Jonathan Winters said it best in the movie 'It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World'
Government: You owe us your yearly tax!
Citizens: How much do I owe?
Government: You have to figure it out yourself.
Citizens: You don't know?
Government: Of course we know, but you still ahve to figure it out yourself.
Citizens: What it we get it wrong?
Government: Then we penalize you and charge you more!
Aside from the annual government income theft, I feel that the worst part is updating the old windows machine to run TuboTax. Why TurboTax? I'm just used to the software.
The government is just getting bigger and bigger. I understand that services need to be paid for, but as painful as it can be, there should be cuts and reductions. What cuts and reductions? I don't know, but the way budgets tend to work is that you need to use all of the funding, otherwise you get less the next year. It would be nice if there was a better incentive for a government entity to run under budget. Is it really necessary? Do Americans actually get the services they need with what the government requires?
I say no.
Imagine what would happen if W2 withholding was abolished, or at least not offered. Are employers required to offer a W4 in leiu of making all of their employees 1099 employees? Once enough people realize how much of their hard earned wages are taken, there could actually be a movement. But there won't be, people are too complacient.
I've done my taxes almost on my own with some help from my Dad over the years. Sometimes it's a bit more complicated than others, but unfortunately it's always stressful;
I believe the latter is more of a marketing ploy from the tax software, where they try to sell you various audit protections.
This year, I ended up getting a slightly earlier start. I managed to finish last night.
This should be the last time I should be filing my taxes on my own for the forseeable future. My Wife has her own business now, and will likely have to pay taxes quarterly. When it comes to my taxes next year, it shouldn't be much of an issue to tack mine into the stack. Besides, it will reduce my personal stress of doing it.