Taxation Can Take Its Toll

"Another year over, and a new one just begun." - John Lennon

The deadline to file your taxes is here. When my wife and I get our taxes prepared by an accountant, it is always one of the most stressful days of the year. I do not have anything to hide. Skeletons may be the only thing the government has not thought of to tax. My stress bubbles and boils from worrying whether we owe money. We work full time and have three jobs between us. I hate owing money after sweat and toil.

Tax season is a confusing time for us. My wife and I do not mix our money together. We have no bank accounts together. We have no investments together. We do not see each others paycheck. The last time I checked, we do not even share the same last name. Ironically, tax season is when we combine everything together to file jointly. Each year, I carry OUR folder of my categorical receipts, my signed charitable donation forms, every last business mile of mine calculated, even beginning of the year and end of year odometer readings. My wife laughs at my organizational skills. What I can't account for is the other half of the ledger, the blank ledger who sardonically laughs across the page at the ink blots. That is part of the stress, the rest is self-induced. But it's over. Thanks to the way my wife structures her deductions in her paychecks, we came out slightly ahead.

Check this tax tidbit out. According to the Gannett News Service, a Los Angeles, California man deducted the cost of his daughter's wedding as a casualty loss. When a baffled IRS agent telephoned to inquire about the odd category, the tax filing man replied, "My son-in-law turned out to be a complete disaster."