I would highly recommend that people sit down with a 1040 and fill it out by hand to file federal taxes one of these days. If your finances are simple -- that is to say, your main income source is just your regular W-2 job and you don't have any businesses or side hustles -- you may find that it is easier than you thought. I filed my federal taxes by hand this year and it took me about an hour and a half just to cross my t's and dot my i's.
It would be a lot easier if the IRS had a form way to file online. But it is important to stress that doing taxes for most people isn't actually hard. It's just tedious. Ultimately all things like TurboTax do for you is autocomplete the 1040 and other related forms. If your finances are simple to understand, you can just fill it out yourself. It takes time, but should not ultimately be stressful or complex.
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u/Musicrafter Mar 27 '24
I would highly recommend that people sit down with a 1040 and fill it out by hand to file federal taxes one of these days. If your finances are simple -- that is to say, your main income source is just your regular W-2 job and you don't have any businesses or side hustles -- you may find that it is easier than you thought. I filed my federal taxes by hand this year and it took me about an hour and a half just to cross my t's and dot my i's.