I was 15 years old when I first walked into a tax preparation office with my dad. I got my first job at age 14 working at Meijer as a bagger, and I was the proudest girl there ever was to hold a W-2 in my hands. It felt so real, it felt so responsible, it just felt accomplishing.
And then I sat there going over every little detail of my taxes with a man that knew nothing about me, and yet wanted to know everything about me. Again, I was 15. I didn't own a business. I didn't have rent, mortgage, or even school interest to pay. I didn't invest, and I surely didn't have stocks or retirement funds. So what exactly was I doing sitting in an office getting my taxes prepared by someone who was going to take it all? And he did.
I may have been young, but I wasn't stupid. When he told me my return, and then told me the amount that would be going towards his fee, I vowed to find a new way after this year. And I wasn't going to start tomorrow or next year, I was going to go home and find out my options right away. Little did I know, I really did have options. My parents, who were never internet savvy at the time, had no idea there were options, and the greatest of them all: TurboTax. Now it's their only way as well. To think of the money we have saved year after year.
For over ten years, I have now been using TurboTax, I have conformed others around me to turn to TurboTax, and I have never ran into one single problem in those ten plus years. I no longer have a "simple" return either; I'm married and file jointly. I own a business. I have investments. I have a retirement, student loans, 529's for the kids, and more. And yet, it is still just as "simple" as the day that I started with just a W-2.
I want to tell you that I was worried when I had heard about the Affordable Care Act, but the truth is I wasn't. Somehow, I knew that TurboTax would make it a smooth process, and sure enough, I was right. When I was doing my taxes and came to that section of the process, I simply had to check a box stating that I got insurance from work. The rest was taken care of from me. No extensive filling out of forms and going through multiple boxes, it was just a click of a box and then we moved on to the next question.
Does all this sound foreign to you and making you worry a little? Don't. Don't worry. I'm here to tell you that TurboTax has a great guide, the TurboTax Health to get yourself familiarized with the Affordable Care Act and what you need to know in regards to your taxes this year; whether you are uninsured, have medicare or medicaid, have insurance through your work, or insured on your own.
I know that everyone is looking forward to Valentine's Day this weekend, but another very important date is February 15th, the day that open enrollment for health insurance ends before one has to face a penalty. You can go to TurboTax Health to find out if you are exempt from paying a penalty, and even file today. An even better incentive? File an easy return {1040A/EZ} before February 16th, and the cost will be free to you.
So if you have never tried TurboTax, believe me when I say this: once you do, you will never go back. It stores your information for future taxes, it is extremely user friendly and it saves you money. It is what I like to call a no-brainer, and that is precisely why I have been using it for over 10 years.
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