This was a new experience for me. For the first time last year I worked on a 1099 and it was very interesting.
Normally as a consultant I have always been a W2. I never wanted to deal with my own corp or the time it takes to do that.
Years ago I got a CPA because the normal tax prep services seemed unable to handle my situation. In addition many of the major tax places made mistakes and that was frustrating as well. So even though they were cheaper at around $300 the CPA charges me $600 and for the past 5 years it has been an easier process. Worthwhile in my opinion.
How was it easier? It used to be that you had to go to the tax place and give them all your papers. Now I can take a photo of the papers and upload them into their online portal. This is really nice because it creates a secondary backup of important papers. For example if my apartment ever caught on fire, I wouldn’t worry about grabbing my tax documents but getting out of there. Now with the CPA’s backup, I still would have that data and that alone is worth the extra money.
Yes it is unlikely there will be an apartment fire, but having the attitude that two is one and one is none has saved me many times in my life.
The biggest thing that I like is that I can do everything remotely. I paid the IRS/state online and it while it wasn’t fun it was fairly straightforward. With the NY state site it had a problem where it said it didn’t agree that my name was what I put and after reloading the page and doing it 3 times, it seemed to accept it. I don’t know why, but I am not going to argue when it works. In the past I had to send a check, and then make sure I didn’t touch the money in the account for the several weeks before the check was cashed. It is really nice to have direct withdrawal with your taxes.
Another thing to watch out for is to make sure that the bank shows that the balance you want to pay is all available. Fortunately because I had been saving, the money was in a separate account and only needed to be transferred. It was available immediately. Still just to be cautious I made the larger payment yesterday, and then I asked for the smaller payment to be made today. Yesterday I didn’t see that my bank balance decreased which is normal because sometimes that stuff isn’t done until midnight or during the night. When I woke up this morning my account money was all gone, and that meant that both payments went through.
It is incredible to be able to pay your tax bill online. I wish the state/federal made the process easier for the average person. One of the annoying things was having to verify you are who you are based on a previous tax return. Like who is randomly paying peoples tax bill? If you argue that they could see the amount you owe, then for most people that is public information. Many peoples salaries are published especially if they work in the government. Its a strange system where you have to prove you are the person in order to pay a bill.
Still its done and I am glad for that.