For years, except for the 1986 tax year, when we moved to California, and recently, I did my taxes myself, by hand. The last few years I did it, I used TurboTax.
When we moved in 2006, the tax free capital gains, the transfer of our property tax base, and other complications had me going to a tax preparer. It has been worth it.
Not only was I never sure that I was getting everything back due me, even and perhaps especially with TurboTax, I hated doing them. Besides, the experience typically rubbed my face in it in some way.
When IRA's first came in, I was participating in qualified retirement/pension plans and was not allowed to save in them. Then for a few years I was. Around the time that I qualified for the IRA "catch-up," I was fortunate enough to be making just enough that I was no longer able to contribute again.
Now, throughout the year I throw everything that has a tax consequence into a folder for tax preparation. Then, I spend a few minutes sorting it into income and deductions. I spend a few more minutes going over it with my tax preparer and leave. Well, we both leave because he meets me in a temporary office in town. His official office is in a town about 15 miles away.
A few days later, I get an email with a password protected file that is my taxes. I respond that it looks fine to me and he sends me all my papers back with a hard copy and I pay him with a check in the return mailing that also contains my authorization to file electronically. It's not that much more expensive than Turbo Tax and I didn't have to do very much at all let alone avoiding all that frustration. Besides, I'm sure I get back more than I would if I had done it myself, possibly more than what I'm paying for him to do it.
Now the fact that I'm getting anything back is potentially a problem in that it represents an interest free loan to the government, particularly since both State and Federal governments are under so much water. This year, getting something back is truly a blessing and was basically unavoidable. My severance package paid me for half a year--at the rate I was making while working and the withholding was as if I were going to make that amount for the whole year.
A blessing this year will become a curse next--unless I do find job that will help me pay my taxes.
Showing posts with label tax refund. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tax refund. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Walking in the Rain and other stories of the day
Woo Hoo! After no small amount of anxiety because my tax accountant made an $18,000 error in forecasting my income last year and I was thinking that my anticipated tax refund would become a case of taxes owed, today I found out that I get a much more modest refund but still a refund. Woo Hoo! I hate to loan the government interest free money so why am I celebrating?
Sophisticated cats? My tuner is set on NPR and I left my radio on when I went out. I thought they might like some voices exciting their day like someone actually lives here. I expected to see some sophistication when I returned but they had retreated to the garage. I didn't have it on that loud so maybe they could only take a more limited amount of sophistication. I must admit that the constant barrage of international and economic news is depressing in almost any quantity.
I'm almost making my mother's sourdough bread. Andrea brought some that she had made from the starter and the slice I had was pretty good. She left out the egg so I did as well. I also, inadvertently left out the salt. It didn't seem to effect the first raising. I have it in for the second raising now. I discovered that I only have one bread pan. So, I'm making one loaf of bread and the rest will hopefully be rolls. I did make them into 13 roughly the same size balls of dough but they are all in the same pan. I have a feeling that as they raise together I'm going to end up with a larger flatter loaf rather than rolls. My mother reminded me today that they freeze, I'm assuming once baked, but with my freezer stuffed with my daughter's PCT preparation, dried ground and chopped meat and bags and bags of homemade cookies, I don't think I have that option.
Marilyn and I have been a member of the Sierra Club since I978. We joined soon after we moved to Houston. She was alway the environmentalist and more recently the driving force in our buying a Prius. Well, they sent me a final notice that my membership was about to be discontinued so I had to send them some money. I also forgot to take my checkbook with me when I met with my tax accountant to go over the return that he will be submitting, as soon as he gets my check for his services, although he didn't word it that way. So, I was motivated to get the check off to him as quickly as possible. Then finally I volunteered to review a friend's and fellow "layoffee's" resume and I promised to get back with him today. While this isn't necessarily making a long story short, the long and short of it is that I had three pieces of mail and decided to walk to the nearest mailbox. Since it was on the way to my wet weather 10,000 step walk, even though it wasn't raining at the time and hadn't since around noon, at least at my house, but even a couple days after a rain it is better to stay on pavement and well drained gravel, I decided to continue and get in my 10,000 steps.
I finally remembered to take a plastic bag to pick up trash and recyclables on the walk. Well, I remembered the bag before I walked off of my drive and simply went back for it. Initially I was thinking about only picking up stuff on my way back but before I knew it, I had a stuffed bag. It seems that Coastside Scavengers had made a trash and recyclable pickup this morning on the longest street portion of my walk. My neighbor was telling me that if they finish in six hours they still get paid for eight. This is sufficient incentive to often make them fast but rarely make them good. I'm always picking up trash that they can't seem to get in the rather large maws of their trucks and they only try once. Since I had a full bag, I put the recyclables in the park's recycling cans and the trash in their trash cans. Even if Coastside Scavengers pick up the park's trash, it won't get redumped close to my street.
The best I can say for the walk overall is that at least the rain held off until after I mailed those letters. In fact, it held off until I was at the furthest point of the walk away from my house. There is something about the inevitability getting wet that takes away the problems of getting wet. And I did get really wet. Instead of bemoaning it, I found that I really enjoyed walking in the rain. I didn't think to sing. There were portions of the walk where it was a proverbial downpour. Then there were portions where down was a more relative term. It seemed for a few seconds to be perpetually lateral. At least I had a somewhat waterproof jacket on. My Sun Precaution's hat with its brim kept most of the water off of my face even as the mesh vents allowed my head to get soaked. The worst were my jeans. They were wet from my jacket bottom all the way down and what the rain didn't do to get my shoes wet, the runoff from my jeans did. The master bath is now a drying room, including the dollar bills that I had in my money clip. (Darn, only ones.) After I got my excessively wet clothes off, I had to use a towel on my legs and feet.
I'll let you know if I experience any sickness from this exposure, but I really don't expect to. I'm glad I completed my 10,000 steps, excuse me, aerobic steps. I may actually plan to be out walking in the rain the next time I can. I'll have to find my rain poncho though.
Oh, even though I left my "trash" bag in the park's trash can, I managed to find and pick up six bottles and cans on my way home. There were a couple more but I didn't have anymore effective carrying capacity.
Sophisticated cats? My tuner is set on NPR and I left my radio on when I went out. I thought they might like some voices exciting their day like someone actually lives here. I expected to see some sophistication when I returned but they had retreated to the garage. I didn't have it on that loud so maybe they could only take a more limited amount of sophistication. I must admit that the constant barrage of international and economic news is depressing in almost any quantity.
I'm almost making my mother's sourdough bread. Andrea brought some that she had made from the starter and the slice I had was pretty good. She left out the egg so I did as well. I also, inadvertently left out the salt. It didn't seem to effect the first raising. I have it in for the second raising now. I discovered that I only have one bread pan. So, I'm making one loaf of bread and the rest will hopefully be rolls. I did make them into 13 roughly the same size balls of dough but they are all in the same pan. I have a feeling that as they raise together I'm going to end up with a larger flatter loaf rather than rolls. My mother reminded me today that they freeze, I'm assuming once baked, but with my freezer stuffed with my daughter's PCT preparation, dried ground and chopped meat and bags and bags of homemade cookies, I don't think I have that option.
Marilyn and I have been a member of the Sierra Club since I978. We joined soon after we moved to Houston. She was alway the environmentalist and more recently the driving force in our buying a Prius. Well, they sent me a final notice that my membership was about to be discontinued so I had to send them some money. I also forgot to take my checkbook with me when I met with my tax accountant to go over the return that he will be submitting, as soon as he gets my check for his services, although he didn't word it that way. So, I was motivated to get the check off to him as quickly as possible. Then finally I volunteered to review a friend's and fellow "layoffee's" resume and I promised to get back with him today. While this isn't necessarily making a long story short, the long and short of it is that I had three pieces of mail and decided to walk to the nearest mailbox. Since it was on the way to my wet weather 10,000 step walk, even though it wasn't raining at the time and hadn't since around noon, at least at my house, but even a couple days after a rain it is better to stay on pavement and well drained gravel, I decided to continue and get in my 10,000 steps.
I finally remembered to take a plastic bag to pick up trash and recyclables on the walk. Well, I remembered the bag before I walked off of my drive and simply went back for it. Initially I was thinking about only picking up stuff on my way back but before I knew it, I had a stuffed bag. It seems that Coastside Scavengers had made a trash and recyclable pickup this morning on the longest street portion of my walk. My neighbor was telling me that if they finish in six hours they still get paid for eight. This is sufficient incentive to often make them fast but rarely make them good. I'm always picking up trash that they can't seem to get in the rather large maws of their trucks and they only try once. Since I had a full bag, I put the recyclables in the park's recycling cans and the trash in their trash cans. Even if Coastside Scavengers pick up the park's trash, it won't get redumped close to my street.
The best I can say for the walk overall is that at least the rain held off until after I mailed those letters. In fact, it held off until I was at the furthest point of the walk away from my house. There is something about the inevitability getting wet that takes away the problems of getting wet. And I did get really wet. Instead of bemoaning it, I found that I really enjoyed walking in the rain. I didn't think to sing. There were portions of the walk where it was a proverbial downpour. Then there were portions where down was a more relative term. It seemed for a few seconds to be perpetually lateral. At least I had a somewhat waterproof jacket on. My Sun Precaution's hat with its brim kept most of the water off of my face even as the mesh vents allowed my head to get soaked. The worst were my jeans. They were wet from my jacket bottom all the way down and what the rain didn't do to get my shoes wet, the runoff from my jeans did. The master bath is now a drying room, including the dollar bills that I had in my money clip. (Darn, only ones.) After I got my excessively wet clothes off, I had to use a towel on my legs and feet.
I'll let you know if I experience any sickness from this exposure, but I really don't expect to. I'm glad I completed my 10,000 steps, excuse me, aerobic steps. I may actually plan to be out walking in the rain the next time I can. I'll have to find my rain poncho though.
Oh, even though I left my "trash" bag in the park's trash can, I managed to find and pick up six bottles and cans on my way home. There were a couple more but I didn't have anymore effective carrying capacity.
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