I was panicked doing my taxes this year. First, Mr. MT and I posted our first loss for our business, ever (usually a red flag). While I always err on the side of caution, I do our taxes and don’t have an accountant to give the stinkeye to if I get audited. And this was the first year I e-filed.
I know! I’m highly computer literate, do graphic design work, blog, and was nearly peeing my pants at the thought of e-filing! But I was pleasantly surprised.
Last year I tried to e-file, but was unable to make the tax software work with our business info, etc. I was probably just challenged, but after reading all of the updated tax laws on the IRS website I didn’t want to learn a random tax preparer’s software as well. However, finding out that the difference in receiving my refund was eight to 10 days with e-file vs. four to six weeks by mail spurred a bit of bravery.
Enter Free File Fillable Forms. This was the greatest thing since sliced bread. After preparing my taxes, all I had to do was transfer the info. on my 1040 and various schedules into the electronic forms, and press e-file. Time-wise I can see why this was a great thing for the IRS as the filer fills in the W-2 information and schedules instead of an IRS employee sitting at a computer.
(In fact, the only time I’ve ever had an issue on my taxes was a database entry on my Schedule D that was put in the wrong box; easy fix!)
Time-wise it couldn’t have been better for me. After filing I received e-mail confirmation that the IRS received my documents. Fourteen hours later I received an e-mail that the IRS had accepted my tax return and I would be able to track my refund in 72 hours. Sure enough, three days later I was able to go to Where’s My Refund? on the IRS homepage and find out that my refund was coming, eight days after my tax returns were e-filed. This was one of the easiest tax experiences I’ve had and I will definitely be doing this again next year. I didn’t ever know I would say this, but, “Thank you IRS!”
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