…Turbo Tax, online banking and e-filing…
When I was in high school I worked evenings and Saturdays during tax seasons for a family friend who was a bookkeeper. I answered phones, made copies, greeted clients, and made and filed hundreds of folders of tax returns for my boss’s files. For many years afterward I would finish my own taxes and make the same kind of folder for my files: a manila folder, tax forms stapled on the right – federal on top with state and local below – and all supporting documentation stapled on the left. Oh, the paper cuts. Tax season for me meant epic paper cuts.
Many of my boss’s clients were long-time regulars. Farmers, truckers, teachers, businessmen, retirees. His family had lived in our rural county a very long time and so he claimed many of them as cousins, however distant. They would come in with shoeboxes of receipts and a tense expression. No matter how much you like the guy doing your taxes, you’re not likely to look forward to the visit. Still, it was a difficult, mysterious process. And it was best to allow someone who knew what he was doing to take the lead.
This week I did my taxes. My w2 form was sent by my company electronically. My bank statements were online as was nearly all the documentation for my deductions. I didn’t need to fill a shoebox with my receipts. I took advantage of the discount deal my credit union offers for Turbo Tax. I finished the steps and downloaded the pdf to save to my files (promising myself I’d make one of those folders this year for a just-in-case hard copy). I noticed that the pdf was 60 pages long and I was grateful. Grateful that I will be getting a refund, yes. And of course grateful for the roads, schools and safety my taxes help to provide. But also grateful technology has made the process so much simpler and so much cheaper than it once was. So much so that I could do my taxes on a whim one evening with no real preparation ahead at all. That I could send my taxes without leaving the comfort of my favorite living room chair.
All with no paper cuts. Not a single one.
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