Filed Your Taxes Yet?

A sort question for today as we get ever closer to April 15:

Have you filed your taxes yet?

Ours have been to my CPA for three weeks now and we'll probably have everything wrapped up in a week or two -- about a week before the deadline.

How about you? Are you one of those February 1 early-bird filers or are you planning your annual before-midnight trip to the post office on April 15?

Comments

[Blaine Moore]

I don't get all my paperwork together until mid-February, usually, and file at the beginning of March.

[Ellen]

I filed my taxes in the beginning of February after I got my W2 from my company. My refund is already safely stashed in my ING Direct account. I like to get it done and out of the way so the stress isn't looming over me.

[Rockbell]

One down, two to go!

[Jennifer]

I collected all my paperwork for the taxes but did not rush to file them as I knew we would have to pay again this year. We were curious about how much we would have to pay so we did a pre-run with the basics only to find we are getting a refund! I'll finish them up this weekend and get them sent in so we can get our refund.

[Laura S.]

I'm planning on starting mine today. I've got everything ready, I just need to start entering it in Turbo Tax. I did my niece's about a month ago. She was very unhappy to hear she has to pay $64. Her mom always gets a huge refund even though I've been telling her for years to change her exemptions. That's the only way she can "save" money.

One year I actually had to drop them off at the post office drive thru about 11:30 p.m. on April 15th. I've been much better since then and I e-file.

[Sarah]

I filed in early February. I had refunds coming and I wanted that money in my pocket. My taxes are relatively simple, though. The big pain is the AMT and the tax program calculates that for me.

[MonkeyMonk]

I got all my paperwork to my EA early last week. I'm meeting with him on Thursday to go over any final questions and to finish everything. I haven't gotten a refund in 10+ years (nor paid a penalty) so there's no incentive for me doing them early.

[Adam @ Checkbook Diaries]

We filed out back in early February and already got our refund. We found early filing particularly helpful since we sent in the old paper forms. Even though we submitted paper return forms, we requested our refund be sent via direct deposit, which I'm sure quickened the process of getting the money into our hands.

[rdub98]

I filed and got my refund, but it took longer than it normally does. Tax filing is a good incentive NOT to sell investments.

[Jeremy]

Refund was in the bank the second week of February.

[Kate]

I've prepared my tax return but haven't filed yet. I want to go over everything a few more times to make sure I haven't made any silly errors. Call me paranoid, but I would rather take a few extra minutes making sure everything is right than get audited later on! Just one of those Power of Small (the little things make ALL the difference) approaches to life that I take very seriously.

[My Life ROI]

Filed about a month ago.

I usually have all my documents collected and in a folder by the second or third week of February. Then when I go to file early March all of my documents are there.

Direct deposited the money and haven't touched it yet. I am thinking of putting it into a Roth IRA.

[Andy]

I've been in no hurry to file since I found out we owe this year. Might as well stretch out the free loan as long as possible I guess even though the interest I'm earning on that money in my savings account is only a few cents. I owe enough this year that the cash back I get when I pay using Chase Freedom will more than cover the fee for using a credit card.

[MarcusT]

Having moved from PA to Texas last year it took me nearly until mid-March to finally get all the documents in order.

I went to my local IRS office today in the hopes of getting it done, or getting an appointment. It turns out you can only set an appointment with them BEFORE 10 AM. What time did I show up? 10:20AM. Grrrrr. It be nice if this was mentioned on the IRS website.

Tomorrow I go again! Probably to get rejected again!

[Laurie]

I met with my accountant on Saturday for 30 minutes and got a large refund that I was not expecting, especially since I owed $$ last year. I like how my accountant makes us come into his office to file, because it forces me to organize. If the info is organized, it's only a short meeting to file and sign the return. If I filed myself, I would be doing it on April 15.

[Jim]

We gave our information to the CPA around 3 weeks ago. Just waiting on her now.

[rwh]

I did our Federal return in February. The refund wasn't in the account in the customary week or two and when I checked with the IRS they had no record of it. I checked with TurboTax and they reminded me I should have received a confirmation email that the IRS has accepted the return. I didn't do this. My excuse is my kids usually are on the computer. But TurboTax was helpful and took care of it right away. They apparently didn't send it to the IRS when I completed the return. The IRS confirmation came just a few hours later.

I still have to do the state taxes. I meant to do them Sunday but I was out too late Saturday night having too much fun. Fortunately I have until April 30.

[Corporate Barbarian]

We filed in mid-February, but haven't received our refunds yet. Having to file all the financial aid stuff for my son sped up the process this year.

[David Nofsinger]

We have not sent in our taxes just yet. My father-in-law, who works for "a well known tax company" is helping my wife and I out this year, since our taxes this year are tricky. (moved between states, college student to fully employed status, scholarships, job changes, new house purchase, strange new city taxes, new baby, all in 2008).

He's been very helpful and is nearly done. My wife and I are certainly greatful for his help.

[JMR]

I used to be one of those people who would start their taxes on January 1st and finish them on April 14th. Since I've had to file a FAFSA for my kids to get student aid, I've been religious about finishing my taxes by early February so I can meet the 2/15 FAFSA filing deadline required by one of the colleges.

[Foobarista]

I do a "precalculation" starting at the end of January, which is typically done by mid-Feb. But one of our investments sends us a Schedule K and they're always very late with it, so I'll be lucky if I don't end up having to file an extension. One wrinkle is it lost money last year, and depending on how they allocate the losses to income versus capital losses will determine whether we can do a late funding of a Roth IRA for '08 as we're a bit over the income limit otherwise.

I've been bugging them about it but they don't seem to be rushing it out :(

[Nazir]

Used a CPA with efile and state refund is in the bank. Waiting on Fed refund.

[Shorty]

E-filed both Fed and State on Feb 10, got both refunds the following week. About two minutes after sending the federal E-file, I found a mistake which would have slightly reduced my refund. There's no "emergency un-e-file" function in TurboTax :-), so I filed a 1040X amended return and sent a small check a couple of weeks ago. TurboTax made it very easy.

This year, I plan to carefully calculate my tax burden and adjust my withholding and try to get my refunds as close to zero as possible. Why? Well, I heard that both California and Kansas were so cash-strapped that they are/were giving IOUs for tax refunds. I'm not taking any chances, especially given the fiscal direction our country is heading. Any extra I get in my take-home pay will immediately go into one of my savings accounts, so help me FMF!

[TStrump]

I actually owe this year, so I'll be waiting until the last minute.
But, I'll have my taxes owing paid by the deadline, of course.

[Mike Hunt]

Filed my overseas taxes already... next stop the nightmare of the US taxes. I'm going to try and file via turbotax this year (a la Timmy Turbo tax Geithner)- so far it's really, really confusing as the format my tax preparer used isn't accessible in the program.

How I loathe the US tax code- something that should be simple is made so complicated, just like the bailouts. And the US is the only country in the world that forces US citizens & residents to pay tax even when they haven't set foot in the country for the whole year! Taxation with no benefits.

-Mike