Turbo Tax vs. Tax Professional - Revisited

Althouse thinks you should purchase TurboTax to do your taxes; I say otherwise. (Hmmm. Both of us seem to have a profit motive for our positions in the debate. Well, consider the merits of my argument while discounting my motive and do the same for Althouse. I still win.)

Price seems to be the biggest factor for those who favor TurboTax. (Which is a pretty good program, don't get me wrong. Just ask Tim Geithner, Treasury Secretary, who able to manipulate it into preparing a false return for him.) If that's the case for you, here's my number 2 reason in my Top 10 list of reasons to hire me:

Price isn't everything is it? Cost is. What will it cost you to use TurboTax to do your tax return rather than me? Let's see, there's the cost of the software, the computer to run the software, the time you spent learning the software and inputting the information, and the potential cost you'll have if the IRS has a question about your return. And make no mistake, the IRS is questioning more and more returns. You'll have to take time to respond to any IRS inquiries and should the IRS take a hard line - something they seem to be doing more and more nowadays - you'll have to take time to research and respond to that. That's all included with my fee. I call that a pretty low cost for a some peace of mind.

Bottom line: forget about the cost of my time; what's the cost of yours? What's your time worth? I'd say your time is worth far more to you than mine.

Dylan on Dylan's Christmas Album

Via Althouse, Bob Dylan plays it straight about his new Christmas album:

Big Issue: Is recording a Christmas album something you’ve had on your mind for a while?
Bob Dylan: Yeah, every so often it has crossed my mind. The idea was first brought to me by Walter Yetnikoff, back when he was President of Columbia Records.

Did you take him seriously?
Well, sure I took him seriously.

But it didn’t happen. How come?
He wasn’t specific. Besides, there was always a glut of records out around that time of year and I didn’t see how one by me could make any difference.

What was Christmas like around your town when you were growing up?
Well, you know, plenty of snow, jingle bells, Christmas carolers going from house to house, sleighs in the streets, town bells ringing, nativity plays. That sort of thing.

Your family was Jewish – as a kid did you ever feel left out of the Christmas excitement?
No, not at all.

It goes on from there. I think Dylan's playing it straight and sincere; he loves these songs, his record company was behind the idea, the proceeds are going to charity. What's the big deal?

Well, the big deal is it's Bob Dylan and he's supposed to be an enigma, isn't he? Only maybe in this case, he's not.

(The interview reminds me of the ones found in the Reader Edition's of Anne Tyler's books. Tyler plays it straight as well - she works as hard as she can on her books until they're ready for the publisher. No mystery about the creation of her art other than the hard work she puts in. Other interviews with other authors seem to me to spend too much time exploring the mystery of the creative process. Tyler cuts to the chase: There's no mystery about it. She has to work at it.)

So Dylan appears to be playing it straight. Maybe he's been playing it straight all along.