As with almost everyone else in the nation, we filed our taxes last week. I do our taxes by hand, as I have for the past 30+ years. However these days taxes don't take nearly as long to do, since (a) we retired our woodcraft business, and (b) I lost my online job a year ago February. Less money means less taxes, right?
Last year, despite a vastly reduced income, we still had to pay quarterly taxes based on the previous year's (higher) income. We had set the necessary funds aside, so this wasn't a hardship. This year though, when we met with our tax preparer, we made sure to stress our reduced income.
In the tax preparer's office, we saw this notice of "Respectful Behavior Required."
When our tax documents were prepped and ready to sign, we weren't altogether surprised to learn we're getting a modest refund. However, we still have to pay some (reduced) quarterly taxes. But here's the ironic thing: Our quarterly taxes, added up, equal the amount of our federal and state tax returns.
Seriously, they equal out almost to the dollar. What we're getting back is almost exactly what we will owe. Therefore, everything we get back will go into the account for paying the quarterlies.
Taxes, whee!
Reminds me of the time I owed $12K and a friend of mine got a "refund" of 12K from the Earned Income Tax Credit. True, she had to stay home with a disabled baby. I still resented it a little. (The baby died when he was three, poor little thing. My friend is now gone too, and I'd give a lot more than 12K to have her back. Such is life.)
ReplyDeleteThat is God's blessing. He just showed you that He provided faithfully the whole year through. If you owed money, you would grumble and accept it. If you had a refund only, you might blow a sigh of relief and thank God and go on happy. Here, you have a personal message to marvel about and share! Glory be to God! He sees us and cares enough to give us messages now and then to remind us He really is with us in the good times and the not so good times! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMark Twain Quote: “A tax is a fine for doing well, a fine is a tax for doing wrong.”
ReplyDeletemany years ago, on a Monday, I received a letter from the IRS. seems they had "reviewed" my return from two years prior, and I owed them a certain amount, plus penalties and interest. on Wensday, I received another letter from the same office. seems they had "reviewed" my return from the previous year, and I was owed a refund....of $2 less than what I owed. i signed the refund request, stapled it to the debt notice, added a request to waive $2 in penalties, and mailed it off. never heard another thing from them. i love government efficiency
ReplyDelete