Tax time, people!

Well, I hate this time because it’s when I inevitably get to "give away" about $100 or $200 of my hard earned money to tax preparers! I know I can probably do it myself, but something always crops up to make me second-guess myself and pay cash for someone at H & R Block to do it. Maybe I need to take some tax classes and get some sort of certification to make this a side hobby that pays. I mean, last year M & I plopped over $230 into H & R Block’s arms for doing both our taxes (we were obviously both single then, but we did those suckers at the same time. We also happened to be cheated of about $50 in thank-you money because both tax files were filed in less than 2hrs of each other *rolls eyes*) Anyway, this year, M & I qualified for the IRS Free File program (only federal) and I hopped on that bandwagon. Our federal returns are pretty decent without any "funny" business of deductions, etc. However, here’s when the greed monster pops up. We both think we could probably get back more money, but the free programs aren’t very forthcoming on how to do this. So, We (mostly M.lol) thinks we should see someone. I’m not so inclined because this money is so close that I can taste it and I don’t think we’ll get that much back anyway! It’s enough to clear up with SunTrust credit card bill and leave us with extra change! Actually, I was bargaining for less than half of what it appears to be so I’m pretty darn appreciative at this point. I will look into convincing M that what we have right now is as good as it may get. I mean, I’m sure the deductions he has in mind will result in some more money back, but that may be overshadowed by the cost of tax preparation!! On the "positive" side of paying H & R Block, tax preparation fees can be deducted apparently and so if we do go ahead with having a tax professional’s opinion, we can deduct it when doing next year’s taxes. *sigh* In the meantime, our fund for top secret project is growing nicely. I can’t wait for it to "mature".