Yes, desperate times = desperate measures at any mention of the word : taxes. Ugh. Major ugh. Something us righties just aren’t highly knowledgable or experienced in : that left brained stuff. Or well-practiced. Okay… maybe its just me. I just don’t get it. I don’t understand why its such a daunting, word filled, multiple forms, I-have-to-remember-how-to-multiple-and-divide-using %’s process. And this year was particularly painful. I was responsible for not only me, but I got married AND started a business last year. Triple whammy. So – I began by trying to do everything the old fashioned way, via pen / pencil on the forms you can easily search for and download from the IRS. I thought this way I just might learn to understand it all. Well… long story short, after entering many blah blah’s here from line blah blah blah there on form blah – well : I gave up. Sorta. I decided to just go my usual route and use H&R Block. The online version. Which still kinda sorta had me doing taxes myself, but in a much easier to understand format. I’d only been in business from November 1st of last year – so I wasn’t too worried about my business taxes – yet. It was actually a great experience. Oooookay a ‘great + taxes’ combo is stretching it BUT I can say it was healthy learning. Specifically ‘what’s a business expense’ and learning how to properly categorize and report such items. Also – note to me, start tracking my mileage!
One other quick little helper I’ll give you all, if you do go the H&R Block route like I did. DO NOT ‘upgrade’ and pay for the additional premium filing service they offer. The little promo states that you’ll get extra help for small-business related items. I think the ‘extra’ help was one or two additional pages in the business expenses category. Nothing worth the extra $50 or so. In my opinion.
Now, just a couple days ago… after trying to estimate what I think I’m gonna make this year (which is a real reality check in itself, yikes) in order to pay my very first quarterly tax payment installment (which is another post entirely) I’m on a mission to find professional assistance… stat.
