A few months ago, I mentioned how I am opposed to using tools like TurboTax to figure out my taxes, because I don't trust them to do it properly.
Anyway, I eventually finished the federal forms by hand. I have no doubt that every single person reading this is shaking their heads or rolling their eyes at me. "Why, oh why, wouldn't you use TurboTax to fill out your forms?!?" Because I want the peace of mind knowing that they were done right?
Here's a little secret, though. I would buy and use TurboTax in a second if it could fill out my municipal tax forms for me. The federal forms are a piece of cake compared to our municipal ones. The federal 1040, while complicated, is at least (relatively) well-documented. I liken it to functions in Linux.
Our municipal tax forms, on the other hand, come with almost no documentation. They make no sense. And, of course, TurboTax can't produce those. When I was growing up, filling out a city tax form consisted of copying your adjusted gross income from your federal form to the city form, multiplying it by a flat percentage, and then paying whatever that number was. I wish ours were that easy.
It is completely ridiculous that I have no problems filling out the federal 1040, complete with 5 or 6 different schedules to accompany it, while I seriously debated about hiring an accountant to complete my municipal tax form for me.
Labels: taxes
