It helps to mind the decimal point. I was doing my taxes today, and it came up on my calculator that the IRS owed me $90,000 when I subtracted the lines as per the directions on the form. As nice as it would be to get a $90,000 payment from Uncle Sam, though, I looked at it and thought to myself, that’s not right and soon realized that I’d missed a decimal point somewhere along the way. Re-running the numbers produced the expected result.
I do my own taxes. I download the forms from the IRS’s Web site online, and filled them out. I figure for most people, if you can read, you can do your own taxes. Saves on money if I don’t have to pay Jackson Hewitt or H&R Block to do it for me. And it does make me feel a little guilty when friends of mine enrolled in tax-preparation courses and then I say no when they offer to do my taxes for me (for money, of course). I’m truthful, though – “No, thank you, I do my own taxes.”
And the most important thing? Sign your forms. There was one year I failed to sign my 1040 and they mailed it back to me with a little note that said that I needed to sign it before it could be processed. I signed it, and sent it back.
And I’m getting it out nearly three months before it’s due. Yaaaay…