Apologies in advance that this has probably been asked before.
My wife and I just purchased our first home. We are married but file separately. The mortgage is in my name, I make roughly $60,000 (with an additional $1000-$2000 a year doing freelance). We have to file separately because she has approximately $150,000 in law school student [federal] loans. She currently works for the state so she is on IBR, and because state public defenders make very little money, her monthly payments are only $200 (and she receives $2000 a year from her law school). If we file jointly her payments would jump to around $900. Anyways, I digress.
I've always done my taxes myself, via an online tool, but this year we paid off my student loans ($5000ish), got married, bought a new construction house, bought new appliances (stove, refrigerator, dishwasher, washer, and dryer), put up a fence, landscaped the exterior, in addition to a few other smaller items that I know affect our taxes.
I don't claim to be a financial expert by any means, so I'm a little nervous doing them myself this year because so much of my life has changed. I'd hate to leave money on the table because of my ignorance. That said, I don't want to go to a tax professional and end up discovering, because ultimately my taxes weren't so difficult, that I could have saved money handling them myself.
Any thoughts? I just discovered this reddit subforum and still absorbing all this new information. Thanks!
Submitted January 28, 2015 at 08:24PM by AndyInAtlanta http://ift.tt/1v45Tiw personalfinance
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