Tax day has come and gone...

Tax day is gone, and many Americans (myself included) have again waited until the last possible moment to file their taxes.

Filing, while not overly difficult, was somewhat complicated for us this year. We had four W-2s and a Schedule C (for reporting business income/loss), student loan interest reports, plus 1098s for form 8863 (Lifetime Learning Credit) that we eventually found we couldn't even use because we didn't have a tax liability. There's a lot of math involved-- more than just copying numbers from your W-2. Yet, when all was said and done, we will be receiving $631 back from the federal government, plus some from state as well.

This was the first year my husband and I have filed jointly. Previously, school bills and my business had led me to believe that it would just be easier to keep it all separate. I discovered this year that that is not the case. In fact, we likely would not have been able to get as much of a refund if we had filed separately.

Speaking of the math involved, why do so many of us wait until the last minute? Really, most people have 1-2 W-2s and might as well take the standard deductions. Doing taxes that way is very, *very* simple, and with all of the tax software out, even more complicated returns are not much more than clicking a few buttons.

But, per usual, people have waited until the last possible moment. Again. Myself included. If it weren't for deadlines, some things would never get done.