I hate doing my taxes. Even the contemplation of dealing with taxes is enough to send me into an emotional tailspin, spiraling downwards, my spirit and psyche trailing behind me like the smoke and flames from a defeated aircraft crashing from the destruction of an aerial dogfight. My record keeping is a mess, my receipts distributed like snow on the Arctic barrens, the papers stacked and shoved into boxes in the vain hope that a magical book-keeping fairy will take pity on me and carry me through this hated annual ritual while I, like the princess of fable, sleep undisturbed by the devil of these details.
It's not that I mind paying taxes; quite the reverse, the money is not the real issue, although I am not without a wistful gaze as my cash heads east. After all, there are limits even to this incredulity. While I am not truly joyful in the sharing of my income through this enforced redistribution system, where government nabobs and elected officials make themselves wealthy by making the public poorer, I recognize that taxes cannot be escaped. They are a necessary evil, and a perpetual one at that. Napoleon was right. I will pay my taxes and while there may be inequities in the system, they will not stop me from my responsibility.
In fact, as a Canadian and in my present condition, I am doing fairly well with respect to the tax system. I think for the first time in my life, this year I will be a net recipient of government largess. Last year, not so much. Now, however, for the first time in my life, this year the government will spend more on me than I will on it. I know that others are paying so I can get world-class health care, albeit with the odd bump in the middle. I know that others are paying so I can get my minuscule disability pension. I know that the care and concern shown to me by our government is simply my expected return on what has been over 40 years of giving more than I got.
No, it's not the taxes that bother me although I do have some limits there too. None of us wants to pay too much. It's the paperwork, the tracking of receipts, the filling in of forms, the reporting; that's where my knickers get in a knot. Over the years I seem to have developed a type of "form related dyslexia", where documents requiring completion frighten me and supporting documentation and record keeping escapes me.
My tax files and records are a mess. I greatly fear that there will be no tax fairy appearing in a twinkle of stardust to turn my pumpkin into a carriage. I will, with all the attendant stress and anguish, once again be forced to face that which I fear the most - explaining my finances to the government. If anything is going to kill me before ALS is done with me, it will be the stress from this annual exercise in futility. It will be done, badly, more expensively than needed. I will delay. I will dawdle. I will defer. I will procrastinate, linger, loiter, postpone and put off. Then, hatefully and bitterly, I will comply. It will exhaust me.
You will alleviate much hatefullness and bitterness if you do NOT procrastinate, linger, loiter, postpone and put off. Just git 'er done, and move on!
ReplyDeleteSend them in to the taxation office and let them figure it out Rick. Tell them the truth you are ill and an a state because of the work. If you don't want to do that take them all to an accountant and get him to do the job. Relax. That is what we do.
ReplyDeletelove
Mom
You should hire someone to do the tax preparation and computation for you if these tasks highly stress you out. If you go abroad, there are expatriate tax services that will have your back.
ReplyDeleteYou are not alone, Richard. Preparing taxes can really be cumbersome, though there are ways you can make this a much easier task. For instance, you can use a freeware program that computes taxes. Make sure your forms are in the right order so the IRS will have a smooth time reviewing them. Paying taxes easily is basically a matter of efficient record-keeping.
ReplyDeleteDon Iley @ BestDenverCPA.com
It can be quite frustrating to do one's taxes, because it involves a lot of computation and backtracking through mountains of receipts and paperwork that will reflect your financial activities. Anyway, there are programs that you can use to keep track of your financial records that is hassle-free, once you get used to it. It’s more convenient, because you don’t have to worry about lost records, since everything is consolidated in one file.
ReplyDeleteDarcy Grubaugh @ Quantum Buyers