The Cost of Doing Taxes

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Townhall:

Welcome to tax season -- the most dreaded time of year.

It's not just that preparing a tax return is time-consuming and costly -- although it's clearly both.

The Internal Revenue Service estimates that it takes roughly 23 hours and costs about $300, on average, to compile and file a Form 1040.There is also the stress of not knowing whether you've claimed all of the deductions and credits you're due, or made some dumb mistake that could have tax authorities on your tail.

"If we go too small we feel cheated and resentful, and if we claim too much we may feel jittery and anxious, looking over our shoulder for the tax man in the trench coat," said Brad Klontz, a financial psychologist and co-author of "Mind Over Money: Overcoming the Money Disorders That Threaten Our Financial Health.

"Every year there are changes, whether to regulations or to your own circumstances. It's rare to be able to simply put new numbers on the same old lines.This year there are some particularly vexing issues, said Mark Luscombe, senior tax analyst with CCH Inc., a Riverwoods, Ill.-based publisher of tax information.