Comments on: Taxed

By: lwidmer

lwidmer — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:12:00 +0000

Eileen, that's a smart method. I'd decided Saturday that I was going to set aside the same percentage per check as I owed total. It's just easier to take it from on top instead of looking back over everything and making sure I've not made too much (did we ever think that was possible?) or too little.

Devon and Katharine, I feel exactly the same way about all these accounting programs. I use Quicken, but it took a bit of getting used to, and even so, it doesn't account for my business needs. I don't link my bank accounts to it, so it won't let me invoice through the system. I need one full week of training on how to use these things to be more efficient. Instead, I do work-arounds.

That's how I felt this year, Gabriella. No way I was trusting the online version of Turbo Tax when that much money's involved. Instead, I did paper and pencil and managed to find deductions I'd forgotten to take (and noticed we were estimating too low on the square footage of the house).

By: Gabriella F.

Gabriella F. — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:29:00 +0000

I tried TurboTax this year to try to save some dough, but because I had complicated taxes (the sale of and losses on an invesmtent property), I wasn't confident of the results. So I sent my taxes off to my accountant.

Turns out, he got similar results to TurboTax. TurboTax had me getting a federal refund of about $2,000 and a state refund of about $800. My accountant had my federal refund at $1,800 and my state at $1,200. Roughly the same, but I feel better with the expert--though it cost me $450.

Because this is the first time I've had a refund, my estimated quarterlies went down. I figure that's good, too, since I'm behind last year's pace on earnings. Gawd, will this recession end, please?

Damn taxman.

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:23:00 +0000

Devon, that is exactly what I think about Turbo Tax: NOT FOR FREELANCERS. Michael asked me Saturday morning while we were walking the dogs, "And why is it that we don't use Turbo Tax?" And that's pretty much the response he got.

I suppose I'm old fashioned but I fill the forms out by hand, do the math with a calculator, have hubby proofread the forms, and mail them in. I'm a do-it-yourselfer in most things, so I like to know what's on my tax form and how it computes, rather than punching the numbers into a program and getting a mystery answer back -- or paying someone else to do it, for that matter.

Michael and I just did ours last night, by the way, Lori. So you and I had the same idea of how to spend our weekend -- and the same weather too, apparently!

By: Eileen Coale

Eileen Coale — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:37:00 +0000

Lori, what a bite! I set aside 40 cents of every net dollar (after expenses) of every check I get. 15% federal tax, 7% state and local tax, 15% self-employment tax, and a little margin for error. I do this no matter what the accountant projects. Most times I come out about right. When it's time to pay the estimated tax, I have the money set aside and don't have to find it somewhere.

Having a clear picture of what taxes I pay is a big help in setting an appropriate fee. $1000 may seem like a lot of money until you realize you only get to keep $600 of it.

By: Devon Ellington

Devon Ellington — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:49:00 +0000

I've looked at Turbo Tax a couple of time, but they don't get my life. They are for people with regular jobs, not freelancers, in my opinion.

Took me an hour to do my taxes on Saturday afternoon. I still have to ink in the figures, but then, off it goes, later today.

I'm STILL trying to sort out with the various tax agencies all the mistakes the accountant who supposedly knew everything there was to know about theatrical taxes messed up -- nearly 10 years ago.