A Taxing Situation

It's not that I've been busy, but the computers are always in demand at the library, so I haven't had time to spend on non-essential tasks, like this blog.  Still, you, my loyal reader, deserve to hear from me, so I'll carve out some time for this update.

I managed to get all my taxes done, but it was a hassle this year.  I usually use a popular, brand-name tax software program.  (My dad used to use it, and if someone as good with numbers as he was consented to let the software do the work, who am I to disagree?)  My first problem was that the program needs to check for updates (and, as I learned, for the actual tax forms themselves), but as there's no internet access at my mom's house, I couldn't do this.  Still, I soldiered on and managed to enter all my federal tax data then figured out which forms I would need to fill out on paper.

Enter the second problem.  The IRS (to save money that Congress never grants them enough of) no longer leaves tax booklets at the library, only two or three forms.  I was, however, glad to pick up an entire NM tax booklet, which has both forms and instructions.  I looked up the federal forms online and printed them out at the library.  I looked up the Oklahoma tax website and printed out their booklet (for $6.00, at the $0.15 per page cost here at the library.)  I went home and started plugging in numbers.

Well, I put the numbers in what I thought were the right places, but I had to go back to the library to look up the instructions for a couple of items.  Then I had to go back because I was stuck farther down.  I went back again because I was stuck on one of the supplemental forms.  (No, at approximately 120 pages, I wasn't about to print the darn thing at $0.15 a page!)  When I finished muddling through, the software claimed I was to get a bigger refund than I could calculate -- and not just a few bucks, but a whopping 38% more, so it's not something I could afford to let the government keep.  (I also had to e-mail questions to both the NM and OK tax people, but that would add too much to this story.)

It just so happened that my friend Gimpy offered to let me use his computer and internet access, and, in return, I could take him to the federal and state tax offices in his town.  I did so, and I was able to get both our tax situations settled in one day -- not to mention some buddy time and visits to our favorite restaurants.

I e-filed my federal return.  Normally, I don't trust doing things online, but it said I would get my refund faster (essential, in my unemployed state), and I wouldn't have to mail my W-2 form separately.  I printed and mailed both of my state returns, though, as I would've been charged $25 per state to e-file them.  (Sheesh, that would be enough for groceries, you know?)  Now I'm just waiting for my first refund to come back, so I won't have to ask my mom to pay my mortgage and storage unit fees for another month.

Incidentally, the software knew what to do with the two state tax queries I had, so I didn't have to worry about them, either.