For over a dozen years, we have filed our own taxes. It’s not as hard or intimidating as you might think! I’m excited to show you how we have kept it simple and manageable all these years, even through many changes in our income and family situation.
Flashback to college.
After several years of my parents claiming me, I started to get envious of my friends who got these magical checks called “tax refunds.” Since I was paying for my own schooling, I decided I should cut the tax-strings with my parents and start filing taxes for myself. On the recommendation from a friend, I tried TaxSlayer I’ll admit that as a single, wage-earning college student, my return was already pretty simple, but TaxSlayer made the process a breeze (and free!).
As the years went on, my tax situation got a little more interesting. Over the past dozen years, my tax situation has changed by:
Getting married
Moving across the country twice, filing returns in multiple states each of those years
Adding four little people to our family
Buying a house
Selling a house
Starting multiple businesses
For all of those years, we continued to file online using TaxSlayer, For the first years while we were in school, our income was low enough that the filing was completely free. As our income increased and we no longer qualified for free filing, we’ve been pleased that the cost is still so reasonable. TaxSlayer has always been a straight-forward and affordable way to file our taxes.
Finally, last year, as our financials became more complicated (at least for us) we spoke with a good friend who works as a professional tax preparer to have him look at our most recent TaxSlayer-filed returns, just to make sure we were still ok. We talked about tax minimization strategies, and he noted that he thought we could probably do just as well filing ourselves as having him prepare our returns. Tax filing software has become quite sophisticated, and while it’s not the same experience as just turning your papers over to a CPA, if you’re willing to prepare yourself, you can be successful. You’ll also learn a lot about your finances as you go through the process.
Tips for filing your taxes yourself:
If you’re new at filing your own taxes or could use some tips from seasoned DIY tax-filers, here are some of my best ideas:
Make a list of what you need
Probably the most complicated part of filing your taxes is getting everything together. Seriously! Sometimes waiting for those W-2s to come in the mail can take forever (especially if you’re hoping for an early refund).
Filing your taxes with TaxSlayer is really simple when you have all of the numbers and documents you need. Make a checklist of everything you will need. Here’s a list to get you started:
Personal/Family Info– social security number for you, your spouse, and dependents
Income Info– W-2 forms, 1099 forms, rental income, savings and investing income, other income
Deduction Info– 1098 forms for mortgage interest, charitable donation info, medical expenses, 1095 forms for health insurance, childcare expenses, education expenses, retirement savings info, etc)
Stopping halfway through your return is, of course, possible (TaxSlayer will save your info), but it’s frustrating to have to wait on that W-2 that didn’t get sent out until January 30th. Having a checklist will let you know when you can start your filing without an annoying intermission.
Keep it together!
I don’t know about your house, but sometimes the mail pile at our place gets a little unruly. Don’t let your important tax documents get lost in all the ads and junk mail. You don’t want to send yourself on a treasure hunt for that 1099 that you know came in the mail two weeks ago but has since vanished.
We like to get a clear plastic folder like this to hold all of our paperwork. When the W-2s and 1099s come in the mail, they go straight to the envelope. When your financial accounts send an email letting to say your tax documents are ready, just print them out and stick them in the envelope.
When you sit down to do your taxes, you’ll be so glad to have everything together.
Use your resources and double check!
Just because you’re filing your taxes “on your own” doesn’t mean you’re really on your own. TaxSlayer offers free live phone and email support to all customers. If you come to something you’re not sure about, don’t hesitate to ask for clarification.
Your tax software (or accountant, for that matter) is only as good as the information you give it! Take the time to double check all those important numbers, including the easy questions like your social security number! Have your spouse take a look too, so you have a second set of eyes looking for typos. It’s much easier to fix an error now than later!
You can do this!
Filing your taxes doesn’t have to be tricky, even when your situation changes with a marriage, home purchase or becoming a parent. In fact, going through the process on your own helps you be more aware and in control of your finances.
You can do this! File now at TaxSlayer.com!
How about you?
- What are your best tips for filing your taxes on your own?
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I used to do our taxes. But even though not was technically difficult, I would always stress over possible fat finger errors and was too overly conservative when it came to deductions. I would check numbers 3-4 times. We switched to paying a CPA 6+ years ago. I love that we support a local small business and he is reasonable. For the huge reduction in stress for me it is worth paying. Plus we actually pay less in taxes then when I did the returns.
Ugh, tax time. My mom actually does ours even though we’re almost 40! She’s a AARP tax volunteer, so she knows a bit more than we do. Sadly, we’ll be paying in a lot this year 🙁
You’re so right about having a tax folder. Just stuff things in there as they come and it’s all right there and handy.
I have filed my own taxes online for years. I would not recommend TaxSlayer though. We have always used them, but will be going with someone else next year. Although we have always met the listed requirements for free filing, we get through, get it all done with and then get a message from TaxSlayer saying we do not meet the requirements for free, you must pay blah blah for it. For federal and state we had to pay them almost $40. I wanted to go with another company but the spouse didn’t want to deal with the hassle so we paid it.
We are super nervous about taxes this year! This is our first year paying “real” taxes– we are both FINALLY done with law school and dental school. We haven’t decided 100% on whether we’ll do our own or if we should hire someone. Its definitely a lot more complicated this year since we’ve started paying off our $600k in student loan debt, etc. Thanks for the tips!
Every January I start a tax file so throughout the year I stick in important documents such as donation receipts, daycare receipts, etc. Keeping the documentation together is key! We are moving in 2017 so I have already stared setting aside receipts for moving expenses, like packing supplies.
The best tip I can recommend is staying organized and ready throughout the year. And don’t procastinate!
For years I have been using Tax Act, but their prices keep going up and up, so I thought I would check out your blog for a recommendation this year–and sure enough, you have one! Thanks for the information; I am going to try Tax Slayer this year!
We file our own taxes every year! I’ve never heard of TaxSlayer so I’ll have to look into them. It is ridiculous how much money most tax prep agencies charge!! And really the hardest part for me is getting everything together, which you have to do without their help anyways. Hopefully, I’ll never have to pay someone else to do it.
I’m old enough that I hand did my taxes using paper forms for years…..as in I did them on paper for 20 years and I started using software 13 years ago primarily because the paper forms were too difficult to find. I must admit that I love using software, HOWEVER, there were several instances when the software didn’t know everything.
Years ago I had purchased one of those 1,000 page books by a “Big Eight” accounting firm. It was a fabulous reference to look up different situations. For example, when I got divorced, I learned from the book that any legal fees tied to the generation of taxable income can be deducted. This meant that part of my attorney’s fees for being awarded alimony were deductible. Libraries have these books and it is interesting to take a look…..gosh how nerdy is that? go read tax law interpretation 🙂
In early January every year, I create a hanging file for the upcoming year for example “2017 taxes.” I drop tax info into the folder all during the year. I always have a goal of donating at least $600 of goods to charity so I keep a running total on the inside of the folder. Having all the papers in one place makes doing the taxes a breeze. I’ve been known to pick up items marked “free” in front of houses and take to Goodwill for the tax donation 🙂
Final tax suggestion is if you are married, never sign a tax return unless you fully understand it and agree with it. The government can prosecute you years after even if you get divorced.
I’ve filed our own taxes pretty much since we’ve been married, and while most of the time it has been straightforward (I used online software) I always am a little stressed about missing reporting something. For me, it’s more how to categorize random forms of income. I’m looking forward to our tax return, but not to filing it!
My husband’s a CPA so I am lucky, he does our Australian taxes; but I do my American taxes. I hate and resent having to file every year (no other developed nation makes its citizens abroad file taxes, and exactly 0% of my income has anything to do with the US) and none of the etax software really works for me unless I pay for it (which I refuse to do out of principle), but it gets harder all the time to fins those paper forms. Frankly I wish the IRS had its own freeware I could use, the current system, of private companies profiting from the government for a service the government could provide just as well at no cost to the public, is absurd.
My mom buys TurboTax every year and the one she gets lets you file four different Federal returns for free on it. We use it for them, my family, my brothers family and my grandparents. We do the state online at their site for free and check it against what TurboTax has to make sure we did it right.
I filed my taxes for the first time last year, and let me tell you how stressed out and nervous I was. I was so afraid I was going to mess it up! We used turbotax to do our taxes, but filing them yourself for the first time is still really scary.