I never thought I would do my taxes early, but after 5 years of missing my payments I'm the first to file
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Rachel Kramer Bussel
- I didn't pay my taxes for five years, and it contributed to a huge debt and was a huge source of stress.
- These days, I start thinking about my taxes during the first weekend of the year and file early.
- I'm less worried about possible mistakes since I'll have plenty of time to address them.
If you'd asked me in my 20s or early 30s if I'd ever pay my taxes early, I would have laughed. At the time, I only got motivated to start thinking about taxes around the end of March, usually scrambling to file right before the mid-April deadline.
Then, in an epically bad series of decisions, I didn't pay my taxes for five years. I didn't set off with the intention to not pay them, but one year I got overwhelmed and let the deadline slip, then began ignoring IRS notices. The following year, I did the same, with a pit in my stomach forming as the calendar inched toward April.
When I finally hired an accountant and filed for all the missing years, clawed my way out of paying six figures of debt, much of it from back taxes, I promised myself I would never be in that stressful and financially precarious situation again.
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I file my taxes as early as I can
To make sure the process is as simple as it can be, I now pay my taxes as early as possible, usually submitting my calculations to my accountant in the second half of February after I've received all my 1099s for my freelance work and any financial statements I need. I'd file in early January if I could, which is a huge change from my previous approach.
Some of that change is out of necessity. I file both personal taxes and taxes for my company, an S corporation, which is how I receive all professional payments. My business taxes are due about a month prior to personal taxes — in 2023, the S corporation and partnerships tax filing deadline is March 15, while the personal tax filing deadline is April 18.
When I first formed a company, I found this earlier deadline annoying and restrictive, but now I welcome it. Instead of complaining, I start calculating my income and expenses over the first weekend of the year. I use these figures to get everything ready to send to my accountant so I'm not overwhelming his office with last-minute submissions.
Doing those calculations right after the calendar year has ended also helps me assess which aspects of my business were successful, which could use work, and which clients I might want to consider dropping in favor of higher-paying ones.
I don't get as worried about possible mistakes
Being forced to file early to get all my information to my accountant in time for him to file my taxes has caused my anxiety about taxes and money to be reduced. I'm less likely to get stuck in an IRS backlog or time crunch of all the people filing on the last day possible, just like I used to.
I used to be filled with dread at the mere idea of doing taxes. I was convinced I'd be audited for some epic mistake I didn't even know I was making. Now I feel the opposite: Filing early gives me peace of mind and allows me to get back to work and generate more income.
In some ways, it feels like a privilege to have the time to focus on my taxes early, because it's time-consuming. I write for multiple publications and have various employers, so my filing is more complicated than when I just had one full-time job. While I wouldn't say it's fine, I consider preparing my taxes early a gift to my mental health.
Whether I wind up owing money or getting a refund or breaking even, hopefully I'll find out on the early side so I can take any required action. As someone who used to do anything I could get away with at the last minute, I'm proud that I now don't feel rushed or anxious about my taxes.
Plus, if I wind up being a little busier in January than expected, or discover something is amiss with one of my 1099s, I have time to fix it before sending it to my accountant. It may not be the right choice for everyone, but filing my taxes early is the perfect timing for me.