This is just one of MANY situations that doing your taxes yourself often costs you MORE money in the long run versus going to a good tax professional. If I hadn't pointed this out to you, you may have paid $15,000 more, while a good tax professional would have certainly pointed out what to do.
I realize that some people want to try to save money by doing their own taxes rather than paying a professional to do them. But quite often that sometime during your lifetime, you encounter a situation like this, and doing your own taxes can cost you FAR more than a lifetime's worth of paying a good tax professional.
