Pluggers by Rick McKee for May 17, 2021

I don’t think that’s unusual…

I had already received my refunds by March. I paid slightly more than I needed to during the year, but they didn’t get to sit on very much extra.

I acually try to file my income in January, I need the refund to pay my February Property tax.

Just another bad habit ;-)

Are all pluggers American, then? Does Pluggerdom not transcend national boundaries?

Hey I’m early, I filed yesterday.

Filled? Yes. Paid? I waited.

I filed my taxes after I had all my various 1099’s. The one from Social Security was the last to arrive.

Hubby and I use Quicken™ and Turbo Tax™. He files our taxes in early February – it takes about an hour – and we get the refund in a week or so. All electronic.

IRS has an on line service called “Where is my IRS refund?” Really. You insert your SSN, filing status (single or joint), and exact amount refund claimed. A small icon circles for about 60 seconds and then a laughing clown that looks like Biden appears. To date IRS has answered only 2 percent of 19 million phone calls. They are 29 million refunds behind all the way back to 2019. (Search “Where is my money, why IRS Behind 29 million”) As of April 15 IRS will pay interest on the late refund and then tax the interest. Repeat same cycle next year.

We do our taxes as soon as all the paperwork comes in. Pays off just in time for another load of hay.

My wife (CPA) did our Federal months ago, but held off on State because the legislators had to make a decision on some point or other … they didn’t, so she filed last week. She hates amending returns.

When the IRS is using a good chunk of your money to fund the government that they should refund to you, it pays to file as soon as you can. Unfortunately, as ctolson noted, essential paperwork from the government and financial companies does not arrive until February or March.

Just trying to maintain some sense of normalcy (whatever that is.). Makes no sense to delay just for the sake of delaying.

I do my taxes as soon as the last document arrives. If I’m due a refund, I send it in, if not, I wait until the last day.

I have a wonderful accountant that does mine for me. I have to pay for her services, of course, but she is worth every cent. I practically have an anxiety attack even thinking about taxes. She sends me a prep sheet that shows me what documents I had last year so I can check for them this year, a list of questions about any changes that might have happened, and a spreadsheet of what my taxes/income/deductions were last year. (She does this for all her clients). All I have to do is gather my documents together and mail them to her. She does them all up, mails them back, I sign them, mail them back and she e-files for me. Last year, this year and next year will be unusual years for me as my husband died 4 days into 2020, so getting 2019 done was interesting because I was rather distracted at the beginning of the tax season. 2020 (this tax season) was fun because of the pandemic – teleworking from home with no printer and my W2 was electronic. It took quite a while to get a hardcopy of it from the government (I work for the government). Next year will be interesting because of the change in my filing status. I will be filing as head of household for the first time in my life with only 1 dependent instead of filing joint with 2 dependents. I just recently changed my W2 on the advice of my accountant and, boy, did my paycheck take a hit!

If you owe, pay at the end of the extension. If you get a refund pay early.

Yep! However, our ‘stimulus’ money went right back to the IRS.

A real plugger remembers when income taxes were due March 15.

I know because it’s my Mother’s birthday. She always called herself a tax baby.