Happy tax day!

Hooray for taxes! Mine are done. Last year I ended up farming them out to a third party to deal with. It was just too much to wrap my head around (and if you read that post and see all the weird loopholes and exceptions we had, I think you will sympathize). I'm kind of glad I did so...but I will also never do that again. I didn't like not being in control of paperwork related to my finances and family, and it made it that much harder to get back into the game this year.

Having said that, I totally figured out our taxes this year, and I am so proud of myself. It's true that our foreign income isn't taxed, but you still have to fill out a return and it's more complicated than regular old US-based income. Then there was the issue of state residency to deal with. Some US expats give up residency; some hang on to a particular state for personal reasons. We severed ties with NY and are now non-resident residents of Oregon. And Oregon is happy to have us on that basis (some states are not so generous).

Then there was form TD F 90-22.1, a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. I actually still need to mail that in (but "Do NOT file with your Federal Tax Return").

My WAHM job income was all that was taxable in 2011, but that's a good thing since it's still income, and it allows us the privilege of contributing to a Roth IRA.

What weird things did you deal with on your taxes this year? I swear I never feel more like a grownup than on April 15th (or thereabouts).