Or so I thought.
Somehow, in one of those crazy twists of fate, I unintentionally got involved in our income taxes. The W-2's and 1099's had all rolled in. and I just meant to put them in a little pile for a later date, but something caught my eye and I was off and running headlong into my taxes. I have been dreading it because I know we'll owe money this year so I couldn't resist the initial peek at the figures. And it was every bit as upsetting as anticipated.
Especially irritating was the remembrance lurking in the back of my mind of all the crooks who are running our government who DON'T PAY. They conveniently live by different rules than the rest of us, and so they make these huge errors which save them tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, which they don't recall until they are up for some high government appointment or are running for office - and are caught by some watchdog group.
But we little people must pay down to the last drop. If you help support someone who is highly worthy it's not deductible. If you pay funeral expenses for someone who had no money, it's not deductible. But if you get paid far more than you're worth, run with the D.C. crowd, every thought being how to get something for yourself and pay no taxes, you're highly regarded and put in charge of the rest of us.
Okay. Nothing to be gained by that line of thought, so I decided I'd take a look at the IRS instructions for exemptions, deductions, all that sort of thing. I hadn't really reviewed the details of the tax code and instructions for a long time. We have someone else actually do our tax filings: a company of ex-IRS agents who do income taxes. They will also handle an audit (at no extra cost) if you are unfortunate to be notified of one. So these people have been doing our taxes for years, even though I'm an accountant and do most of the work before sending them the papers. I like the credibility they give our tax returns, and I love the comfort of knowing that I will not be personally engaging IRS no matter what.
So I dive into the forms and start reading the online publications to see if I can pick anything up that is new. Well, there have been a lot of changes since I've looked at things, and what I pick up irritates me all over again. It is immediately obvious to me that the changes are cleverly designed to soak the hard working person in favor of the deadbeat. No wonder I haven't been keeping up with that stuff. It just drives me crazy. It's so unfair.
There were a few forms that I wanted to print out for further perusal, so naturally I got a message from my printer that my "Cyan" color cartridge needed to be replaced. Okay. I was one step ahead of 'them' this time. I had anticipated needing ink and had ordered four new color cartridges a month or so ago. So the new cartridge goes in, and I hit the "print" key again, and this time the message comes up that the "Red" cartridge needed to be replaced. The machines couldn't just tell you to replace all four cartridges ... no. So, one by one, I went through the same routine until all four new ones were in. Okay.
All set to go again, the phone rings. I have a dental appointment tomorrow. "Okay, I'll be there."
Back to the computer. The phone rings again. Get up, answer it, it's someone I can unload on - dear husband! He doesn't want to hear it, but I know from experience that he's happy I'm 'on it' with the taxes. That way he won't need to hear my grumbling about having to do them at a later date. So he makes a quick exit from the call. Back to the computer.
Oh oh. Talking to him reminds me that I was going to cook for dinner, a pheasant that he had just bagged last weekend. I had planned to spend a little time with it - maybe try a new recipe - but the taxes were calling my name, so I just threw it in the crock pot with a can of mushroom soup, a few drops of white wine and some artichokes, and headed back to the computer.
Without explaining my personal method (you're welcome), let's just say that within no time at all I had reached a fixed point in the process at which I pretty much knew where to head next with the figures. Maybe another hour or two would do the trick. So I organized the papers into three sections and sat them in the family room next to my chair, all readied for the final phase. Tomorrow - oh, no; there's that dental appointment. The next day, then.
This has really turned into a great day! There is nothing better than inadvertently tackling a dreaded job. The taxes can loiter around for days and weeks in some disquieted corner of the mind, just sitting there and haunting a person. Well, now, that ghost has been shooed out. The worst is over.
I'll give you a little tax tip if you don't take the standard deduction. If you itemize, start a spreadsheet with five headings for the deductions you normally deal with. Set a day, once a week, and write in the 1) date, 2) check # (dr card, or whatever), 3) the amount, and the 4)"Paid To," with a place for 5) explanation/notes if you prefer. If you do this once a week, you have virtually nothing to do at tax time. Just total the 'amount' column, print it out, and you're done. At any time during the year that you want to see where you stand, just check your spreadsheet. I actually have a 'mini-1040' set up on my spreadsheet and at any given moment I can see where we stand, tax-wise, for the year.
One thing I'm counting on when I get to heaven ... no taxes ... no paper. That's all I ask. That will be heaven.
A Royal Heir...
shouldn't have to do taxes
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