Don't Mess With Taxes

If you're reading this, you either clicked over from @taxtweet, my Twitter alter ego, or you stumbled across this page purely by happy accident.

Either way, welcome y'all!

I'm Kay Bell, a native Texan and tax geek. That, in a nutshell, explains Don't Mess With Taxes, the tax blog I've written since November 2005 and its name's playful homage to the Lone Star State attitude.

In addition to tax tips and commentary at Don't Mess With Taxes, I offer more tax talk at Bankrate Taxes Blog (and its previous incarnation Eye on the IRS). That personal finance site also is my tax season home away from home, as I helm Bankrate.com's annual tax guide.

For most folks, that quite enough of taxes, thank you. But not me!

When the 2008 filing season ended, I found I still needed a tax fix so a wrote book. "The Truth About Paying Fewer Taxes" from FT Press hit book store shelves in February 2009. But if, like me, you prefer online shopping, you can order your copy online from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

In fact, taxes are so near and dear to me -- reading, writing and blogging about, not paying! -- that I also served from 2006 to 2009 as a member of the Internal Revenue Service's Taxpayer Advocacy Panel. This group of 100 volunteers are dedicated to helping improve IRS systems and services. That's right, I joined 99 other tax fanatics to give what free time we have to deal with even more tax issues!

OK, I admit that it seems like taxes are my total life. But I do have other interests. Really!

I'm a sports fan. My first sports love is the Cowboys (we'll be back!), with the Astros running a close second. Also, the Orioles from when we lived in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., are sill part of my life. Thank you modern technology and MLB apps!

I'm also a motorsports fan, which for eight years I channeled into a monthly racing column for a couple of trucking magazines.

From a participatory standpoint, the hubby (he is real, but prefers to remain anonymous) and I are birders. It's a hobby that we've enjoyed for many more years than I'm willing to admit! The great thing about bird watching is that you can take great trips to see fabulous birds or simply enjoy the feathered friends who show up in your own backyard, like the golden-cheeked warbler that also makes the Austin area its exclusive home.

And, living in Austin, the Live Music Capital of the World, we take advantage of being able to see all the great bands that live or visit the city. Our favorites remain the Texas roots rockers that shaped our college years -- Joe Ely and the other Flatlanders in particular -- but we like all types of tunes. You can check out the shows we've seen on this page.

If you've read this far, then you're still interested or are killing way too much time Web surfing at work! But just in case you want to know more about my professional endeavors, you can click over to my "about me" page.

And, of course, I hope you'll spend some time checking out the rest of Don't Mess With Taxes.

Thanks again for visiting. Please feel free to drop by and join in the conversations at my blogs or Twitter any time!