I use Turbo Tax, but the main competitor is probably just as good.

Love your blog. You and Anchoress (another ex-Dem) are on my daily reading list. Keep up the good work.

Not that we couldn’t do it ourselves.

Not that it doesn’t take just as much time to go have someone else do it.

But that we know we wouldn’t. We’d put it off. We’d do it *tomorrow* and then we’d put it off again.

So maybe we’re wasting money, but those couple hundred dollars are worth getting the return in mid February and not having to think about it again.

Paying estimated taxes is a reality check. When you have to sit down and write a check every quarter for 1/4th of your tax bill you begin to see how much the government is costing you.

I always ask myself what the government has done to earn the money. I conclude that, aside from a superlative national defense, our airways, interstate highways, and National Parks, I don’t get much benefit from the Feds.

Of course the Feds send money to my state. Problem is the round trip from me to Washington D.C. and back to the local level has a cost - some say 25 cents on the dollar. Why not just leave the money here and have the state government collect and spend it?

Some people seem to think of Uncle Sam as a rich uncle. Don’t know where the money comes from, don’t care…….just give me some benefits. Paying estimated taxes changes that. At least in my case.

Actually, you still do not. Realize that for things like Social Security (one of the larger parts of your tax) your employer also pays that amount for you also.

That is, if you pay 2500 in estimated taxes the govt is actually getting 5000 - that amount is factored into what we called an “FTE” - or the total cost of a “Full Time Employee”. That amount would normally go to you as salary.

Add in other taxes employers pay for you (much of this comes off of overhead) as a group instead of an individual and again they are getting more than simply what is directly taken off of your paycheck.

The person who owns the business (since they are profiting off the backs of others and didn’t real eran the money) also pay a MUCH higher tax rate than you do.

If you really want to decide taxes are the biggest rip off on the planet then you should own and run a business. You can most likely double your whole amount of taxes from your paycheck to get the actual number the govt gets.

Like withholding, it is a way to get the money in such a fashion that it doesn’t “hurt”. It also makes them look good (you know - you get “free money” or the people who want “free health care”) when they take all of that, circulate it around, and give you some things “free” that you would have spent the money they took anyway (though they have generally payed 50% more than you would have so you end up with less in the long run).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7mRSI8yWwg

Yeah, that’s the joke. If you work for wages the law requires withholding of income, FICA, & medicare/medicaid taxes. Just try to opt out. If you are a wage earner, as I was, it is only when you retire that you have the option of paying estimated taxes.

My retirement income is essentially fixed, so it’s easy to estimate taxes from year to year. My daughter has a small business and her income varies with economic conditions. I see how difficult it is for her to pay estimated taxes and not under/overpay. I feel for any small business owner trying to cope with all the tax regs. Particularly if they have employees, health insurance programs and other benefit programs in the mix.