“She didn’t make her quarterlies on time.”
This year, I sailed breezily through tax preparation time. No fretting, no anguish. This is because I was entirely too busy making cute cuff bracelets to focus on doing any prep work in anticipation of visiting the tax preparer. When, on Tuesday, I finally removed the glue that had been keeping my eyes sealed shut for several months, I was able to look at my Daytimer. I noted that my appointment with the tax preparer was scheduled for the following morning. I immediately became hysterical. After that, I went to the filing cabinet and pulled out all of my tax stuff. The first thing I saw was that I had neglected to make my second and third quarterly payments. I became even more hysterical. I tried to remember what I had been doing for the last six months that was more important than making quarterly payments. The answer was that I was spending the money that should have gone toward the quarterly payments.
I’m a Realtor. This means that for tax purposes, I’m what’s referred to as an Independent Contractor. An Independent Contractor is neither self-employed nor employed by a company. This puts me in the same category as military mercenaries and court jesters. And it means, unlike a real employed person, I can’t get group health insurance. It also means that, unlike a real self-employed person, I can’t deduct expenses for my home office, which is my place of business. And, because I’m the only one here, if I declare an annual Secret Santa Christmas gift exchange, I will most likely know who my Secret Santa is. I am stuck right in the middle of being employed and being self-employed.
It does mean that I must make quarterly payments, based on a wildly fluctuating income ranging from something to nothing. The percentage of the payments is based on income from the year before which may have nothing to do with my current year’s income. If I calculate incorrectly, I’m screwed. If I make no quarterly payments, I’m especially screwed. This is the year of Being Especially Screwed.
I called my tax accountant. Her name is Janet. Each year, Janet is accustomed to getting hysterical calls from me. They include:
“Janet! I can’t find my 1099! I swear it was right here! I didn’t move it! I was just eating my lunch, and now it’s gone! Oh, wait. I see it. Under the piece of cheese. Never mind.”
***
“Janet! I can’t do this! Every time I get everything together, some stupid new piece of paper comes in the mail! This is ridiculous! How can I keep my appointment with you if people keep sending me stuff with big words on the envelopes that say “IMPORTANT TAX DOCUMENT INSIDE?! How many IMPORTANT TAX DOCUMENTS can one very short, post-menopausal woman handle?!”
***
“Godammit! I lost the f-ing phone number for that idiot woman I was supposed to call today about that stupid workshop thing! Hello? Hello? Who am I talking to? Janet? Huh? Wha–? Oh, sorry, I thought I was calling my friend Joyce. Never mind.”
***
This year it was: “Janet! I forgot to pay my quarterlies! Can I send a check to the IRS now? Like today? I can be at the post office in 10 minutes! If I drive really fast, I can make it in five minutes! And what’s going to happen to me!? How much of a penalty will this cost me!? I have no money!” Janet’s answer was “Just calm down. Don’t send a check. It’s too late, anyway. We’ll deal with it when you get here. Everything will be fine.” Janet is good. She talked me down.
I should explain here, that I don’t normally go off the deep end about things (Note to my daughter: If you are reading this, DO NOT submit a snide comment). It’s just that I have a long and tragic history with the IRS. It’s even worse than my long and tragic history with Chemistry 101 and Technical Support Teams. Plus, the IRS has been given the Right by God to keep my money unlawfully and then, when they finally see the error of their ways, to return it without so much as a limp “Oh, sorry.” So I’m not real optimistic about this.
I kept my appointment with Janet. She now has every shred of my 2010 financial life and like each year, will somehow manage to make sense out of it all, even though I can’t. Then, she will tell me if the IRS will levy a fine on me that I can’t pay and then come up with some other awful and totally legal ways to ruin my life. At least they can’t send me to prison. I think. At 5’1”, horizontal stripes wouldn’t be the best fashion choice for me.
Those of you praying types out there, pray for me. The rest, just send cash.
Lisa Kramer
March 14, 2011
I feel your pain and hope for the best!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks. Do you need my address so you can send a check?
Lisa Kramer
March 14, 2011
LOL! If I had any money . . . 😉
close2bliss
March 14, 2011
Renee, I, too have money being held in the “Internal Revenue Bank & Trust”. You know, they don’t even have the decency to pay interest…those bastards!! I know in short order that the IRS will be abolished and our tax structure completely overhauled. Hold your breath with me, will you? I think my “rose colored glasses” just shattered…damnit!!
On a more “not-so-serious” note, please check out my new blog at http://close2bliss.wordpress.com I would just love to get your feedback.
I love yours, by the way, and if I can ever figure out the f-ing dashboard and widgets and what nots, I’ll add you to my blogroll……….any day now!! Thanks for reading mine…in advance, that is!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for visiting the alternate universe I inhabit. I have been through so much with the IRS, I should be getting treated for PTSD. I checked out your blog. Fun stuff. I recently tried to switch from wordpress.com to wordpress.org so I could do fancy, exciting things. Instead, I just got depressed. I couldn’t make anything work and I almost lost all my followers. I swicthed back to .com.
The Good Greatsby
March 14, 2011
I’d like to wire you $5000. Just tell Janet to wire me $500 to verify that your account is legitimate and then I’ll wire $5500 back.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Hey, thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane. I usually thank people for making a comment, but I’m pretty sure you are the same person who recently wrote to me saying “Beloved Dear, I am the daughter of the Finance Minister of Sierra Leone. My father’s account now has $25,000,000….”
Lisa Kramer
March 14, 2011
Wait a second, I thought she wrote me?
Hippie Cahier
March 14, 2011
A realtor, a military mercenary, and a court jester walk into a bar, and Janet says, “Oh no, not you three!”
I’m a little low on cash.I’ll keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Bummer. Clearly, blog friendship only goes so far. But that was a good joke.
Hippie Cahier
March 14, 2011
Look at you, all Freshly Pressed!!
omawarisan
March 14, 2011
Well damn, 8 months from my AARP card, 2 years from retirement and my second career is shot. I’m not going to be a court jester if I can’t deduct my tights as an expense.
Enough about me, let’s talk about you. I have your strategy ready. Write a note and admit the money is spent. Choice of words is important here; “I stimulated the economy” or “I invested in the American people” would be better than “I spent it”.
Hippie Cahier
March 14, 2011
How is it that I have an AARP card before you?
omawarisan
March 14, 2011
The only good thing about me having moved from DC is that I am geographically farther from my upcoming AARP card.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
When, in my late 40s, I started getting AARP stuff, I raced to the trash as fast as I could. By 60, I was thinking it was cool. Either AARP has changed, or…. (Do NOT complete this sentence, please).
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
My daugther lives in London, so unfortunately, I’m pretty sure I was stmulating the British economy. That will add even more penalities onto my rap sheet. But I am loving the thought of you as a court jester.
charlywalker
March 14, 2011
Rap sheet……..”You don’t mess..with the IRS…..”
Just add beat box..
spread the humor: chalrylwalker.wordpress.com
Amy
March 14, 2011
We owed the IRS $5k one year because my dear, sweet husband has no clue when it comes to money (he cashed in an IRA and didn’t tell them to take out the taxes). I am horrible at math and with money, but because I am slightly better at it than my husband, I get the job of doing our taxes every year. I need to find myself a Janet.
Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Freshly Pressed? What?
Amy
March 14, 2011
Yup.
Enjoy the ride!
Amanda Hoving
March 14, 2011
Just saw that…WOOT!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks! Last time it happened, I had just arrived in London. I’ll be in London on Thurs. I guess I have to get out of town more often.
Amanda Hoving
March 14, 2011
I’m sorry about your year of being especially screwed, Renee. My husband is an accountant (although not a tax one), so I largely let him worry about being thrown in jail for miscalculations. Is that wrong?
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
In 2007, I changed my filing status retroactive to my 2006 taxes. I was supposed to receive a check for 13K. Instead I got a bill for 47K. It took until about six months ago to get the whole thing resolved. The interest and penalties were as long as the Federal Budget.
charlywalker
March 14, 2011
Only three years to remedy a tax issue??? Ohh the Government must have an accelerated program….
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Janet (praise be to her) suggested I contact the Taxpayer Advocate’s Office. They are miracle workers. After my getting nowhere for three years, they resolved everything in a couple months. Give these folks the Nobel Peace Prize. Or something.
tinkerbelle86
March 14, 2011
love the picture that you have teamed with the blog 🙂
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane. Yes, it’s exactly how I feel when dealing with the IRS.
Chase McFadden
March 14, 2011
My favorite part is the dialogue from the three hysterical calls to Janet. The voice of this is terrific.
I can’t believe you can’t claim expenses from a home office. As a realtor, you probably spend a lot of time in your car. Can that be claimed as a mobile office?
As a sidenote, my parents’ anniversary is April 15. My dad wanted a date he could remember. What a romantic.
Congrats on Pressed.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for visiting life in the Boomer Lane. You might have the Best. Blog. Name. Ever. I do deduct my car, especially since I might be living in it soon. I will use your dad story liberally.
leadinglight
March 14, 2011
I got paid $1228 after tax last year but they pulled $950 student stipend they gave me because my income was in excess. It was only after I discovered that it was the tax office taking my moolah I became really dejected. Can’t blame them though: have a hefty student loan to pay off. But I think I need to figure out my own taxes rather than paying for a Janet which is why I learned MYOB.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane. Oooh, bad. I got screwed a few years ago when I used a Big Tax Company With A Green Logo that shall remain nameless.
Katybeth
March 14, 2011
Misery loves company–consider me some of the best company you will ever find. Trying to work through it now.
Wishing us both good luck.
♥
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Ah, I do wish you the best. I’ve just come out of a nightmare that started in 2007. It just sucks the life right out of you. Then it stomps on your head.
yael
March 14, 2011
Daughter promises not to make any snide comments. In fact, here is a helpful one: I know for a fact there are online simulators now that will arrange a group of employees’ Secret Santa exchange for them and send all the requisite emails. Now you just have to find a group.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Can it make everyone simulated drunk and do simulated wild office party-type things?
Lisa Kramer
March 14, 2011
Hey, congrats on being Freshly Pressed! I forgot to put that as one of my birthday wishes, but I am happy to see bloggers that I like get Pressed! You go girl.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks, Lisa!
nearlynormalized
March 14, 2011
Cry, cry, cry…Think about it, you don’t live in Japan…
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane. Hey, absolutely. Those of us who write humor have to focus on humor-worthy topics. What is happeing in Japan is horrific.
bandsmoke
March 14, 2011
Great post 😀 Good luck with the men in grey and congrats on FP!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane and commenting! And thanks. Think the IRS will cut me some slack because I’m Freshly Pressed?
charlywalker
March 14, 2011
No…I think with the Gov’t it’s better to lie low….
They may cut you slacks from prison stripes but I doubt they’ll iron out your freshly pressed wrinkles….
spread the humor..
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for stopping by my world, Charly. I love your comment. I read it three times. I’m about to read it again.
charlywalker
March 15, 2011
Thanks feel free to do a drive by at my bolg….
B.C. Young
March 14, 2011
I get my taxes taken care of early. But early than late, I say.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane and commenting! Yes, early is always better.
Tori Nelson
March 14, 2011
Haha! Love the note to your daughter!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks, Tori. Yes, if I should ever forget any of my episodes of hysteria/social incompetance/inappropriate behavior, there is a record of it in her brain. At the same time, I think she really is my #1 fan.
dweebcentric
March 14, 2011
i hate tax season, but i love this blog. though, sometimes i love the comments more.
i also hate capitalizing letters…
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for having the courage to enter my world. Yes, some comments people write are hilarious. I never use caps when I write emails. Why do we have to use them at all? But, here, I am trying to be a real person. Sort of.
1959duke
March 14, 2011
The joys of dealing with the IRS. Those people don’t laugh when it comes to us giving them our money which they use to pay their employees with. Kinda sounds like a divorce lawyer!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Exactly. And the worst thing is when you call about an issue, you can’t talk to anyone who has any actual authority. You just talk to an operator.
Mikalee Byerman
March 14, 2011
Who is this mythical Janet? For she is wise (and I would like to borrow her…)
😉
Great post. Good luck with Secret Santa next year. As an independent contractor/freelance writer, I can totally relate!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for visiting my world and commenting. I love Janet. She stays calm in the face of my hysteria. If you live in the DC area, I can pass her contact info on. Can we band together and create an Independent Contractor’s Union?
rtcrita
March 14, 2011
So that’s what an Independent Contractor is. I am self-employed (part-time) and I always get confused on all the titles and categories and ways the IRS wants to peg a person just trying to make some money to survive. Can’t they just have a single category that says, “just trying to stay alive” and make it easy?
Very funny post. Enjoyed reading it. Good luck with those bast*$@#!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane and commenting. Yes, the Independent Contractor category should be changed to “Just trying to stay alive.” The main thing for me is the health insurance. I pay over $600 each month. I know other Realtors who pay $1000.
Renee Davies
March 14, 2011
Renee, great post! Nice to see you on the front page!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for reading and commenting! Yes, today will be exciting. And tomorrow I’ll be me again.
merrilymarylee
March 14, 2011
Gulp!
My sympathies!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks, MaryLee!
pegoleg
March 14, 2011
Hey, I know you!
It’s human nature to worry, but don’t lose sleep about those horizontal stripes. I’m sure it won’t come to that. Lots of prisons are going to orange jumpsuits, which you could accessorize easily with a nice scarf.
Congrats on FP (again, right?)
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Hey Peg, thanks for visiting my world again. I thought about those orange jumpsuits, but I look dreadful in orange. I’m going to be a difficult prisoner. Yes, second time FP. The first time, I was in London when I found out. This time, I leave for London in three days. I told someone else I should get out of town more often.
nearlynormalized
March 14, 2011
I say as Miss Bette Midler use to say, “Phuque em if they can’t take a joke.” I guess not having the money to freak about with taxes in itself is worthy of a smile.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Good ole Bette. She always has the correct response for anything.
Kevin
March 14, 2011
the IRS are a privately owned company! “How are they considered a Government entity? This is troublesome to say the least. Especially when back in their beginnings, they said taxes would never get over a very small amount of our earned wages! I guess they started the rumor “the checks in the mail’ too! Yes?
Nice article.
Praying for you. Really! It’s never a small matter….
Kevin
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane and commenting, Kevin! Funny line about the IRS starting “the check’s in the mail.”
James R. Clawson
March 14, 2011
They say that there are only two things that we can’t avoid in this life. That is Death and Taxes. Hope it all works out for you in the end.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane and commenting, James. And thanks for your good wishes!
writerwoman61
March 14, 2011
Congrats on being FP’d, Renée! Fun post! Can I say I knew you when?
I did my own taxes every year until last year…it was the first year that Jim and I officially became common-law…I wasn’t sure just how much that was going to affect me.
Every year, as I laboured to do my personal taxes and taxes for two businesses (I was self-employed at the time), I wondered “How do stupid people manage this?” I also wondered how much time some government employee has to have to come up with the complicated formulas: “Take the age of your hamster, multiply by 27, and subtract 3…put result in box #152.”
AARRGH!
At least our taxes in Canada aren’t due until April 30th!
Wendy
Abigail
March 14, 2011
I have hamsters. So my answer would currently be 24; hamsters generally live one to two years. I think it’s more like age of hamster in days. (And too bad if you don’t know when he was born.)
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks, Wendy. You can say you knew me when, but if you just wait until tomorrow, the real me will be back. Like you, I have asked myself that same question, icluding elderly people and people who are language-challenged. Years ago, after Then Husband stopped doing my taxes for me (He continued to do so for several years after we split), I told myself I was an intelligent person and if I simply took it slowly, I could do it. I think I lasted maybe halfway down the first page.
I Made You A Mixtape
March 14, 2011
Lol… I don’t know whay they have to make paying taxes so difficult… the way i deal with them is I just had over all my recipts and documents to my tax accountant- and then hope for the best….lol!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for visiting my world and commenting! Yes, that’s what I do now, except it is my responsibility to make my quarterly payments. Groan.
Abigail
March 14, 2011
At 22, and still in college with no real steady job, I’m already finding that the IRS is probably one of the most jerkiest and nastiest companies alive. They say things like, “You screwed up. Bad bad you. Send us money for this mistake. If you don’t, we’ll start collecting interest anyway. (In little font). Oh, yeah, I suppose you can always file a complaint and try to explain why you didn’t, but that’s never worth it.” (They did that to my parents. Turned out it was a rounding mistake.)
I could send you five dollars, since I just won a writing contest. Think that’ll help?
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for visiting my world, Abigail. Wow, good for you! What an achievement. Take all your winnings and celebrate.
My Camera, My Friend
March 14, 2011
I’m also in my 20s and currently unemployed. My biggest tax worry for this year is state taxes. I worked the summer in a state I don’t live in. So many questions. Why are taxes so confusing? I have to ask why we can’t all just pays some flat percentage of what we earned in a year and have that be it.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
We can’t do that because it makes too much sense. Thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane and commenting.
Sister Earth Organics
March 14, 2011
If we couldn’t laugh at the absurdity of taxes, we would cry. it’s like getting older….there’s no way around it, so you might as well just pony up and play.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane and commenting! My cure for fretting about aging was the death of one of my closest friends. We were both 47. Now, I rejoice in each year, since I’m living for her as well. But I don’t think I’ll ever have an epiphany about taxes. Groan.
nearlynormalized
March 14, 2011
Regarding taxes….Why do the richest pay the least? Share the burden and it will not be the war between the ‘have and have nots.
Thomas
March 14, 2011
Congrats on being Freshly Pressed not once but twice. Lightning really does strike the same place. One more time and you can offically say you’re a pundit.
I agree with you on the quarterly return business. It drives me crazy. I got out of that this past year by not earning any money. Drastic but it worked.
Here is my rant on the tax code:
http://middleofthefreakinroad.com/2010/04/11/why-congressmen-should-have-to-prepare-their-own-taxes/
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Funny, I had totally given up on it happening again. I read your rant. It was a good rant. And hey, I did the same thing this year: no income=no quarterly taxes!
dufmanno
March 14, 2011
I feel the pain of quarterly filing. We were independent contractors for fifteen years until we realized it might be a good idea to get an accountant.
There is nothing on this earth quite so painful as seeing the penalty letter come in the IRS envelope emblazoned with the skull and crossbones.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
And, answer this question: Why do letters like that only arrive on Saturday? Never any other day. Saturday. So all you can do is stare at it and watch your life flash before your eyes.
sunshineinlondon
March 14, 2011
Wow, Freshly Pressed! Congratulations, wonderful and well deserved, Renee!
Hope you don’t have to go for the horizontal stripes – and the ball and chain’s not so much fun, either. Hope it all works out ok, Janet sounds like a keeper.
Sunshine xx
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
The first time I was freshly Pressed, I had just called Now Husband Dan to say I had just arrived in London and asked him to check my post hits. At that time, I had been getting 10-20 hits. NHD said “1200.” So I was standing in my daughter’s flat, jumping up and down. Now, I’m ready to leave. The question is: How does my going to London trigger a Freshly Pressed?
carldagostino
March 14, 2011
Congrats on Freshly pressed. But did you know you have to pay tax on this? Yep. Whether you have any income or not, writers must pay syntax.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Carl, that is brilliant. I’d like to pay you for that comment. Write to the IRS. They have my money.
Amy @ Never-True Tales
March 14, 2011
I am lucky enough to be completely useless at this stuff, thereby causing my husband to deal with all of it. Head…sand…yep. It’s nice. I’d be hysterical all. the. time.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 14, 2011
Thanks for visiting my universe and commenting, Amy! Yes, I was like that for many years until Then Husband and I split. Head…Sand…Good.
decidetodecideetc
March 14, 2011
As Ray Romano once riddled:
What do I do right after I have sex with my wife?
Pay my estimated quarterly taxes!
Hope you get lucky with the IRS or lucky in love or just lucky!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 15, 2011
Ah, so funny! Thanks for visiting my universe and thanks for the great comment!
Justice Bird
March 15, 2011
Your picture was perfect for your article. Haha! So good!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 15, 2011
Thanks, Justice, and thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane!
36x37
March 15, 2011
Remind me to tell you sometime about the grave calculation error I made one year that lead to me being audited. Not good.
Best of luck. May we both make it to April 15 without weeping ourselves silly.
Renee Fisher
March 15, 2011
Ah, you too! A friend and I sold a business for $34,000 and we got audited. The whole thing was surreal, and while it was going on I kept thinking about all the people who owed hundreds of thousand sof dollars in taxes and nothing seemed to ever happen to them.
Nabeel's Cosmos
March 15, 2011
Man the taxes in the US are terrible … especially because the poor pay more taxes than the rich … false promises and ignorant public who elect politicians who make false promises.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 15, 2011
Thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane and commenting. Yes, the tax system could do with some improvement!
faithandstagefright
March 15, 2011
You and my husband could be BFFs … This is exactly what his typical tax season sounds like. And next year I take over his books … I may need Janet’s number. 🙂 Great post, thanks for the laugh!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 15, 2011
And thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane! Are you sure you really want to take over his taxes? Ugh.
goodatlife
March 15, 2011
LOL (I only write that if I seriously laughed out loud). This is really good. Thanks for sharing, you’re a great writer. Glad you have Janet. 🙂 dara
lifeintheboomerlane
March 15, 2011
Thanks for visiting my alternate universe, Dara. I’ll pass your comment on to Janet!
monicastangledweb
March 15, 2011
I can so relate. I start sweating bullets about this sometime around Thanksgiving. I work full time and I freelance. It’s the freelance that kills me. I didn’t do quarterly payments last year, because the year before I got a refund and didn’t owe anything. This year I owe buckets and boatloads. I filed my taxes already but am waiting until the day before the deadline (which is Apr 18th this year) before mailing in my check. Sigh.
Congrats on being freshly pressed.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 15, 2011
Thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane, Monica. Taxes are such an ordeal for so many people. Except, of course, for all those who seem to get away with paying nothing on their enormous incomes. I guess the IRS hasn’t found them yet. But the rest of us….
reelingintheyears.wordpress.com
March 15, 2011
Congrats on FP! Loved reading this–I have pieces of paper all over the house waiting to be gathered and organized. I finally went and bought a filing cabinet the size of a VW in hopes it will organize me.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 15, 2011
Thanks! I love that “filing cabinet the size of a VW” line. When I start to get things together to bring to the tax preparer, I cover all available surfaces, including the cat.
Your ex partner
March 15, 2011
Hey, wait. I just found another “IMPORTANT TAX DOCUMENT” from our last business that you can start paying quarterlies on.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 15, 2011
Go find another blog to harrass.
oluwashola
March 15, 2011
Oops . . .O so feel the pain you are going through right now ,I pray will be fixed peacefully.
oluwashola
March 15, 2011
I meant ”I feel the pain you are going throught at the moment and i just pray this is fixed peacefully” . . ..But funny thread though.
notesfromrumbleycottage
March 15, 2011
As a freelance writer, I know your pain. We already did our taxes and found we are getting back much less than last year. Which means I am broke, once again.
lifeintheboomerlane
March 15, 2011
Oh my, that sucks. It’s especially tough when you get back less than you expected.
Stephen Bartholomew
March 15, 2011
Very funny post. Good luck with everything. Keep writing!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 15, 2011
Thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane, Stephen, and thanks!
Amiable Amiable
March 16, 2011
Congrats on being Freshly Pressed! And a hilarious post.
I have no money to send, and I’m not sure God’s in my corner these days, but I’m praying for ya none-the-less!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 16, 2011
Thanks, and thanks, and thanks!
thescribblespot
March 16, 2011
LOL! I love your style and feel your pain. I’d send money but unfortunately am currently preparing to lift my skirts and dance a jig for the South African equivalent of the IRS 😉
lifeintheboomerlane
March 16, 2011
Damn. I wish we could lift our skirts and do a jig here in lieu of paying cash. You South Africans have a great system. Thanks for visiting Life in the boomer Lane and leaving your hilarious comment!
mrthekidd
March 16, 2011
I’m totally the same (in the UK) – no employee benefits, but no large piles of employer money to roll around in. I too have made an investment in Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs department, I’m hoping for it to mature very soon so I can make my next installment.
I cannot send you money, for I have none, but I do have a prayer with your name on.
Bill
lifeintheboomerlane
March 16, 2011
Thanks for visiting my alternate unvierse, Bill, and thanks for the prayer. Early tomorrow morning, a large plane will whisk me across the pond to your neck of the woods. I’ll spend a week with my grandson and daughter and not think about taxes! But I’ll be hoping for the best for you.
mrinaye
March 16, 2011
Ha! Great post. And I completely agree about taxes in general. I worked as a general contractor at a photography studio for years and tax time was always horrific. I feel a bit of nausea just thinking about it.
Fun to read your blog!
-maike rinaye-
http://www.mrinaye.com
lifeintheboomerlane
March 16, 2011
Thanks, Maike, and thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane! Yes, Nausea is a good way to describe it!
run4joy59
March 16, 2011
Congrats on being freshly pressed…great blog. Here I thought my simple tendency for procrastination was blog worthy…it doesn’t compare to forgetting to pay your quartelies (twice…ouch)!
lifeintheboomerlane
March 16, 2011
Thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane! Yes, I’m always looking for ways to push that IRS envelope!
Recipe Chefs
March 17, 2011
The pictures look excellent. Thanks for sharing this post. Feel free to check out our recipes.
ดูดไขมัน, Fraxel ,lvaser
April 12, 2011
When, in my late 40s, I started getting AARP stuff, I raced to the trash as fast as I could. By 60, I was thinking it was cool. Either AARP has changed, or…. (Do NOT complete this sentence, please).
lifeintheboomerlane
April 12, 2011
Thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane and for commenting. That’s exactly what happened to me with AARP. I thought, Gee why didn’t I realize how cool this magazine was, and how cool the people are who are in it? But, to make you feel slightly better, the average age of AARP members is, indeed, falling.