Although there will be some aftershocks extending into next week.
It's been one of those weeks where the money just flows...out.
First there was the "simple" fix of the RV's 12-volt system that turned into a completely new set of tires--all six of them at a cost of about $1.5K. Oh, and they still haven't got the 12-volt system fixed as the part had to be ordered from Timbuktu or somewhere.
The the refrigerator was diagnosed as terminal and a new one had to be purchased. Hopefully it will be delivered by my birthday, September 17th.
School taxes are due. 'Nough said. (At least the taxes on our 20 acres in PA are much, much less than they were for 1/3 of an acre in New Jersey and on a par with those for 34 acres in New York's Adirondacks.)
Today the Tundra's exhaust system went "KABLOOEY"..sorta. The tail pipe/muffler connection rotted out meaning the entire system needs replacement at a cost of $1K. Happened on Route 6 while I was going from the doctor's office to the hospital. More on that further down.
While scheduling the appointment I asked them to plan on doing my inspection as well. Then, on the way home, I remembered that the brakes (rotors and pads) will need replacement (another $1K) before it will pass inspection...unless the mechanic's forgetful. Well, the Tundra does have 122K miles on the odometer. The radio works just fine...I think. I never have it on.
Oh, and I went and saw the doctor today because I've still got sharp
pains in my buttocks from a fall I took four weeks ago. No
black-and-blue, no pain down the leg, no explanation for the continued
pain. Got sent for an X-ray but the doctor hasn't called me back so if
there's any damage to bone or disc will not be known until Monday at the
earliest. I can put up with a lot of pain...A LOT...but this was getting to be too long a period for me. I've things to do (and I've been doing most of them) and the sharp pain I was experiencing was...well...a pain in the ass (P.I.T.A.).
Speaking of doing things.... I went and ordered a load (about 22 tons) of pea gravel and purchased a slew of pressure treated 6"x6" timbers to build a raised, level box upon which to park the RV...when ever it returns.Now if I can get the back/buttocks to behave long enough, I can get the timbers in place and lag bolted together before the stone comes.
Oh, Terry and I celebrated our 42nd Anniversary on the 19th.
And, speaking of P.I.T.A., Terry had a colonoscopy. Everything was fine.
Interesting times, interesting times.
*And if you know to what the title refers (TWTWTW), you're as old a fart as I am.
Showing posts with label Taxes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taxes. Show all posts
Friday, August 22, 2014
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Certainties: Snow, Death, and Taxes
A series of winter lows are moving along the edge of the cold air that's bulged southward. Again. Friday's low dumped between 2 and 3 inches of light, white powder on the Aerie while the cold air moved in afterward. Two or three inches isn't enough to fire the tractor up nor is it enough to run the thrower, so I spent three hours in 18 degree temperatures shoveling the driveway. Luckily, there was no wind to blow the snow back in my face and my flannel-lined jeans, wool coat and fleece-lined gloves kept me warm when standing still. Once I was swinging the shovel, I even broke a sweat.
Three hours walking back and forth pushing the snow shovel. (I try not to lift and throw too much. Even the light stuff can get to you after a while.) As someone said on Facebook, I really gave the knees a workout. This morning I was still a bit achy. One thing I can be sure of, this won't be the last snow of the season.
Last night's little zephyr passed south and east of us and left only a tiny dusting of powder on the ground. (They say the next couple will do the same.) And the temperatures fell even further reaching a low of 8 degrees at dawn this morning. Yeah, it did shoot up to 22 degrees this afternoon under a cloudless, sunny sky, but it's going down tonight and tomorrow we may not see the teens.
This afternoon, I refilled the firewood rack in the garage from the woodpile behind the garage. The job would be easier if not for the hump left from the ditch the well drillers had dug and filled. That and the amount of stuff in the garage form Mom's house. The dirt hump means I have to walk about 10 feet from pile to wheel barrow while all the stuff in the garage means I have to do the same at the opposite end. Four trips back and forth to fill the rack but at least I'll be toasty the next couple of days.
******
Terry returns form her stitching weekend tonight. She won't be home long. She was going to go to New Jersey to see how things are progressing there, but then we got a phone call from South Carolina. Her cousin Lorraine, who has been battling cancer, has had her brain cancer stop responding to treatment. The prognosis is not good with the doctors saying she could survive for "up to three months" but it's really day-to-day. So, after a change of clothes and a night's sleep, Terry will be rolling down to Columbia and Sumter.
******
All the tax info is starting to arrive in the mail. I just pile them up for Terry to deal with. She speaks better bureaucratitis than I do. She can read through the forms without screaming...much. But this year, with Mom's death and all, even she is throwing in the cards and we'll be seeking professional help. As usual, I'll still be writing the checks.
Three hours walking back and forth pushing the snow shovel. (I try not to lift and throw too much. Even the light stuff can get to you after a while.) As someone said on Facebook, I really gave the knees a workout. This morning I was still a bit achy. One thing I can be sure of, this won't be the last snow of the season.
Last night's little zephyr passed south and east of us and left only a tiny dusting of powder on the ground. (They say the next couple will do the same.) And the temperatures fell even further reaching a low of 8 degrees at dawn this morning. Yeah, it did shoot up to 22 degrees this afternoon under a cloudless, sunny sky, but it's going down tonight and tomorrow we may not see the teens.
This afternoon, I refilled the firewood rack in the garage from the woodpile behind the garage. The job would be easier if not for the hump left from the ditch the well drillers had dug and filled. That and the amount of stuff in the garage form Mom's house. The dirt hump means I have to walk about 10 feet from pile to wheel barrow while all the stuff in the garage means I have to do the same at the opposite end. Four trips back and forth to fill the rack but at least I'll be toasty the next couple of days.
******
Terry returns form her stitching weekend tonight. She won't be home long. She was going to go to New Jersey to see how things are progressing there, but then we got a phone call from South Carolina. Her cousin Lorraine, who has been battling cancer, has had her brain cancer stop responding to treatment. The prognosis is not good with the doctors saying she could survive for "up to three months" but it's really day-to-day. So, after a change of clothes and a night's sleep, Terry will be rolling down to Columbia and Sumter.
******
All the tax info is starting to arrive in the mail. I just pile them up for Terry to deal with. She speaks better bureaucratitis than I do. She can read through the forms without screaming...much. But this year, with Mom's death and all, even she is throwing in the cards and we'll be seeking professional help. As usual, I'll still be writing the checks.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
At least it wasn't death...
Terry finished the paperwork and I wrote the checks so we got our federal and state taxes paid this week. It didn't cost us much this year as our pensions aren't taxed by PA and the withholding (almost) covered the federal taxes. If not for Social Security payments--the feds tax 'em and I've no withholding on the benefits--we would have owed even less. (PA doesn't tax those either. The only thing we paid to PA was for purchases made online.)
I'd much rather have to pay Uncle Sam than have to wait for a refund. I am adverse to providing the feds an interest free loan.
I'd much rather have to pay Uncle Sam than have to wait for a refund. I am adverse to providing the feds an interest free loan.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Aerie Report, April 11, 2011
We enjoyed a taste of late spring/early summer today with the temperature soaring to 77 degrees this afternoon. It could have been higher, but we had clouds most of the day. Tonight we will see a cold front come through with some thunderstorms possible (75% chance according to AccuHunch). That means tomorrow will be back to near the average temperatures for this time of year: the mid 50s.
Terry and I took advantage of the warm weather to do some yard work. She picked up the stones I had plowed into the garden along the driveway while I raked leaves from around the flowering crocuses on the hill and pulled weeds (mostly blackberry canes) from the edge of the deck. I also cleaned up some leaning deadwood in the woods adjacent to the trail leading west into the field. Dangerous stuff those widow makers. The had to hit the ground. There are a few more to go but they will require the chainsaw and I was just using brute force today.
******
We got some other unpleasant, unavoidable business out of the way this morning as I wrote the checks for the IRS and PA. I don't feel badly about having to do so as it means we didn't provide a free loan to either Uncle Sam or Harrisburg. The former got about $700 from us and the latter got just $7.
Later this month I have to write another check for the town and county taxes on the Aerie's two pieces of property (7 vacant acres and 10 acres on which the home sits) plus something called a personal tax ($5 each) that total will be around $1500. The school taxes to be paid in the fall will be about the same. So, all totaled up, the property taxes here in PA--for the year--are about 1/2 what I pay on the Bolt Hole (where I can not, of course, vote on how they are spent) and about 1/4 what we would have paid in New Jersey.
******
Two things bug me around this time of year: 1-All the adds about tax refunds and 2-All the lawyer ads about how they can get your tax bill reduced to a fraction of what you currently owe.
The refund ads are either about how this or that company can get you the largest refund you deserve, or about how you can spend said refund for this or that (usually a car or a trip).
First off, I'd want a company to tell me how I can pay as little as possible to the government during the course of the year so as to keep my own damn money at home and not send it off as a free loan to the government. Then I wouldn't have to worry about being sure to get it back.
The second type of ad makes me wonder just how someone gets $20 or $30 THOUSAND dollars (or more--much more) in debt to the IRS in the first place. How did they screw up THAT badly? Or was it just Murphy's Law that put them in the hole? And, for added measure, if they really do owe that much, why would the government let them off the hook for a fraction of the debt without forcing them into bankruptcy? And, if they don't pay what they really owe, then wouldn't the rest of us have to pick up the slack?
I don't know. Maybe I just don't understand how the game is played. Perhaps I am naive in the way's of taxation. I know I get frustrated after looking for just five minutes at the forms and that instructions to file and that is why Terry does the filling out of the forms while I just write the checks.
Give me a simple little tax from that says something like: "1-How much did you make? 2- Send us 10% of the above." No deductions. No exemptions. EVERYBODY pays. Make a dollar? Send them a dime. Simple. No? No need for all the big companies that do taxes fro frustrated folks like me. We could eliminate over half of the IRS, cut the amount of paper needed to a tiny, tiny little fraction of what is used now--and it wouldn't have to be revised Every. Stinking. Year.
Nah. Never happen. Not enough opportunity for graft or cheating.
******
I intentionally did not put the bird feeders out today. I'm hoping the Common Redpolls get the message that it's time to head north. There were a few around today but only about a dozen or so. That's a huge drop from what we have been seeing. I'll keep the feeders in fro a couple of days just to provide more encouragement but then will put them out for the newly arrived Goldfinches and other resident birds. The migrants from the south should be arriving soon, too, and I wouldn't want the Rose Breasted Grosbeaks and Indigo Buntings to pass us by. The hummingbirds should be showing up soon also so those feeders need to be filled and hung.
Terry and I took advantage of the warm weather to do some yard work. She picked up the stones I had plowed into the garden along the driveway while I raked leaves from around the flowering crocuses on the hill and pulled weeds (mostly blackberry canes) from the edge of the deck. I also cleaned up some leaning deadwood in the woods adjacent to the trail leading west into the field. Dangerous stuff those widow makers. The had to hit the ground. There are a few more to go but they will require the chainsaw and I was just using brute force today.
******
We got some other unpleasant, unavoidable business out of the way this morning as I wrote the checks for the IRS and PA. I don't feel badly about having to do so as it means we didn't provide a free loan to either Uncle Sam or Harrisburg. The former got about $700 from us and the latter got just $7.
Later this month I have to write another check for the town and county taxes on the Aerie's two pieces of property (7 vacant acres and 10 acres on which the home sits) plus something called a personal tax ($5 each) that total will be around $1500. The school taxes to be paid in the fall will be about the same. So, all totaled up, the property taxes here in PA--for the year--are about 1/2 what I pay on the Bolt Hole (where I can not, of course, vote on how they are spent) and about 1/4 what we would have paid in New Jersey.
******
Two things bug me around this time of year: 1-All the adds about tax refunds and 2-All the lawyer ads about how they can get your tax bill reduced to a fraction of what you currently owe.
The refund ads are either about how this or that company can get you the largest refund you deserve, or about how you can spend said refund for this or that (usually a car or a trip).
First off, I'd want a company to tell me how I can pay as little as possible to the government during the course of the year so as to keep my own damn money at home and not send it off as a free loan to the government. Then I wouldn't have to worry about being sure to get it back.
The second type of ad makes me wonder just how someone gets $20 or $30 THOUSAND dollars (or more--much more) in debt to the IRS in the first place. How did they screw up THAT badly? Or was it just Murphy's Law that put them in the hole? And, for added measure, if they really do owe that much, why would the government let them off the hook for a fraction of the debt without forcing them into bankruptcy? And, if they don't pay what they really owe, then wouldn't the rest of us have to pick up the slack?
I don't know. Maybe I just don't understand how the game is played. Perhaps I am naive in the way's of taxation. I know I get frustrated after looking for just five minutes at the forms and that instructions to file and that is why Terry does the filling out of the forms while I just write the checks.
Give me a simple little tax from that says something like: "1-How much did you make? 2- Send us 10% of the above." No deductions. No exemptions. EVERYBODY pays. Make a dollar? Send them a dime. Simple. No? No need for all the big companies that do taxes fro frustrated folks like me. We could eliminate over half of the IRS, cut the amount of paper needed to a tiny, tiny little fraction of what is used now--and it wouldn't have to be revised Every. Stinking. Year.
Nah. Never happen. Not enough opportunity for graft or cheating.
******
I intentionally did not put the bird feeders out today. I'm hoping the Common Redpolls get the message that it's time to head north. There were a few around today but only about a dozen or so. That's a huge drop from what we have been seeing. I'll keep the feeders in fro a couple of days just to provide more encouragement but then will put them out for the newly arrived Goldfinches and other resident birds. The migrants from the south should be arriving soon, too, and I wouldn't want the Rose Breasted Grosbeaks and Indigo Buntings to pass us by. The hummingbirds should be showing up soon also so those feeders need to be filled and hung.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Aerie Report, April 7, 2010
It stayed quite warm overnight with the low only being around 68 degrees. Today's high was 82 and it is still in the 70s at 10 PM. What the hell happened to spring? We seem to have gone from winter to summer with just a passing glance at the usual spring weather.
They (the usual suspects at AccuHunch and Weather.com) do say there's a chance of spring squeezing in another week starting Saturday. We'll see.
******
Got an email from my son the other day. Seems he's been bitten (or perhaps I should say "stung") by the beekeeping bug. Although he and Sandy live in apartment in Portland, Oregon, he's managed to "borrow" a friend's backyard and put in a hive. His bees arrived on Tuesday so he had to install them in their new home. He posted some pictures on Facebook but before I could view them, I had to register. (And if I didn't "have to register" it's too late for you to tell me otherwise, I'm in under my real name. I feel so exposed!)
Any way...He says things went well and that he only got stung twice. On the arms because he had only a thin flannel shirt on and the little buggers stung right through the sleeve.
******
Terry and I went to the optometrist this afternoon to have our eyes examined and see if we needed new specs. Eyes are fine. No changes in our prescriptions so we had no need for new glasses. Which is good as it saves a bundle. (Our insurance covers the exams, not the hardware.)
******
Terry finished our taxes and because of the gas lease we owe both the state and the feds some money this year. Unlike some in the county, we set aside all our lease money for the future with fully one third of it designated for tax purposes. We won't be sending all of that to The Man, but close to it. What's left over from that 1/3 will be going toward the preparations for our Alaskan Adventure. It will pay for the truck cap that's on order.
Making the arrangements for the transfer of funds at the bank today we heard that several folks didn't plan so wisely and spent all they got from the leases forgetting that the piper had to be paid eventually. They will be taking a big hit for their spendthrift ways.
PA gets its check in the mail tomorrow (Thursday). Uncle Sam will have to wait just a little longer just because.
******
Still waiting on word from the Alpin Haus as to the trailer. Could be...should be...any day now. Depends upon how long it takes to get the part they needed for the AC. I'm assuming (as I said before) that the furnace and electrical light problem were fixed as the gal that called had no news on either and, as they say, no news is good news. My overnight bag is packed and I've nothing to keep me from heading north on a moment's notice.
They (the usual suspects at AccuHunch and Weather.com) do say there's a chance of spring squeezing in another week starting Saturday. We'll see.
******
Got an email from my son the other day. Seems he's been bitten (or perhaps I should say "stung") by the beekeeping bug. Although he and Sandy live in apartment in Portland, Oregon, he's managed to "borrow" a friend's backyard and put in a hive. His bees arrived on Tuesday so he had to install them in their new home. He posted some pictures on Facebook but before I could view them, I had to register. (And if I didn't "have to register" it's too late for you to tell me otherwise, I'm in under my real name. I feel so exposed!)
Any way...He says things went well and that he only got stung twice. On the arms because he had only a thin flannel shirt on and the little buggers stung right through the sleeve.
******
Terry and I went to the optometrist this afternoon to have our eyes examined and see if we needed new specs. Eyes are fine. No changes in our prescriptions so we had no need for new glasses. Which is good as it saves a bundle. (Our insurance covers the exams, not the hardware.)
******
Terry finished our taxes and because of the gas lease we owe both the state and the feds some money this year. Unlike some in the county, we set aside all our lease money for the future with fully one third of it designated for tax purposes. We won't be sending all of that to The Man, but close to it. What's left over from that 1/3 will be going toward the preparations for our Alaskan Adventure. It will pay for the truck cap that's on order.
Making the arrangements for the transfer of funds at the bank today we heard that several folks didn't plan so wisely and spent all they got from the leases forgetting that the piper had to be paid eventually. They will be taking a big hit for their spendthrift ways.
PA gets its check in the mail tomorrow (Thursday). Uncle Sam will have to wait just a little longer just because.
******
Still waiting on word from the Alpin Haus as to the trailer. Could be...should be...any day now. Depends upon how long it takes to get the part they needed for the AC. I'm assuming (as I said before) that the furnace and electrical light problem were fixed as the gal that called had no news on either and, as they say, no news is good news. My overnight bag is packed and I've nothing to keep me from heading north on a moment's notice.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Well, there's still death...
Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit) links to TAXPROF's post that 47% of the population will pay no income tax in 2009.
This might explain in part why 53% of the voters went for the Democratic candidate in 2008.
I agree with Glenn: "See, I think that’s wrong. Everyone who votes should pay something — and that something should rise when spending does. Skin in the game...."
This might explain in part why 53% of the voters went for the Democratic candidate in 2008.
I agree with Glenn: "See, I think that’s wrong. Everyone who votes should pay something — and that something should rise when spending does. Skin in the game...."
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
What's a "Billion" mean?
Over the transom: From an email:
How many zeros in a billion?
The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.
A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of it's releases.
A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were
Living in the Stone Age.
A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.
While this thought is still fresh in our brain...
let's take a look at New Orleans.
It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.
Former Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) asked Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number...
What does it mean?
A.
Well... If you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) each get $516,528.
B.
Or... If you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.
C.
Or... If you are a family of four... Your family gets $2,066,012.
Washington, D. C Are all your calculators broken??
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago...
And our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt...
We had the largest middle class in the world...
And Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What happened?
Can you spell 'politicians!'
And I still have to
Press "1"
For English.
How many zeros in a billion?
The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.
A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of it's releases.
A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were
Living in the Stone Age.
A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.
While this thought is still fresh in our brain...
let's take a look at New Orleans.
It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.
Former Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) asked Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number...
What does it mean?
A.
Well... If you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) each get $516,528.
B.
Or... If you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.
C.
Or... If you are a family of four... Your family gets $2,066,012.
Washington, D. C Are all your calculators broken??
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago...
And our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt...
We had the largest middle class in the world...
And Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What happened?
Can you spell 'politicians!'
And I still have to
Press "1"
For English.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Taxes
Theo Sparks ( Last of the Few ) had this video up on his website today. I thought it was appropriate for the day after, so I stole it. Some interesting facts about the US Income Tax.
http://view.break.com/488189 - Watch more free videos
I tried doing our income taxes—once. After fifteen minutes of going through the forms trying to translate the gobbledegook I got so freakin’ pissed off that the papers got thrown across the room. Terry took over and did them for years. At the time she worked in NYC and I worked in NJ while we lived in NJ. We had to file forms for three different areas (NJ, NYC, and NYS) plus the feds.
Then the kids grew up and started working. In different states. Jess was in Maryland then California then Massachusetts as well as NJ. Rick was in NJ and then NJ, Idaho and God knows where else with the Marines. And I had a summer camp job in NYS as well as my teaching in NJ and Terry still had the NYS and NYC thing. Terry tried doing them all one year and vowed never again. So it was off to a CPA who happened to do them all for a cut rate as a special for teachers in the district. (He was a school board member and a friend.) That happened for several years until the kids went on their separate ways and we retired.
Terry’s back to doing them for just the two of us. I still can’t take the hassle of looking at the freakin’ things. The tax forms are one of the few things that can get my blood pressure thumping just by seeing ‘em in the post office or library. We owed PA something less than a dollar this year and got enough money back from the fed to pay for a new hutch and a trip to California in June for a wedding we’ll be attending. I hate the idea that we loaned the government so much money but it beats the hell out of having to write them a check.
http://view.break.com/488189 - Watch more free videos
I tried doing our income taxes—once. After fifteen minutes of going through the forms trying to translate the gobbledegook I got so freakin’ pissed off that the papers got thrown across the room. Terry took over and did them for years. At the time she worked in NYC and I worked in NJ while we lived in NJ. We had to file forms for three different areas (NJ, NYC, and NYS) plus the feds.
Then the kids grew up and started working. In different states. Jess was in Maryland then California then Massachusetts as well as NJ. Rick was in NJ and then NJ, Idaho and God knows where else with the Marines. And I had a summer camp job in NYS as well as my teaching in NJ and Terry still had the NYS and NYC thing. Terry tried doing them all one year and vowed never again. So it was off to a CPA who happened to do them all for a cut rate as a special for teachers in the district. (He was a school board member and a friend.) That happened for several years until the kids went on their separate ways and we retired.
Terry’s back to doing them for just the two of us. I still can’t take the hassle of looking at the freakin’ things. The tax forms are one of the few things that can get my blood pressure thumping just by seeing ‘em in the post office or library. We owed PA something less than a dollar this year and got enough money back from the fed to pay for a new hutch and a trip to California in June for a wedding we’ll be attending. I hate the idea that we loaned the government so much money but it beats the hell out of having to write them a check.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Hallelujah!
The TaxProf Blog has got the scoop: Today is Tax Freedom Day® for the average American taxpayer. According to the Tax Foundation, you must work the first 120 days of the year (until April 30) to meet your federal and state tax burden. Being a national average, however, means that in some states you’re still on the tax-paying clock while in other states you’ve been working for yourself for a few days already.
Click the link above to see whether you’re working for yourself or not.
The map has some interesting meaning when you match it with one for Red States/Blue States. The ten states with the heaviest tax burden (#1 is Connecticut—sorry, you’ll be paying taxes until May 20th) are all Blue States (Democrat strongholds), while those with the lightest tax burden are predominantly Red States. Oklahoma and Alabama have been off the clock since April 12th.
Maine, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Maryland would be numbers 11-14 on the Heavy list and Washington, D.C. would be number 3 on that list if it were a state.
Go on over and see where your situated. Today is Tax Freedom Day®
And, while you’re there, click on the link for the Tax Foundation’s announcement. There’s all kinds of interesting charts and tables to show how much of your money is going where.
(Seen first via Instapundit )
Click the link above to see whether you’re working for yourself or not.
The map has some interesting meaning when you match it with one for Red States/Blue States. The ten states with the heaviest tax burden (#1 is Connecticut—sorry, you’ll be paying taxes until May 20th) are all Blue States (Democrat strongholds), while those with the lightest tax burden are predominantly Red States. Oklahoma and Alabama have been off the clock since April 12th.
Maine, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Maryland would be numbers 11-14 on the Heavy list and Washington, D.C. would be number 3 on that list if it were a state.
Go on over and see where your situated. Today is Tax Freedom Day®
And, while you’re there, click on the link for the Tax Foundation’s announcement. There’s all kinds of interesting charts and tables to show how much of your money is going where.
(Seen first via Instapundit )
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Taxes and tax cuts
Terry’s was busy doing the taxes this weekend. We should make out alright what with the move from NJ to PA and both our incomes free from state taxes. The sale of the NJ house and the purchase of our log home pretty much balanced out one another and all the energy star stuff in the new home gives us a pretty nice tax credit.
Why’s Terry doing the taxes? Well, the accountant who did them the last few years is back in NJ some 250 miles away. And the last time I tried to read through all the forms I damn near busted a hole in the wall. Now most of the walls are log so I’m not even going to try. Besides having worked for the federal government she’s more accustomed to the BS than I am.
Speaking of taxes, GuyK has a post that explains tax cuts in such a way that even the dumbest reporter or legislator could understand…if they want to. Go on over to his site and read it here.
Why’s Terry doing the taxes? Well, the accountant who did them the last few years is back in NJ some 250 miles away. And the last time I tried to read through all the forms I damn near busted a hole in the wall. Now most of the walls are log so I’m not even going to try. Besides having worked for the federal government she’s more accustomed to the BS than I am.
Speaking of taxes, GuyK has a post that explains tax cuts in such a way that even the dumbest reporter or legislator could understand…if they want to. Go on over to his site and read it here.
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