Taxes done

Ahh…. that great feeling when the pile of envelopes is sealed and stamped, and the tax forms are completed to the best of my (and TurboTax’s) ability for another year. Every year, it seems there is a new challenge to figure out. Last year was the first time any of our offspring had earned any money reported on a W-2 form; this year, we had to fill in New Jersey forms as well as Oregon’s, for Maxwell’s job at college. And when I say, “we”, I mean “I”. I had been hoping this would be the year I would teach my sons how to fill out tax forms, and indeed Luke did do his and seemed quite excited with the process. Luke is quite excited about almost everything in life, plus he’ll be receiving over $500 in tax refunds so of course that was a thrill. But we lost the first weekend of Maxwell’s Spring Break to the snow storm last weekend, and after five days of “maybe tomorrow, Mom, please?”, I realized today that the mother-son bonding experience of working through the taxes is going to have to wait another year, for him. I did them myself, so he could sign everything before flying back tomorrow.

Isn’t the Internet wonderful? I remember spending hours on the phone, and making many trips to the post office or library, in the Olden Days when I first started filing tax forms as a Non-resident Alien back in 1979. Now, Google took me right to the Non-resident New Jersey forms, their instructions, and the address to mail them to. Brilliant. And while TurboTax isn’t perfect – there always seems to be a small wrinkle I need to edit on one form or another – it sure makes the process easier. It’s fun to plug in different numbers and see the effect on the projected tax return/bill. And interesting to see the statistics generated at the end, comparing the types of income and deductions for taxpayers in the same bracket. I’m always struck by the high average amount claimed in medical expenses over 2% of income, for example. It’s a very convoluted system, when so many people have to get help paying huge hospital bills by claiming them as itemized expenses on federal tax forms. In fact, it’s not a system at all, and there must surely be many real structures that would be more cost-effective and pay less to accountants (no offense, accountants, there will still be plenty of work for you) than the current nonsense.

I have always felt great satisfaction in being able to pay taxes. I appreciate having income, and paying taxes reminds me to be thankful for the food on our family’s table, the roof over our heads, the cars that take us to wonderful places. It bothers me to think about half the federal bill going to the “defense” budget, although I’m proud to help pay for services to veterans. The tax code is too complicated, and many tax breaks/surcharges don’t make much sense to me. But I like knowing we’re paying for schools, parks, social services, caring for elderly people, and all the other necessary and good things in our community and country that I could not afford to buy by myself. I like reflecting on how our family income has risen since those 1979 returns. And for sure, I love being done with the reporting process for another year.