Comment by atrettel

I don't think I'll make a blog post about this, but since you asked I will describe what you have to do briefly. 10 to 15 hours includes everything:

- Downloading all forms and instructions.

- Downloading all 1099s and W-2 statements.

- Scanning any paper 1099 or W-2 forms I receive (rare now, thankfully).

- Filling out a draft of the forms slowly in pencil. This takes the most time. I have sometimes used spreadsheets for this but I find it is quicker to just use a calculator or even the Python REPL.

- Filling out a "hard copy" of the forms and double checking my math. This takes more time than you think if your state don't have fillable forms, but I have sometimes done it by hand very neatly rather than typing it up.

- And finally going to the post office to mail things. I never just put them in my mailbox.

2024 only took 11 hours in total mostly over 2 weekends. And as I have said in other posts here, I don't stress myself out about and take my time. You can probably do it faster if you want to.

The key is to just read the instructions for each form and follow them mindlessly and mechanically. I will admit that it is difficult at first, but you do get used to it, and despite my tax returns getting much more complicated over the years, the number of hours that I take has stayed the same.