How can I learn to do my own taxes?

[Okjoek]

It's something I want to be able to do for myself. Any advice or sources I should read/watch?

[GoldenLag]

google it, i mean there is probably half a dousin tutorials on it. 

 

or move to a nordic country and enjoy not having to do any of that bullshit (if a business then you might have to do some paperwork or some related to certain purchases)

[Okjoek]

1 minute ago, GoldenLag said:

or move to a nordic country and enjoy not having to do any of that bullshit 

I want to more and more every day.

 

2 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

(if a business then you might have to do some paperwork or some related to certain purchases)

My incomes are just my part time job and dividends I make in a Robinhood brokerage account on the side.

[dalekphalm]

33 minutes ago, Okjoek said:

It's something I want to be able to do for myself. Any advice or sources I should read/watch?

Well first you need to know the process for your specific country.

 

Additionally, in many countries, states and provinces also have specific tax laws/procedures that may change the process slightly.

 

If you live in the US or Canada, you can do your taxes yourself using a tax program like TurboTax, H&R Block, etc. Many of these services now offer a free level on their website that is sufficient for many people.

 

I don't know if the US has e-filing (electronically submitting the prepared documents to the tax agency) - but Canada has e-filing direct to the CRA.

 

So, we cannot give you specific advice without knowing what country you live in.

[Okjoek]

1 minute ago, dalekphalm said:

 

So, we cannot give you specific advice without knowing what country you live in.

Oh of course. NY state, USA

[dalekphalm]

20 minutes ago, Okjoek said:

Oh of course. NY state, USA

This would be a good place to start:

https://www.efile.com/efile-new-york-income-tax-return-file-ny-state-taxes-forms-refund/

 

Here's another link that gives some more NYS specific info:

https://www.thebalance.com/new-york-personal-income-tax-3193284

 

Apparently NYS has an E-File system, which is a bonus.

[Spotty]

Move to Australia. Tax return can be submitted by online form, and it's already linked to your Tax account number and has your bank records so 90% of the information is prefilled and you just hit confirm a few times and you're done. Takes about 5-10 minutes.

[Radium_Angel]

9 hours ago, Okjoek said:

It's something I want to be able to do for myself. Any advice or sources I should read/watch?

A word of professional advice:

 

Don't.

The consequences of screwing up your tax return can be devastating.

I had a close friend who was a DJ, part time sort of thing, went to college the rest of the time. Made ~15K a year, nothing much.

Did his own taxes.

Did them wrong.

IRS audited him.

He's on the hook now for the rest of his life and barely escaped tax-evasion charges.

 

All because he thought he could do his own taxes.

 

Don't fuck with Uncle Sam and his money. You are asking for it.

[rmac52]

It's really not that hard.  I've done my own taxes for over 10 years.  There are plenty of programs you can use to do them.  Typically the IRS will have a list of recommended ones around tax time.  Just don't lie.  As long as your 100% honest you should be good.

[dalekphalm]

54 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

A word of professional advice:

 

Don't.

The consequences of screwing up your tax return can be devastating.

I had a close friend who was a DJ, part time sort of thing, went to college the rest of the time. Made ~15K a year, nothing much.

Did his own taxes.

Did them wrong.

IRS audited him.

He's on the hook now for the rest of his life and barely escaped tax-evasion charges.

 

All because he thought he could do his own taxes.

 

Don't fuck with Uncle Sam and his money. You are asking for it.

Okay let's be clear though - your DJ friend is not your typical person. Most people don't run a ~$15K+ per year business.

 

Business taxes of any kind are going to be a lot more complicated then "I work a 9-5 job, I have one tax slip from my single employer (we call them T4's in Canada), and I have your usual tax deductions that most people get".

 

Your friend made a mistake, but because he was running a business, that means the mistake was a lot easier to make compared to a normal tax return.

 

A person with one income will have little trouble learning how to do their own taxes.

 

It also depends on what country or state you live in. In Ontario, it's stupid easy to do your own taxes if you don't have any complicated investments or run a business.

[Radium_Angel]

8 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

Okay let's be clear though - your DJ friend is not your typical person. Most people don't run a ~$15K+ per year business.

 

Business taxes of any kind are going to be a lot more complicated then "I work a 9-5 job, I have one tax slip from my single employer (we call them T4's in Canada), and I have your usual tax deductions that most people get".

 

Your friend made a mistake, but because he was running a business, that means the mistake was a lot easier to make compared to a normal tax return.

 

A person with one income will have little trouble learning how to do their own taxes.

 

It also depends on what country or state you live in. In Ontario, it's stupid easy to do your own taxes if you don't have any complicated investments or run a business.

It wasn't a business. He was employed as a radio DJ.

[AHaskin14]

By "Do Taxes" do you mean submit paper forms, or just not have someone else do the whole process? Because Turbo Tax's free version is incredibly straight forward and takes little to no time at all.

[dalekphalm]

2 hours ago, Radium_Angel said:

It wasn't a business. He was employed as a radio DJ.

... how did he fuck that up?

 

Either his employer fucked up by not giving him the proper slips, or he is really bad with finances.

 

Literally something like that is "fill out the forms, put in the details from your employee tax slip..... aaaand you're basically done".

[Radium_Angel]

1 hour ago, dalekphalm said:

... how did he fuck that up?

 

Either his employer fucked up by not giving him the proper slips, or he is really bad with finances.

 

Literally something like that is "fill out the forms, put in the details from your employee tax slip..... aaaand you're basically done".

He screwed it up, and was (I'm guessing) bad at math. Like 2+2 = 27 bad at math.

The point stands however, that the IRS nailed his ass to the wall and it's in deep kimchi for effectively the rest of his life.

 

The consequences are simply not worth it.

I have a tax guy do my taxes. For ~200$ fee, I get back between 5k and 10k every year.

Now *that* is worth it, and if I get audited, my tax guy represents me and takes the heat for messing up, not me....

 

[dalekphalm]

Just now, Radium_Angel said:

He screwed it up, and was (I'm guessing) bad at math. Like 2+2 = 27 bad at math.

The point stands however, that the IRS nailed his ass to the wall and it's in deep kimchi for effectively the rest of his life.

Okay - but that argument fails when most people will not make those kinds of horrible and easy to avoid mistakes.

 

That would be like saying it's not worth driving a car because on the off chance you mix up "120 KM/h and 012 KM/h", so you end up driving 12 on a highway and get killed. Sure, a dyslexic person might read the numbers backwards, but that person would also use their own judgement to say "Hmmm... that doesn't sound right".

Just now, Radium_Angel said:

The consequences are simply not worth it.

I have a tax guy do my taxes. For ~200$ fee, I get back between 5k and 10k every year.

Now *that* is worth it, and if I get audited, my tax guy represents me and takes the heat for messing up, not me....

I don't disagree that for some people, using professional tax services are worth it. Mind you, for a normal tax claim, $200 fee is ridiculous and way over priced. You can go to a service like H&R Block and pay $100 or less for the same service - and they will also support you during an Audit.

 

Furthermore, even if you do your own taxes via TurboTax or something, most of the software/online DIY services offer Audit Protection as low cost add-on. So for those who are bad at math like your DJ friend, they can get Audit protection.

 

Furthermore, the average person doesn't get anywhere close to $5K to $10K back as a refund. The US average is ~$3000.

 

I will reiterate, a simple return can be done by yourself, easily, with little risk of screwing up - especially if you use the low cost (or free) online software that baby-walks you through every single step, checks for errors, does the math for you, etc, and offers audit protection on top of it all.

[wasab]

Learn from an accountant

[Mira Yurizaki]

If you're in the US, I would start with the 1040EZ form. As the name implies, it's a less complicated version of the full 1040 income reporting form. However, because it's less complicated, it also doesn't allow you some options like more options for itemizing your deductions. But if your tax situation is basically you work and are single with no dependents, then the 1040EZ is fine. You can learn more about it at https://www.investopedia.com/terms/1/1040ez.asp

 

Filling it out isn't that hard. Most of it tells you what to input and really the only form you need is your W-2. Worst comes to worse, the IRS has guides on how to fill out the forms.

 

If you're outside of the US, see if they have something similar. Or if you're lucky enough, you live in a country that takes care of this mess for you.

[Radium_Angel]

5 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

with little risk of screwing up

Agreed. But when you *do* screw up, the consequences are dire, which is my original point. I have never done my own taxes for this very reason. I don't need the risk, no matter how slight. You do not fuck around with Uncle Sam and his money.

[MandoPanda]

On 11/21/2018 at 1:51 AM, Okjoek said:

Any advice or sources I should read/watch?

Be careful you don't become a tax attorney.

 

 

[zassou]

Why do Americans have to do their own tax?