How did you learn about.....

This year is my first year I've worked long enough/make enough to file taxes. There were many cheap online taxes. I just used my W-2 and an online service that the IRS recommend for my tax bracket. No, I don't think there should be such a class, because now you can do it online. Even if you couldn't do taxes online, everyone has a different income and situation. So, there's no one size fits all solution to taxes. You need to talk to someone before doing taxes because even your situation can change from year to year.

I learned how to do my taxes on my own the first year I got a W-2 form. I picked up the packet from the library and filled it out myself, but I was so scared I'd done it wrong that I did my return using Turbo Tax just to make sure I hadn't. It was a lot easier than filling the packet out, so now I just use Turbo Tax to file our returns every year.

Way back when I was still in high school, they did have social studies or some type of class that taught us how to do taxes and write checks and every thing else that we would need in the real world. By the time I had to do my taxes for real in the real world, I had forgotten every thing in that class. It was the most boring in all of the school! When I had to do my taxes for the first time, I wasn't big on computers or the internet so I did not know how to use online resources and didn't even know what forums were. To get my taxes done, I asked the people I worked with (people with experience in this field). They told me that there are two ways to do them: 1) Pay a service like Turbo Tax. 2) Do them yourself on the sheet from the library. Naturally they told me about being audited and the fear of having to pay the government instead of getting a refund. That scared me into letting someone with experience do it for me, and then maybe I can mimic their work. After sitting for hours in turbo tax's office, I realized how much that sux! The next several years I did them my self on the paper for FREE and much quicker! As I got into computers more and had to do more taxes, I just heard from others (word-of-mouth, and forums/boards like this one) about online services. I tried one and was impressed! They got me refunds I never knew existed and was easy to learn (just not as easy as the paper, but the extra money made it worth it!). With my current experience, and knowledge of taxes and their changes I can honestly say that IF they give a class on how to do taxes they would have to upgrade that class every year and every one would have to take that class every year, not just the first year and think they are set. If someone has never done taxes before, they should just ask someone who has (like their parents) and should definitely use a service, either online like Turbo Tax Online or go to a building and talk to a professional. Especially with all of the stimulus payments and rebates Obama is giving out each year. This is my first time in Maine and they have many rebates that most states do not have. I would have to research the state and each state action in order to be legal, or just use a service and they do all the work for me! Each year I do my taxes on paper and use an online service to compare which is better. The service is always better and I get the money back in two weeks instead of 8. This year (2011) the difference in my refund is $1,400 (paper) and $2,100 (online). I know this is more information than you asked for, but I don't care! Let's keep this thread going! Lots of people out there who need help with taxes in some form or another.

School is perfectly useless when it comes to real life issues, like taxes, cooking, making a budget, getting an insurance or a healthcare plan... and I could go on for about three days here. I learned about the taxes the hard way, by making a ton of mistakes. Fortunately, I live in a country where the government is not very rough on you when you make mistakes, they appreciate you for trying, as there are so many people who do not pay their taxes, newbies have to be encouraged There are also a few helpful communities online, I ask questions there. Just now I've tried to fill in a form for a local tax statement, and I can't understand a thing. Tomorrow I'm going down to the city hall to talk to an employee and see if they can enlighten me. I suspect they create these forms like that on purpose, to make you feel dumb and helpless