Tax rush

It's that time of year again. When the front of department stores are transformed into tax service offices.

I am no longer capable of understanding why anyone would go to a tax service to get their taxes done just so they can get their refund instantly. Especially now that the turn-around time for a refund is much shorter than it used to be. These services charge 15% on the first $300 and 5% on anything over that. Basically, a $1000 refund will cost you $80.

The tax software they sell now does a great job of figuring out your return in easy to follow steps. The best part, if you make less than a certain amount, your return doesn't count toward the count of returns the software will do. So it's easy to pool returns on one person's tax software.

Then, if you netfile, you will likely get any money owed to you in less than 2 weeks. My daughter just got her refund deposited right into her bank account after a 4 day wait.