Home OP-ED Tax Time Fun?

Tax Time Fun?

238
0
SHARE

Okay.  I goofed two years ago when I overlooked a letter from my pension plan.  How interesting and nice of my pension plan it was, I thought, that I got an increase in my take-home pay.  Duh.  Our taxman calculated that I owed the government some $6000 in taxes at the year’s end.  I paid off the IRS, and surmised that I would come close to breaking even last year.  Duh.  At the year’s end I owed a mystifying $3800.
That was enough.  I increased the withholding on my federal pension by $2700 annually. I had a year of FUN believing I was going to get a refund, or at least break even.
A couple of friends, who do their taxes on the computer, convinced me to try Turbo Tax.  However, there was a glitch on Turbo Tax, and I could not get it to give me correct input numbers.  I turned to TaxAct, which predicted, assuming I did my calculations correctly, that I would get a $970 refund.  Wow.
What to do?  Would I accept TaxAct’s findings, or try H&R Block’s online tax service, or just give it up?  I gave up.  I will be going to my taxman tomorrow.  What will he say? 
If he says I will get a small refund check I will feel happy, but I will wonder whether I should have trusted TaxAct, filed with them, and saved myself the taxman’s fee.
If he says that I will get a large refund, I will be very happy. I will likely swear my allegiance to him for years to come.
If he says that I will break even, I will be happy that I don’t have to pay Uncle Sam.
If he says that I OWE money, I will try another online tax service.  I will finish this essay tomorrow after my tax appointment.
Finally
The Verdict:  I owe $200 on my federal taxes.  I will now do an online H&R Block filing.  My taxman said he would be glad to look at those H&R Block papers, assuming they give me a refund, and let me know what’s happening.  There, I feel better now.
Mr. Ebsen may be contacted at robertebsen@hotmail.com