The other Taxman
Today is April 15th. This means that, along with millions of others, I’ll be making my way to the copy machine and then on to the post office so that my filled-out tax forms will have the proper postmark.
Ah, paying taxes. What fun! Along with close to 100% of Americans, I hate the process. It’s an attitude that unites us like almost nothing else.
Maybe you’re one of those early-birders. If so, my hat is off to you. I’m not ordinarily early, but this year I’m the latest I’ve ever been. Just looking at those booklets and forms gives me a headache. But now it’s done.
This time of year also reminds me of my father. He was both a lawyer and a certified public accountant, but it’s the latter profession that conjures up the April memories for me. He was not the Taxman (see video above) but the Taxmiddleman, the one who prepared tax forms—often of a very complex sort—and did it all by hand back in those pre-computer, pre-calculator days.
Every year starting around February—when my parents always went away to warmer climes for about ten days, in preparation for the long hard slog to come—until April 15th, my father would come home from work every night, eat dinner, and go immediately to a small table in our living room. There he’d set up shop until bedtime, around 11:30 or midnight, and then repeat the entire process the next day. Weekends it started earlier. No TV for him, and almost no relaxation, just this sitting in a chair, bending over papers and fiddling with small figures.
For those months, we kids were instructed to tiptoe around in the evenings and not disturb him. This was a tense time. We could see it in his exhausted face and bloodshot eyes.
And so in our house April 15 was a very happy day. That’s probably true for all the tax middlemen/women.
And of course, You Tube presents one of them, a CPA who’s made a rap video about his favorite holiday: today. He sure ain’t the Beatles, nor is he my father, but here he is:
God, he’s irritating.
Well, I don’t have any idea of how complex your tax picture is, but I’ve found that modern tax software is very adequate for the most part to get your taxes done in a couple hours. If it can’t do your job, you probably should hire a tax accountant.
I use Turbo Tax, but the main competitor is probably just as good.
Now THAT was funny. Too bad there won’t be a sequel.
Very creative.
Hey, it could be worse. April 15th could be your birthday, it’s mine. Birthday’s were a lot more fun before I had to start paying taxes. Now for me the best years are those were the 15th falls on a weekend.
Love your blog. You and Anchoress (another ex-Dem) are on my daily reading list. Keep up the good work.
We’re early birders. We file (usually) a single form, and we go pay someone to do it for us.
Not that we couldn’t do it ourselves.
Not that it doesn’t take just as much time to go have someone else do it.
But that we know we wouldn’t. We’d put it off. We’d do it *tomorrow* and then we’d put it off again.
So maybe we’re wasting money, but those couple hundred dollars are worth getting the return in mid February and not having to think about it again.
Since retirement I have not paid withholding tax. When taxes are withheld it is a kind of crutch. The money is taken out and you hope to get a little bit back at the end of the year. Painless, yes. But it hypnotizes you into not actually realizing how much you pay. (I think the government depends on that.)
Paying estimated taxes is a reality check. When you have to sit down and write a check every quarter for 1/4th of your tax bill you begin to see how much the government is costing you.
I always ask myself what the government has done to earn the money. I conclude that, aside from a superlative national defense, our airways, interstate highways, and National Parks, I don’t get much benefit from the Feds.
Of course the Feds send money to my state. Problem is the round trip from me to Washington D.C. and back to the local level has a cost – some say 25 cents on the dollar. Why not just leave the money here and have the state government collect and spend it?
Some people seem to think of Uncle Sam as a rich uncle. Don’t know where the money comes from, don’t care…….just give me some benefits. Paying estimated taxes changes that. At least in my case.
“When you have to sit down and write a check every quarter for 1/4th of your tax bill you begin to see how much the government is costing you.”
Actually, you still do not. Realize that for things like Social Security (one of the larger parts of your tax) your employer also pays that amount for you also.
That is, if you pay 2500 in estimated taxes the govt is actually getting 5000 – that amount is factored into what we called an “FTE” – or the total cost of a “Full Time Employee”. That amount would normally go to you as salary.
Add in other taxes employers pay for you (much of this comes off of overhead) as a group instead of an individual and again they are getting more than simply what is directly taken off of your paycheck.
The person who owns the business (since they are profiting off the backs of others and didn’t real eran the money) also pay a MUCH higher tax rate than you do.
If you really want to decide taxes are the biggest rip off on the planet then you should own and run a business. You can most likely double your whole amount of taxes from your paycheck to get the actual number the govt gets.
Like withholding, it is a way to get the money in such a fashion that it doesn’t “hurt”. It also makes them look good (you know – you get “free money” or the people who want “free health care”) when they take all of that, circulate it around, and give you some things “free” that you would have spent the money they took anyway (though they have generally payed 50% more than you would have so you end up with less in the long run).
Beatles, yes. (C)rap? Never…
Stop payroll deductions and force people to write a check to govt every month for monies earned. I’m convinced that one change would decimate the democrat party.
Here’s a video of Harry Reid saying that Taxes are voluntary and there is no forced withholding.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7mRSI8yWwg
“Here’s a video of Harry Reid saying that Taxes are voluntary and there is no forced withholding.”
Yeah, that’s the joke. If you work for wages the law requires withholding of income, FICA, & medicare/medicaid taxes. Just try to opt out. If you are a wage earner, as I was, it is only when you retire that you have the option of paying estimated taxes.
My retirement income is essentially fixed, so it’s easy to estimate taxes from year to year. My daughter has a small business and her income varies with economic conditions. I see how difficult it is for her to pay estimated taxes and not under/overpay. I feel for any small business owner trying to cope with all the tax regs. Particularly if they have employees, health insurance programs and other benefit programs in the mix.
I can’t believe I watched that video. All the way through. Alrighty, then ….