Death & Taxes

Today is tax day across America. If you haven’t yet filed your tax return, pause, do so now, and then you can resume reading!

Of course, if you did file your tax return TODAY, you benefited from having two extra days this year. Procrastinators must’ve loved the extra 48 hours! April 15 – our normal day – fell on Sunday. Normally, the tax collectors would’ve just rolled it to Monday but it was Patriots’ Day (a state holiday in Massachusetts and Maine to commemorate the Revolutionary War battles of Lexington and Concord), hence the extra day.

So, tax day for 2012 is on April 17. Got all that?

For us, it doesn’t usually matter. Lisa and I have been pretty good about NOT putting off the tax ordeal. It’s not fun for anyone – and complicated for more folks than others – but we typically try to do our return (thanks to tax software) as early as possible. Our springs tend to be busier than our winters. So, we just try to knock it out in February.

It has not always been that way.

I remember when we were younger, with young kids, it was a struggle to get it done by the deadline (anything was a struggle to get done by the deadline!). I remember one year in specific – Holly was asleep in her carseat in the back – as we waited in line to drop off our return at the main post office. In fact, there were television reporters there covering the event (as there will probably be later tonight).

One of the reporters saw that we had ‘baby on board’ and he figured that made a good angle so he asked if he could ask us a few questions. He asked if there was a specific reason why we waited to the last minute. I commented about us being new parents and how we were still working out our time management skills. He also asked about our ‘new deduction’ in the backseat.

I’m sure that a close-up of a little toddler was too easy for broadcasters to pass up!

Later, as the kids grew up (and we became more experienced), tax returns (laundry, bill paying, grocery shopping, etc.) were easier. This year, we did very well. Tax experts say you shouldn’t get a huge refund. That’s just like an interest free loan for the government.

So, taking that advice to heart, we did it just right this year.

It’s like I used to say about baseball coaching, about the time you figure everything out, it’s time to move on to the next thing.

Anyway, it’s not that I’m pining for the old days with paper forms and #2 pencils, though. I like the e-filing option just fine!

If you are doing it the old-fashioned way, more power to you. But if you happen to be in that line of traffic over on Weisgarber around midnight, I’ll be with you in spirit. Just know that’s way past my bedtime.

JG 

(Source: Yahoo!)

Originally posted 4/17/2012