Working on our taxes

[disneysteve]

I spent some time this weekend starting to organize everything for our taxes. I made an appointment to drop things off to our CPA on February 24, so I've got time, but I don't want to wait until the last minute. We haven't gotten all of the paperwork yet but there was enough I could do with what we already have.

The good news so far is that our taxable capital gains were lower in 2020 by about $3,400 so that will lower our tax bill. Also they are allowing $300 of charitable donations to be deducted for 2020 even if you don't itemize, so we'll get to take advantage of that. (And that doubles to $600 for 2021 for those filing a joint return.)

Otherwise, things should be pretty much the same as last year. With the lower CG and the charity deduction, we'll hopefully owe less and/or even get a small refund. We owed a little over $900 last year.

Have you started working on yours yet? DD has all of her paperwork as her situation is far simpler than ours. I'll help her file this week, though I know you can't submit until at least February 12.

[kork13]

2020 was a convoluted mess for us financially, and extremely busy in general (which has continued into 2021)... I've only just started organizing the documents for our taxes. Hopefully I'll be able to do them on time, but with me deploying sometime in April, I may just figure out filing an extension (never done it before), and deal with it later. In spite of everything, though, our taxes will still likely remain relatively uncomplicated. We'll have some 1099s, W-2s, rental income, and investment income... I can still just do it myself with an online program with relative confidence.

I'll have to see if it still makes sense for us to itemize or not going forward. We paid off our house in 2020, so we lose the interest deduction... But we still have pretty sizeable charitable contributions plus our rental expenses, so I think those will still make itemizing the better option for us. I sold most of our taxable investments to pay off our house, so we've got $5k+ in realized gains ($900 as STCG) to account for as well. We also moved a couple times, so there's some taxable reimbursement there too. I also never adjusted our withholding during the summer like I normally do to keep the final tax bill close to $0. Honestly, if we end up owing less than $1k, I'll be shocked.

2020 wasn't all bad tax-wise though... With a new little tax deduction (child ) due in March, 2021's taxes will be a little rosier.

[Like2Plan]

I purchased our tax software and ran through our taxes at the end of December so I could do some last minute conversions to Roth. I'm still waiting for some paperwork and I think I read that IRS will not start accepting returns until 12 Feb, so I have put taxes on the back burner and haven't given them too much thought since Dec. I guess it's getting time to start looking at it again.

[disneysteve]

I read that IRS will not start accepting returns until 12 Feb

That's correct. It got delayed due to COVID-related stuff. You can fill everything out but can't actually submit your e-filing until then.

[HundredK]

We don't have all the paperwork yet, but we're good to go. I keep everything organized and tracked throughout the year, and I never file until April.

[Jluke]

For the first time I am contemplating submitting the taxes through turbo tax.

I have been using turbo tax as a way to check my math that I do in a spreadsheet that I made. I then fill in the pdf forms, print and mail.

I am also going to wait to file until closer to the deadline in April or shortly after we receive another round of stimulus, if they issue that.

[bjl584]

I have not started working on mine yet.
I'm still waiting for all of the paperwork, then it will all be dropped off to my CPA

[Fishindude77]

Still waiting on a fair amount of paperwork before we can do anything.

[ua_guy]

Just had this discussion yesterday with DH. 2020 was a convoluted year for taxes, and between two states. We are in the process of rounding up our documents so we can get a slot with our CPA.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Drop stuff early for everyone who is having someone else do it.

[srblanco7]

Slowly pulling stuff together. A bit of a convoluted year as others have noted with DW on unemployment for a portion of the year, received the final (small) payment related to sale of business, and DD first year with college expenses/529 withdrawal. I keep a spreadsheet that estimates our Fed & State taxes and I'm always interested to see how close my estimate is to the actual tax burden calculated by our CPA.

[Thrif-t]

Just waiting on DH's W2 and we'll be ready to go. Everything we have is in retirement accounts so I don't ever have to wait on any paperwork, it makes taxes so much easier/faster not having to worry about capital gains and such. Our 1099INT forms are ready for our savings.

Been telling the kids what to look out for so they can start gathering their paperwork. They've had multiple jobs so we're awaiting W2's for them too.

[Petunia 100]

That's correct. It got delayed due to COVID-related stuff. You can fill everything out but can't actually submit your e-filing until then.

I submitted mine on 1/26/21, but they have not been accepted yet. I use Credit Karma.

[disneysteve]

I submitted mine on 1/26/21, but they have not been accepted yet. I use Credit Karma.

Right. You can't actually file until 2/12.

[Petunia 100]

Right. You can't actually file until 2/12.

Tomato, tomahto. My part is done, so that task is checked off and I can move on to other things.