Tomorrow 04/18/2023 is the tax day in the US, the usual deadline for filing federal income and state income taxes. Note in some states there is no income tax. In the old days, I mean the real good old days, the tax day is usually April 15, and the Post Office will be like the last few days approaching Christmas, because the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) and the state authority that collects state income taxes usually go by the post mark.
But I have done tax using Turbo Tax since year 2001, to be more specific I used Turbo Tax online version from 2001 to 2021 (for tax year 2000 to 2020), and I used the Turbo Tax desktop for tax year 2021 and 2022 (the one that’s due tomorrow April 18). If you search this blog website, you may notice that I talked quite a bit about Turbo Tax, most talk was before 2012 or so though.
Turbo Tax Online
I still remember the 1st time I used Turbo Tax online, I was on the phone modem, not the cable or AT&T broadband. And I remember the modem dial-in noise. I think I shared quite a bit coupons, tips and tricks using the Turbo Tax online versions, and sometimes I even got some sort of query from the authority. I think since that time, I don’t always use the Turbo Tax online version for state taxes filing. In terms of discount, in recent years, I sometimes using the offers from credit card. This is applicable to the Desktop tax filing as well. The online version has one advantage compared to the desktop: there will be a copy stored at Turbo Tax website. For desktop, we need to be mindful of backup, as I made a bad mistake last year.
Turbo Tax Desktop
I usually buy the desktop software from Amazon (here is my Amazon Associate link): note I usually buy the premier version (same for the online version).
For tax filing, I usually made 2 purchases: one is the audit defense ($45) and another is the state e-filing ($20 last year, $25 this year). And I used the Chase credit card $10 off offer for both.
Again, last year I forgot to make a backup copy, and this year I made a conscious effort to make backups in a safe place. Last but not least, if one does not have the copy for tax filing, IRS does have a copy and we can get to it after doing some verifications. Note the Adjusted Gross Income is needed for e-filing, and here is how to get it How do I find last year’s AGI?
Last but not least, I know some people like to push the can down the road, personally I am thinking it’s best to get it done by deadline. Regardless, we need to make approximate payment to avoid the penalty from IRS and the state revenue department.
IRA
I mean traditional IRA. The IRS website: 50 and above catchup, and Fidelity Q&A have some good information (…..however there are income limits for tax deductible contributions……).
One tip and one story
Make sure you pay the approximate tax before tax day (or better yet, anytime before tax day) to avoid any penalty or interest charges.
I used to have a coworker, and he said he got tax refund every year. And I commented why let Uncle Sam use your money for free for a year? He said: if he got all this money over the year, his wife would spend it. With Uncle Sam saves the money for him for a year, now that he can family for the summer vacation 🙂
PS: (update 04-25-2023) I received the refund from Uncle Sam. And I just realized the show me state withdraw from my provided bank account (again) for the owed tax one more time after I paid it on 04/18/2023. I assume they will send me a check or something down the road. Note I paid online earlier for the fear of any potential penalty etc. 🙂 A side note is I received a mail from Uncle Sam for creating the online account I mentioned above.
(Update 05-16-2023) NPR: The IRS is building its own online tax filing system. Tax-prep companies aren’t happy || I agree if IRS has a program that works out, it’s a win for the US tax payers 🙂
(Update 06-09-2023) It looks like the Show Me State is refunding me the tax over-payment. I paid it twice towards the tax deadline in April: I was doing it out of caution to avoid any potential penalty. I paid online before the deadline, and they (MO Dept of Revenue0 withdrew a similar amount based on my #turbotax filing. One nice thing, they even refunded with interest 🙂