Question For Tax Attorneys
Where on my tax forms can I take a deduction for the stamps I had to buy in order to mail my tax forms in? Surely that should be tax-deductible?
Even more rationally, shouldn't tax-return envelopes just be postage-paid? I mean, isn't making us buy stamps to mail the forms back nothing more than a tax on paying your taxes? They long ago outlawed poll taxes-- how is this not just as crazy?
Seems like small potatoes, but there are 117 million U.S. taxpayers-- so if each needed just one stamp per tax season, that comes to $50 million annually. And most of us also have to buy a stamp for our state returns. This year, in fact, I had to file so many forms and schedules that my envelope required an additional 17 cent stamp. That last little insult is what really pushed my fury over the edge!
Even more rationally, shouldn't tax-return envelopes just be postage-paid? I mean, isn't making us buy stamps to mail the forms back nothing more than a tax on paying your taxes? They long ago outlawed poll taxes-- how is this not just as crazy?
Seems like small potatoes, but there are 117 million U.S. taxpayers-- so if each needed just one stamp per tax season, that comes to $50 million annually. And most of us also have to buy a stamp for our state returns. This year, in fact, I had to file so many forms and schedules that my envelope required an additional 17 cent stamp. That last little insult is what really pushed my fury over the edge!
posted by Turbo at 9:47 AM
9 Comments:
E-file?
Stamps make me crazy. I E-everything that I can...
Well....You can deduct tax processing fees under miscellaneous deductions if you itemize (schedule A). I am sure of you throw in the postage, you won't get audited!
Okay, I being a smart-ass
Yes I agree with Brushfire. TurboTax is a wonderful thing!
But when you e-file, you get a fee! That burns me up! My dad did my taxes on TurboTax for me, but why, when in the electronic age things are supposed to be less work, do we get a fee for e-filing?
I think all bills should be postage paid, personally! And I'm still a bit old fashioned in that I prefer to write my bills by hand and mail them in - that forces me to look at my checkbook and finances to pay them, instead of just buzzing it through electronically.
Take care!
Carrie :)
Carrie's right. TurboTax costs, what $50 a year? And last time I checked, the IRS "e-file" system was only free for people of relatively low income-- others have to pay for it. And of course having an accountant file for you is more expensive than either of those methods.
Which is why I am still using stamps-- I just cannot abide having to spend money to pay taxes. Just plain wrong. Even 41 cents. It's like paying to vote. Only more so, because voting is optional, and taxes aren't.
How about this idea: you should be able to drop off your tax return, free of postage, at any post office, town hall, or public library. Wouldn't that be reasonable?
I have been lucky(?) enough to be able to make use of the TurboTax free filing system for the majority of my tax-filing years (thankyouverymuch non-profit salaries and grad school), but here's the kicker: you can file your FEDERAL taxes for free, but they'll charge you to file your state taxes.
In past years, I've filed my federal taxes online and then done my state taxes by hand, but this year TurboTax wouldn't let me file just my federal taxes. Every time I tried, it wanted to charge me $25 to file my state taxes too.
I eventually decided that the amount of time I was spending trying to get out of paying $25 was worth more than $25 and agreed to pay it... only to be informed that I couldn't file online and that I'd have to print out my documents and mail them in.
Grrrrrrr.
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Here in Canada, they put a bunch of extra postal workers on duty to deal with the last-minute filers. It's pretty funny - in some places they have a post office employee supervising a drop box out on the street until midnight. The best part is seeing otherwise sedate middle-class people pulling up to the drop-box just before midnight in their pajamas all harried and crazed. Anyway, you'd think making electronic filing free would be cheaper than moving all that mail, even with stamps...
One more reason to move to Canada -- not only is it free to e-file, but new this year, if you do the Government pays you $10 for all the paper they saved.
I love this country.
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