Its April 1, folks. What does that mean (besides telling your kids that their teacher called and they have to go to school next Saturday, or your husband that you thought it necessary to upgrade all the kitchen appliances and they’ll be delivered next week… wink wink)? No, it means there are 14 days left to file those 2009 taxes. Yes, this is the season when self-employed people everywhere pull out the shoe box and unwrinkle all those expense receipts.

I’ve done my own taxes since I was in college. And I will continue to do so until the only other certainty in life (…death) comes knocking.

My whole life, my father owned his own printing business and wore all the hats in the company, kinda like I do today. He taught me early on how to create income and expense reports, itemize deductions and file Schedule Cs…you know, fun stuff like that.

I could take my shoebox (ok, I really don’t use, or advocate, this method…) to the tax man, but I prefer to do the myself and here are a few reasons why:

( I guess I have to add a silly disclaimer here, for all the 10s of you, that I am not a tax expert and am in no way offering specific tax advise. There.)

1. I’m a firm believer that knowledge is power. The more you know about tax laws and implications, the better business decisions you can make, especially as a mompreneur.

2. I don’t sell a product or carry an inventory. The number of clients I have per year isn’t extremely large so my income is fairly easy to track. Tools like  Quicken, QuickBooks, FreshBooks, or online banking systems make keeping track of income and expenses throughout the year manageable.

3. Since I cant just take my shoebox to someone else, I’ve learned that I’m the one who has to sort through all the receipts and records from the previous year. Knowing this, it helps me to stay organized throughout the year so as to make tax season a little bit easier.

4. With the invention of TurboTax Free Efile, its easier than ever to do and file your taxes yourself. If you need a virtual someone to hold your hand through each step, TurboTax does.

5. There is a wealth of information out there when I get stuck. This year we bought and sold a house. I was a bit hesitant at first, but I sailed through it with no problem. Between Google, the TurboTax knowledge base and even Twitter, I found answers to all of my questions.

6.  Its more economical for me to do it myself, rather than paying someone else to. Granted, it does take more time, but all things considered, its worth it to me in the end.

What about you? Are you a mompreneur who does her own taxes? Or do you like to leave it to someone else to handle?

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