dmorin's Journal: A little tax optimism

Tax time is always scary. Last year I had a kid, my wife stopped working, and we refinanced the house (two mortgages down to one). AND, to help with the baby, I changed my exemptions to get more back in my paycheck every week. The stack of paperwork was amazing.

And we still got a tax refund that's about the same as a month's severance pay. Thank you, mortage interest!

AND, while I'm there, she says "Have you looked at sole proprietorship? Because I have a friend looking for web developers." Nice.

Tips:

• Unless you're used to doing it yourself and confident that you're not screwing yourself, pay somebody to do it like American Express. Cost me about $300, which is deductible the next year. And a pro can walk you through a variety of questions you might not have considered, in more depth than a typical software program might. I know that I was never happy with the level of detail I got from TurboTax.
• Research how your tax situation will change during unemployment. For instance I was told that if I put up a web site to market myself then I could actually deduct a portion of my ISP and cable modem costs. And that while my family computer is not deductible, the laptop that I do nothing but develop on might be (especially if I get some 10-99 income).
• If you own, refinance. If you need extra bucks, take it out now and pay off the credit cards.
• If you don't own, look into it. Hell of an investment. Big mortgages are scary but big mortgage interest deductions are cool.
• Have a kid. You know you want one. :)