It's that time again. Time
to set up the folding card table in the living
room, sharpen the pencils, gather the 1099s,
consume a few pots of coffee, and dive into
the process we all know and don't love. Filing
your taxes!
Americans have come to accept this process as
a right of passage for living in this great
country, but for some of us, it's still a pretty
overwhelming and intimidating event. In fact,
I really don't know anyone who looks forward
to this annual occasion except maybe accountants
and the IRS. Both make a pretty penny from the
whole ordeal and I bet some individuals even
get downright giddy about all of the number
crunching.
Not me! I'd rather be crunching a bag of chips
or simply watching paint dry. No matter how
many years I've gone through this process, every
time it's the same thing. Dread. Dismay. Despair.
And downloading data until I'm blue in the face.
And here's a question for you. Anybody else
wondering why the popular program people use
to do their taxes is called Quicken? Personally,
I didn't find it to be too quick. But then again,
perhaps that's because I hadn't downloaded any
data since 12/31/04. And let me tell you, what
a difference a year makes! When I started downloading
my 2005 data it was January and there was a
blanket of snow covering the ground. By the
time I finished, it was March and the daffodils
were popping up like H&R Block offices during
this time of year.
I really don't know how I became the "chosen
one" for this miserable task. It's definitely
not because I'm the financial whiz of this marriage.
I mean, c'mon. I'm a writer and everybody knows
that creative people use the non-tax filing
side of their brain for their creativity. This
is also clearly the reason I switched my major
in college from accounting to communications
after my third semester. I mean, what was I
thinking?
What's even more ironic is the fact that my
husband works for a software company that generates
1099s and other tax forms for brokerage firms
and banks, so it's obvious who wears the financial
pants in this family. But here's the thing.
Because of my husband's job, during the height
of tax season he is in such high demand making
sure all of these forms are produced without
a glitch that he is literally putting in 80
- 100 hour weeks. Obviously, it's not his favorite
time of the year either. So, what does that
mean? It means he's exhausted and I get the
honor of doing our taxes.
I guess that's OK. I suppose I can "take
one for the team." After all, I did promise,
"for better or for worse." So what's
a floundering financial housewife supposed to
do? Pass the buck! Since I strongly believe
you should let the professionals do what they
do best, it makes sense to let an accountant
file our taxes. Sure, an accountant costs more
than the latest version of Turbo Tax, but in
my mind, it's worth every penny. I mean, one
person's write-off could be another person's
red flag to the IRS screaming, "Please
audit me." And with my luck, if I filed
our taxes the IRS would be banging on my door
waving a sea of red flags prepared to perform
the nation’s longest audit ever. No, thanks.
I'll gladly hand over the reins to my trusty
CPA.
The good news…we're getting a refund back
from Uncle Sam. The bad news…well, Ben
Franklin said it best. "In this world the
only thing that is certain is death and taxes."
Hmmmmm. Suddenly, I love taxes!
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