Taxes…I Never Know What I am Doing [Quarter Life Crisis]

I introduced a few weeks ago the concept of our Quarter Life Crisis series. In case you missed it you can click here to check it out, or if you just want to read it over and over again because let’s be honest, it’s pretty well written if I must say so myself ;). Anyway let me be the first to say that I am really glad that we will have some fellow young professionals sharing their knowledge and expertise to us for FREE! If I can be completely candid here, as with many things in my life, I seriously have no clue how to do my taxes. I did do them myself with the help of my parents in college, but since I have been a gainfully employed member of society I have now resorted to a CPA. Seriously BEST decision I have ever made! Especially since getting married and buying a house–that’s when taxes get a little more tricky than what I had to deal with in the past.

Now with an accountant, that whole “doing my taxes” burden is off my shoulders, but I do still have a challenge ahead of me…and that is finding everything to give my accountant. My husband and I attend many fundraisers, donate to church & local non-profits, donate through the 100 YP Club and donate items to places like the Habitat ReStore. All of these great tax deductible items will help us in the end. Now that we have a house we have to keep track of interest paid and other items. My husband travels a lot for work and gets to write off his mileage at the end of the year. So, in trying my best to be a productive member of society, I now have way more things to keep track of and to give to my accountant.

Anyone who knows me or has seen my cubicle knows that I am not exactly the most organized person (if you ever want to hear a story about my lack of keeping track of things, just ask anyone at the Chamber about how I lost my keys for two days and where I found them).

This past weekend my husband and I finally got to the daunting task of locating everything we needed to collect for our accountant. I have about 45 different locations where any of these items could be found. So as am I running through the house trying to remember everything I need. I realized that this is basically the adult version of an Easter egg hunt. It’s not quite as exciting, and there aren’t any chocolate eggs, but there is money at the end of it all when I find all my tax deductible receipts.

Last week fellow MYPro John Haag, a CPA at Yeo & Yeo CPA’s & Business Consultants, was a guest blogger for us and he wrote a very useful, informative and entertaining post with some tax tips for young professionals. If this past year you bought a house, got married, had a child or were paying on student loans and more, be sure to check out his post. He has some great advice to share whether you are doing your own taxes or using one of our great Chamber member CPA’s. (which you can find a list of qualified professionals here) Happy tax season everyone! Now let’s keep pushing for spring!