Tax Paperwork Collected

I have finally received all of my tax paperwork necessary to file my 2010 income taxes. I am fairly certain that tax season will go okay for me this year. Although my income rose slightly, I contributed more to my 401(k) than I did the previous year. In addition, I began paying back my student loans last year, which means that I have student loan interest payments that are tax deductible.

For my 2009 taxes last year, I received about $600 back from the IRS but had to pay about the same amount for my California state taxes. I am curious whether I will again break even this year, whether I will receive a net tax refund, or owe a net tax balance.

I am still relatively new to being in a higher tax bracket than I was in while I was teaching, so tax season is still somewhat stressful for me as I work to reach a balance between taxes owed and taxes withheld from my pay. I plan to file my 2010 taxes this weekend, so I will update this post with the full report later this weekend.