Looking Around

Yeah! They are done!

The taxes, the taxes... e-filed and on their way. I just hope the money spent on TurboTax turns out to be worth it. I am guessing it will. If nothing else, it helped me think through all the parts of the tax return I needed to fill out. My return got more complicated on New Year's Day... I just didn't realized how much.

I am (for the most part) a "working stiff"... I had some W-2 forms, I had withholding, I didn't own a house, I didn't work my own business (and no I am not interested in owning my own business but I might be interested in some DoubleXX vitamins). That is another post... the vitamins were one of the best things out of Amway that I found. They were on the cutting edge of food based nutritional supplementation 10 years ago and I am guessing they still might be there. But, that isn't what I started out doing this on and so let's save that subject for another day.

I was, getting back to my other topic, just a EZ file away from getting some money back each year. Hey, if you don't have "royalties, or income, or expenses (I didn't own a house)... then it really is not a bother to fill in taxes. Alas, over the past couple of years... well you know the old saw about the only thing permanent is change. Yep, things changed.

I got married about three tax filings ago. My bride does Early Childhood Education consulting and writing (translation- speakers fees and book royalties and expenses and profits...etc). The first year was ok... the guy across the street does taxes professionally. He costs money. He, also, said we owed a couple of thousand bucks more... ouch. Three months later the IRS... in a surprising and suddenly generous moment later... gave it mostly all back (seem he added when he should have subtracted or maybe it was the other way around). The gist of it was, he didn't do as well as I did roughing out the figures by hand just to see. And, I have more faith currently in the IRS to be kind of fair (even if the "A" word is not one I would want to hear or read).

Last year, we tried our own hand at it. We sat down with all the books and papers and lots of pens and pencils, a good pocket calculator and a couple of days later it was done. Not too much suffering. The consulting business had taken a beating and we both had jobs for most of the year... so it was a breeze. Then, the undesirable thing happened... my wife lost her "job" ( it was a hearbreak... she had just returned from giving a workshop at a national early childhood education conference when they let her go just before Thanksgiving). Why do organizations do that? Hi... Merry Christmas (or whatever) .... your're fired. Now, go celebrate the season! The taxes were fairly easy.

Then, on my suggestion (sort of), she did what I think she really needs to do for her next step in writing and consulting... she started her own school. She is now honing her education theory and management style against real world people. She is getting her concept for teaching creativity and art to young children (and their parents) down. Each week brings new insights, thoughts, writings... and tax stuff. I have to admit, she has her bits of information organized (way better than I can or am). She does a write up of it all... and then we did the taxes... and having a home office with childcare expenses... well, it added a level of complexity that took me a little time (about three weekends) to get comfortable with. There were percentages to figure, and costs tied to those percentages, that depended on other percentages with geometry and algebra all around. I no sooner figured one thing out than two other things popped out as unsolvable or unresolved until after a third thing go calculated. It was kind of simple and straightforward... but not.

At one point I went from getting a couple of thousand back to owing a couple of hundred to getting 50 back to well... it was a ride. And, after the second weekend of getting three different answers to some of the same questions... I took my brother's advice an purchased TurboTax... and it figured things a third and fourth way entirely... but the numbers stayed put. The end result is just not what I wanted entirely... I didn't owe, but I am not getting back as much as I did in years past. It is a good thing because my wife is not pursuing a "hobby" she turned a profit... it is a business. But, I feel good about the numbers. And, that is what is a really good thing.... Now, let's not rush into next year too quickly.