Taxes: Done!

I guess I can lightly glow with some amount of pride- I just finished my 2006 tax returns.

I would have liked to do my taxes for free, and I probably could have, by e-filing my federal return, and then doing my state returns by hand and mailing them in. But I was a tad worried about doing my state taxes right, because I worked in two states during 2006. Also, I’m lazy. So I paid for the whole she-bang.

Last year with TurboTax*, my taxes (one federal and one state) cost me $48.05 to e-file. Did I manage to do any better this year? Yes, yes, I did. The big thing this year is “free federal filing!” but then everybody catches you by making you pay for your state returns. Fooey! Like I said, I didn’t actually manage to work around this – I just shelled out my money and grimaced.

On a tip from Flexo, I checked out TaxACT. I was drawn in by their Online Deluxe + State deal for $15.95. What I really liked about this was that it offered to give me a nice worksheet to use when I fill out my financial aid paperwork. I didn’t bother to look at how much it would cost me for the second state’s return, which ended up being $12.95.

So…

I Could Have:
Used TaxACT’s Standard edition and done my federal return for free.
Paid $12.95 for each state return.
For a total of: $25.90

But Instead, I:
Used TaxACT’s Deluxe + State edition for federal and one state: $15.95
Paid $12.95 to file the other state’s return.
For a total of $28.90

So was the financial aid worksheet worth the extra $3? In hindsight, no, not really. It won’t save me more than a few minutes on my paperwork, especially considering my mother likely won’t use TaxACT, so I won’t get a nice worksheet like it for her half of the paperwork.

The good news? I’m done with my taxes, and it cost me over $20 less than last year. I call that a win!

*Affiliate link. Because I can.