Taxes DIY

Hey, I’m Taylor Vogel and this is Now That I’m Not Your Teacher. [cue music] Each week we’ll explore an aspect of adulting that you might have missed in school. Since I used to be a teacher, I’ll structure it in ways that are proven to help you retain information. But since I’m not your teacher anymore, I can approach it in a way that’s honest and sometimes inappropriate for a classroom.
In this week’s unit, we’re doing a crash course in filing our taxes. In today’s episode, we’ll determine if a DIY approach to filing your taxes is a good fit for you.
I’m finally going to say it—I like filing my own taxes. I like doing puzzles, birdwatching, and generally nerdy things, so let’s all just laugh at me for a second and then kindly move along. I like doing my own taxes, in part, because I tend to get irritated answer a lot of questions about my life when I don’t know what those questions will be up front, and that’s what I envision doing my taxes with a stranger is like. I would much rather file in my own home, in my pajamas, and with my dog Woodford cheering me on.
I use TurboTax, and have for years, and this is not an ad. I like using them because they gently guide you through the process of filing your taxes and ask thorough enough questions that I’ve always felt like my bases were covered, without offering me judgmental looks about a weird event in my life. But, I also knew that I would be able to do my own taxes because of a few things:

1. I keep meticulous records. If you’ve listened to the first three tax-related episodes you’ve probably picked up on the fact that I prefer to have too much information on hand than not enough. I’m hyper organized, so doing my taxes isn’t stressful for me.
2. I generally have simple input. I have worked for organizations and companies that provide me a form versus more complicated things like owning my own company. I don’t have any dependents, and I file single, aka my taxes will only affect me if I screw them up. My taxes are generally simple, so I’m confident filing them.
3. I ask a lot of questions, and I read directions carefully. If you’re someone who got distracted during every word problem in algebra, maybe filing your own taxes won’t be your jam. But if you read all of the directions to every problem and were always the nerd asking clarifying questions? You’ll probably get a weird satisfaction out of doing them yourself.

 
If you are working with a limited number of forms and a limited budget, it might be worth the expense to tackle filing your taxes yourself. As always, talk to friends and family about what services and systems they use and why they like them to see what the best fit is for you.
Have you filed your taxes yourself before? Let me know on Instagram @nowthatimnotyourteacher.