refund?! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteDoes it make me a jerk to point out that we shouldn't be happy to receive a refund? After all, it's an interest free loan to Uncle Sam. That's okay, I was also very happy to receive a $2400 refund!
ReplyDeleteIf I may blatantly promote my site here, I wrote a post specifically about this on my blog.
Not necessarily a jerk, but I *am* happy despite the disappointment about having loaned the gummint my money all year. I adjust my witholding every year to aim for even. I can't really predict how much I'll donate and my paycheck fluctuated so much this year that I'm happy it was that close before donations.
ReplyDeleteI have several posts that blather on about using the IRS's witholding calculator, in particular one of my first posts.
So, I get your point, but I'm pretty well on top of my witholding, you just can't always nail it. (and yes, I'll be adding a witholding allowance this year in hopes of getting closer)