Fun with taxes

So I’m almost finished with my taxes and eager to send them off since I have a refund coming my way. All that’s left is the Schedule C for my wife and we’re ready to go. A quick check through to make sure everything is OK…. And that’s when TurboTax informs me it doesn’t have Form 8801 ready, but it will be available February 17th. Sigh. OK, so what is this?

Form 8801 is the “Credit for Prior Year Minimum Tax—Individuals, Estates, and Trusts.” After having to pay the AMT for 2 years running, I was happy to see I wouldn’t get dinged with it this year. Until I ran into this form, that is.

So I go to the IRS website and print out the form. Now I see why TurboTax doesn’t have it ready yet. I’ve taken easier linear algebra and calculus courses. Econometrics was a breeze compared to this. I think I’ll wait until the software is available for this one just to be on the safe side. And if I get some additional money back due to this form, I'm sure I'll be happy I waited. Still, I'm itching to push the button to file...