It’s Tax Time! How do you Handle it? [Polls]

It's that time of year again. Time to either pay up or plan that vacation or home improvement project. I'm talking, of course, about tax time. Today I've got two polls for you to vote in and weigh in on.

First is the classic, are you a last minute filer or do you get it done right away? Personally, I'm somewhere in between, and in fact it's good that I waited a little bit this year. Of course you can't file your taxes until you've gotten all the paperwork from businesses and financial institutions that you've done business with in 2011. Normally, you should have your paperwork by early February. This year, one of my voiceover clients was a little late in getting their paperwork out. In fact, I had already started doing my taxes online, it's a good thing I hadn't finished and filed yet. But like I said, in general I usually get my taxes done before the mailing deadline, but not necessarily immediately.

Second, do you do your taxes yourself or go to a professional for help? I've found that a lot of the well regarded online services really walk you through the process every step of the way. For the past few years I've used TaxActOnline, which is very user friendly as well as free to file your Federal return. While they do charge to file your state return, here's a tip you may not have known, New Jersey residents can file their state income tax for free online through the state. Of course, if you have a lot of deductions, investments, etc, it's usually a good idea to have a professional at least look through your paperwork.

Something good to keep in mind this year, especially if you fall into that last minute category, you get two extra days in 2012 since the 15th falls on a Sunday and the 16th is a holiday in Washington, DC. So you get an extra pair of days to plan on what kind of coffee to bring along while you stand on line at the post office!

So how do you handle tax season? Vote on the polls below and feel free to leave a comment!