Ben Franklin said, "nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes."
I am a nerd. I get some sort of strange kick out of doing my taxes. Perhaps it's my weird math brain. Perhaps it's the example set by my dad, who spends a whole month each year stewing over his, with papers spread out on a table in the basement. Perhaps it is the feeling of accomplishment of doing it yourself while others have to pay to have their's done. (It's probably similar to why James insists on changing the oil in our cars himself instead of taking them somewhere.)
I am a nerd. I get some sort of strange kick out of doing my taxes. Perhaps it's my weird math brain. Perhaps it's the example set by my dad, who spends a whole month each year stewing over his, with papers spread out on a table in the basement. Perhaps it is the feeling of accomplishment of doing it yourself while others have to pay to have their's done. (It's probably similar to why James insists on changing the oil in our cars himself instead of taking them somewhere.)
I did finally stop doing them on paper. Last year I started using H&RBlock online. We make a small enough income to file for free! Yippy. I am too weird to pay for the state file through them, so I then do the State's e-file. It works. I would recommend it if you haven't filed yours yet. I've haven't talked my dad into filing online. He likes to work through the H&R Block questions, but won't file it that way. He just compares it to what he's done on paper and then still mails it in. It's ok. I'm sure he's not the only one.
Anyway, last year James and I got a $22 refund from the Federal Government. That's about the biggest refund either of us had ever received and we also had to pay around $300 in state taxes. With all the talk of a bad economy and budget cuts, I feel a little guilty that this year we are getting a sizeable refund. Hmmm. I double and triple checked everything. I let them sit awhile, then did them again. I forced James to sit with me and look at them a 3rd time. This year, not only are we getting a refund, but it's a whole lot more that the 2 digits of last year. In fact, it's 4 digits! We'll take it, but I still feel a little uneasy. We're even getting a state refund.
Is everyone else in the country getting this? Maybe with the poor economy, the government took the tax credits and tax cuts too far. Is this tax season adding to our deficit instead of fixing it? Who knows. In the meantime, we'll take the refund. It can pay tuition, buy baby stuff, or just sit in savings and go towards a new house fund.
2 comments:
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, right?! But I would agree that the federal tax credits are overboard this year. Nick and I should have owed the Federal Gov. this year, but thanks to all of the tax credits we were allowed we ended up getting a sizeable return. And, like you, I stewed about whether I had done my taxes correctly, because I couldn't see how we were getting so much back. For two weeks I worried that we were going to get audited. Then, the refund was direct deposited in to our account, and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
On the flip side. The state of UT doesn't offer the phenomenal tax breaks and we owe them a heft chunk of change. Nice. I'm filing that one on paper and mailing it in a few weeks, so that I can prolong the payment for as long as possible.
Nice commentary on the taxes and the guns. You are a very good writer.
Mom
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