I remember when doing taxes meant crunching a few numbers and filling out a 1-page form. Now, taxes are way more complex. I spent all Monday getting other critical things out of the way, so I could focus solely on taxes for Tuesday. By 2:00pm I realized I had a choice: kill myself trying to get it done by the deadline (and maybe not make it) or file an extension. I chose the latter. Again. /sigh
Part of the issue was the business portion of the taxes. I did not do a good job of keeping up with QuickBooks entries after submitting last year’s taxes. Most of it had to do with my health running interference, but some was due to not having a good system in place. So, I’m officially declaring that this year’s taxes are not finished until I have a system implemented for my bookkeeping!
The other issue was the time it takes to itemize my medical deductions. Between doctor’s visits, medications, labs, etc. I have a ton of receipts. Although most of the receipts are in one location, I’m pretty sure that some bled into other paper piles around the house. (My personal filing system needs a serious overhaul, but that’s a project for another day…or three.) Tracking down all those receipts would have taken more time than I had. So, to try to prevent this from happening again, I’m also declaring that this year’s taxes are not finished until I have made medical receipt file folders for 2014 and properly filed them all! I will also work harder this year to file all medical receipts as I get them and make straightening out my filing system a higher priority!
I do not want to be scrambling to get taxes done next year. There is no reason to have that stress in my life when something can be done about it. So, I’ve added these new tasks to my to-do list under taxes:
- Create system for entering QB transactions
- Create 2014 medical file folders & file receipts
Here’s to easier taxes next year!
–Amy 🙂
What do you do to make filing your taxes easier? Share your tips in the comments or send me an email!
