It's TAX time!

Kristie · 04-13-2007, 04:12 PM

Question...we typically use an accountant but this year, her fee went up to $200 to do our joint taxes and the JC business taxes.

Do you do your own taxes and if so, do you use flightline or how do you go about making sure you're maximizing aviation deductions and so forth?

If you use an tax preparer or accountant, how much do you normally pay them per year... is it a varied scale based on amount of income or a flat rate fee?

we're trying to figure out if it would just be easier to do our own taxes.. i'm thinking probably not because of the business taxes (deductions, depreciations etc) but maybe i'm wrong in that it wouldn't be all that difficult?!

TheWife · 04-13-2007, 06:04 PM

Kristie I find it pretty complicated, honestly, I wouldn't try doing your own w/ all you have going on. We only have mortgage and health deductions, and with what I did in the sample versions online showed me a $3K return. When I went to our tax guy for $65, he got me a $4K return, so it was worth it to me. Unless you have a very thorough understanding of tax laws, I wouldn't try it. You guys have deductions like a portion of your house, your business expenses, etc. that gets real tricky.

Amanda · 04-13-2007, 06:10 PM

I know Nick used TurboTax online. I have complicated taxes because of investments and such so I use an accountant. To make you feel better Kristie, I'll tell you that I pay them $300. It's a lot of money but I don't feel comfortable doing my taxes on my own or finding somebody else.

lucky81698 · 04-13-2007, 06:30 PM

For the last several years we have used someone that specializes in crew taxes because of the per diem. The guy we used the last 2 years made so many mistakes that I caught, I decided to do them myself this year. You can download a free tax organizer from just about any of them (it lists all the odd deductions pilots can take). I pretty much did the same deductions as last year except for a couple new things Bill bought. I used Turbo Tax for the taxes and then to figure out perdiem (I find that a pain to do myself) I used a guy at CAL that does it. Worked out great. My son had to file taxes this year because I sold some of his stock and he had a a lot of capital gains taxes. Too bad he couldn't take any deductions! It's a shame an 8 year old has to pay taxes, but he did when he was less than a year too! Oh well!

UKcats06 · 04-13-2007, 07:10 PM

We have pretty simple taxes and we paid over $200 to get our taxes done by HR Block. The most complex thing we have is a mortgage and i have some student loan deductions. I thought it was ourrageous, but I didn't know where else to go, so we just paid it.

Imachickadee75 · 04-14-2007, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kristie

Question...we typically use an accountant but this year, her fee went up to $200 to do our joint taxes and the JC business taxes.

Do you do your own taxes and if so, do you use flightline or how do you go about making sure you're maximizing aviation deductions and so forth?

If you use an tax preparer or accountant, how much do you normally pay them per year... is it a varied scale based on amount of income or a flat rate fee?

we're trying to figure out if it would just be easier to do our own taxes.. i'm thinking probably not because of the business taxes (deductions, depreciations etc) but maybe i'm wrong in that it wouldn't be all that difficult?!

Hey Kristie!

What is flightline?????

Jackie

Kristie · 04-16-2007, 02:59 PM

Flightline is what doug uses to bid his schedules easier (Easybid) and it keeps track of his expenses, deductions etc... i think it's integrated with the DAL system such that it's automated and every year around tax time, you can order an expense report to make tax reporting easier.

just by looking at the website, i guess not everyone can use it?

http://www.flightline.com/

hink4687 · 04-16-2007, 03:05 PM

We do them ourselves and we used easyperdiem.com. It was really easy to figure out the perdiem issue and that got us quite a bit back! I have my own business and it was a little tricky but not too bad.

flyershoe · 04-16-2007, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucky81698

For the last several years we have used someone that specializes in crew taxes because of the per diem. The guy we used the last 2 years made so many mistakes that I caught, I decided to do them myself this year. You can download a free tax organizer from just about any of them (it lists all the odd deductions pilots can take). I pretty much did the same deductions as last year except for a couple new things Bill bought. I used Turbo Tax for the taxes and then to figure out perdiem (I find that a pain to do myself) I used a guy at CAL that does it. Worked out great. My son had to file taxes this year because I sold some of his stock and he had a a lot of capital gains taxes. Too bad he couldn't take any deductions! It's a shame an 8 year old has to pay taxes, but he did when he was less than a year too! Oh well!

Uh oh... who did you use that specialized in crew taxes?? B used airline crew taxes in Humble, TX. When he told me how much he was getting back I was thinking "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat??" It seemed like an awful lot, and possibly even more taxes than he'd paid to begin with.

I've been doing my own taxes for 4 or 5 years... the last few years have been a little more complicated because of student loan interest, paying for college, inheritance from my dad's IRA and 401k... but it took me probably 2 hours from start to finish. I used taxactonline.com. It was only $15.95 for both state & federal!

I would think that paying a tax professional would be worth it though, with the business and everything. My girlfriend did her business tax return for the first time this year and she was pulling her hair out!

Tambralyn · 04-17-2007, 08:55 AM

Can you all explain the issue with the per diem to me? I did our taxes this year on Turbo Tax online. I only deducted mortgage interest, child care expenses and student loans. John was sure that there were other business expenses he could deduct, like his commuting costs, but I was under the impression that he could not. He also thought that he coudl deduct his meals on the road. I'm pretty sure he can't do that either. Also, on his W-2, there is a box for substantiated business expenses, which I assumed meant commuting charges and uniforms that he paid for through payroll deduction.

Am I wrong? Are there more thing that we can deduct that I should be looking at? Is it worth while to try and work it out and send in an amended return?

In the past we've only had the child care tax credit and student loans, so we've never had enough to itemize. I never worried about it before. But with all the the interest we had on our construction loan when we converted to a mortgage, we had to itemize this year.

04-13-2007, 04:12 PM	#1 (permalink)
Kristie Admin/Owner Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Scottsdale, Arizona Posts: 6,729 Recipes: Thanks: 7 Thanked 18 Times in 18 Posts	It's TAX time! Question...we typically use an accountant but this year, her fee went up to $200 to do our joint taxes and the JC business taxes. Do you do your own taxes and if so, do you use flightline or how do you go about making sure you're maximizing aviation deductions and so forth? If you use an tax preparer or accountant, how much do you normally pay them per year... is it a varied scale based on amount of income or a flat rate fee? we're trying to figure out if it would just be easier to do our own taxes.. i'm thinking probably not because of the business taxes (deductions, depreciations etc) but maybe i'm wrong in that it wouldn't be all that difficult?! __________________ www.jetcareers.com

04-13-2007, 06:04 PM	#2 (permalink)
TheWife Jetgirls Ol' School Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Utah Posts: 1,264 Recipes: Thanks: 1 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: It's TAX time! Kristie I find it pretty complicated, honestly, I wouldn't try doing your own w/ all you have going on. We only have mortgage and health deductions, and with what I did in the sample versions online showed me a $3K return. When I went to our tax guy for $65, he got me a $4K return, so it was worth it to me. Unless you have a very thorough understanding of tax laws, I wouldn't try it. You guys have deductions like a portion of your house, your business expenses, etc. that gets real tricky. __________________ Michelle~Wife to Corbin 09/09/1999 and Mom to Caleb 05/18/02~Kyla 01/03/05~Bryton 02/03/08

04-13-2007, 06:10 PM	#3 (permalink)
Amanda Jetgirls Plus Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: PHL suburbs Posts: 2,193 Recipes: Thanks: 12 Thanked 12 Times in 12 Posts	Re: It's TAX time! I know Nick used TurboTax online. I have complicated taxes because of investments and such so I use an accountant. To make you feel better Kristie, I'll tell you that I pay them $300. It's a lot of money but I don't feel comfortable doing my taxes on my own or finding somebody else. __________________ Amanda Loving wife of Nick, an Int'l FO for Continental flying the 757/767 based in EWR! We're expecting baby #1 on May 30, 2009!

04-13-2007, 06:30 PM	#4 (permalink)
lucky81698 Jetgirls Ol' School Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: 1 Posts: 886 Recipes: Thanks: 1 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: It's TAX time! For the last several years we have used someone that specializes in crew taxes because of the per diem. The guy we used the last 2 years made so many mistakes that I caught, I decided to do them myself this year. You can download a free tax organizer from just about any of them (it lists all the odd deductions pilots can take). I pretty much did the same deductions as last year except for a couple new things Bill bought. I used Turbo Tax for the taxes and then to figure out perdiem (I find that a pain to do myself) I used a guy at CAL that does it. Worked out great. My son had to file taxes this year because I sold some of his stock and he had a a lot of capital gains taxes. Too bad he couldn't take any deductions! It's a shame an 8 year old has to pay taxes, but he did when he was less than a year too! Oh well!

04-13-2007, 07:10 PM	#5 (permalink)
UKcats06 Jetgirls Ol' School Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Erlanger, KY Posts: 697 Recipes: Thanks: 2 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: It's TAX time! We have pretty simple taxes and we paid over $200 to get our taxes done by HR Block. The most complex thing we have is a mortgage and i have some student loan deductions. I thought it was ourrageous, but I didn't know where else to go, so we just paid it.

04-16-2007, 02:59 PM	#7 (permalink)
Kristie Admin/Owner Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Scottsdale, Arizona Posts: 6,729 Recipes: Thanks: 7 Thanked 18 Times in 18 Posts	Re: It's TAX time! Flightline is what doug uses to bid his schedules easier (Easybid) and it keeps track of his expenses, deductions etc... i think it's integrated with the DAL system such that it's automated and every year around tax time, you can order an expense report to make tax reporting easier. just by looking at the website, i guess not everyone can use it? http://www.flightline.com/ __________________ www.jetcareers.com

04-16-2007, 03:05 PM	#8 (permalink)
hink4687 Jetgirls Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: The Woodlands, TX Posts: 51 Recipes: Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: It's TAX time! We do them ourselves and we used easyperdiem.com. It was really easy to figure out the perdiem issue and that got us quite a bit back! I have my own business and it was a little tricky but not too bad. __________________ Nici Wife to Zac (12/16/2000) Mommy to Cooper (3/1/2005)

04-17-2007, 08:55 AM	#10 (permalink)
Tambralyn Jetgirls Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Farmington, MO Posts: 182 Recipes: Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: It's TAX time! Can you all explain the issue with the per diem to me? I did our taxes this year on Turbo Tax online. I only deducted mortgage interest, child care expenses and student loans. John was sure that there were other business expenses he could deduct, like his commuting costs, but I was under the impression that he could not. He also thought that he coudl deduct his meals on the road. I'm pretty sure he can't do that either. Also, on his W-2, there is a box for substantiated business expenses, which I assumed meant commuting charges and uniforms that he paid for through payroll deduction. Am I wrong? Are there more thing that we can deduct that I should be looking at? Is it worth while to try and work it out and send in an amended return? In the past we've only had the child care tax credit and student loans, so we've never had enough to itemize. I never worried about it before. But with all the the interest we had on our construction loan when we converted to a mortgage, we had to itemize this year.

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