Friday, April 18, 2008

Taxes

Taxes suck. Not just paying them, which is always painful. I mean filing. This system is absurd. Completing the forms using Turbotax (which I have been using since 1995) usually takes me about three hours. Compiling all of the information takes time as well, since we file Schedule C and other associated self-employment stuff (Realtors are independent contractors and are generally self-employed).

But this year was worse. I waited until the last minute (yes, I know that is not very bright), mainly because other things had higher priority. So, getting started at 1pm on April 14th was not smart, but it's a good thing I did. Michele and I didn't take a break until 2am, when I finally cracked. I was fried. My brain was like the picture, and physically I felt bad. I was dehydrated (instead of my usual 1.5 gal daily regimen, I'd had maybe a quart all day), and was way past being able to think clearly. So, I decided to get a shower and some sleep and would hit it in the morning.

April 15: I jumped back in and finally finished my federal taxes. There was an odd error in the file that took me nearly two hours to find, fix, and destroy. Fourteen hours to complete federal tax forms is insane. Why so long? Deductions. Especially non-cash donations, which must be itemized with value and condition. State taxes will be a breeze.

We usually try to have taxes filed before our annual ski trip, so we just have to send in payment on the deadline, but this year there seems to be so much going on. Our lives are not so different than anyone else's, so if you think about how many hours are consumed trying to comply with this silly process, it should be clear that the savings freed up by abolishing the current system and going to something simple would not only let us keep more of what is ours, but also free up tax revenue to be used where it should be, and more efficiently.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't worry Gregg, things will be a lot better when I get in.

Anonymous said...

"decalre those pennies on your eyes"