Nothing Much
Well, this is going to be not much of anything at all.
I blew off writing a column today, and it sure looks like I picked a dandy day to do so, because while I was ignoring politics, it seems that Congress also did nothing much today. Sigh.
I was too busy to write today because I was doing my taxes. "But Chris," I hear you ask, "isn't April 15th supposed to be Tax Day?" Well, yes... yes it is. But October 15th is the new official "Tax Day For Lazy Procrastinators." It used to be August 15th, but at some point Congress apparently decided that wasn't quite lazy enough for some American taxpayers, so they gave us two extra months.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you are likely either (1.) not an American, or (2.) one of those annoying people who has never once been late on filing their income taxes in their entire lives. The rest of you know I'm talking about the "automatic extension of time to file" which is a form you send in on April 15th instead of your 1040, which magically gives you most of the rest of the year to get your act together.
Some, I'm sure, do. Somewhere out there are people who just needed an extra week, and who file their taxes before May arrives. Some, I'm sure, do their taxes in the summer and have long since gotten their refunds.
Then there are people like me, for whom the last minute is pretty much the only time the taxes get done. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one, right?
Anyway, after the exhausting struggle with the I.R.S. forms, I am in no shape to rant and rave about the politicians. I will admit, it did occur to me more than once that if the government is shut down, why in the world would I pay attention to their Tax Day deadline anyway? Thankfully, these thoughts did not stay me from my appointed task, and both my federal and state taxes are now in the mail.
So this will have to do, for today's column. I know, I know -- it's nothing much -- but I did warn everyone with that title, didn't I?
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
lol, I did my taxes in Feburary. No stress, no hassle, got my check really quickly too, cause the IRS wasn't in total overload mode.
I will now bask in the glory of doing something ahead of schedule. All hail a lazy weekend and desire to get it over with!
By the way, you should do a bit that compares the current politics to the 1880s and 1890s, I think it would provide just as many interesting parallels as the Whig bit. I couldn't find it (My search-fu was lacking) but I remember seeing an old political cartoon that had senators depositing money to get access to the chamber, could be fun.
Chris,
That is just too funny! I was late getting mine done this year, too ... sent my very small check in sometime in June, I believe ... on an April 30th deadline.
Not only was interest not tacked on but I ended up getting an even smaller check back as I had overpaid. Heh.
Last year I must have been drunk when I filled out all the forms and attached all the information slips because I thought I owed $3000. It was a shock but I never bothered to really look into it ... just accepted it. There were some changes, after all. About a month later I received all of it back and then some! Ah, what a government! :)
2 things:
1. Doesn't this 6 month extension just apply to those self employed?
2. Great timing - file your return just as the IRS has been furloughed and unable to process it ;)
Hahahahah ... Two words, CW: TurboTax. Err, one word. Or whatever.
$40 for the small business edition was completely worth it.
Look, you called us (the early birds) annoying. So I had to go prove it
-David
Meh there is freeware out there just as good as Turbo-tax. Also a great system for invoicing, accounting and taxes for small business owners is Freshbooks.
I'm totally not joining their finance team next week cough cough cough.
YoYo -
First of all:
THHHPPPPBBBBBBTTT!!! [sound of Bronx cheer]
Ahem.
What I meant to say was:
How very dutiful of you to be so timely in your actions as a taxpaying citizen.
Yeah, I'm sure that's what I meant to say.
Heh.
As for the 1880s-1890s, may I recommend a wonderful book?
"Mr. Speaker!" by James Grant. Someone gave me this book awhile back, and it's a great read.
It tells of the House in the late 19th century, and how "quorum calls" and other parliamentary shenanigans brought the chamber to a screeching halt, for something like 20 years. Think we're divided and dysfunctional today? Hoo boy. Even the Senate's filibuster nonsense is nothing like what the rules of the House used to be (the book ends with them codifying new rules for the House, not "Roberts Rules Of Order," but someone else, can't think of it offhand...).
Anyway, it's a great read for many reasons, one of which is the sheer wonkiness involved.
michty6 -
Nope, applies to everyone. This furshliggener website (my "business") is what makes doing the taxes tough.
Which brings up a good point: Thanks once again to everyone who donated last year! I had to review the figures and tote them up this week, and was overwhelmed once again at the level of support out there! Just wanted to say that.
But anyway, there's a catch. You can get an "automatic extension of time to file" but it is NOT an extension of the time to pay.
The form you send in looks pathetically simple -- it's only about three inches tall (fits in an envelope) and has like 5 or 6 boxes to fill out. BUT -- here's the catch -- one of those boxes is "rough draft of taxes still owed."
So, if you overpay each year in your withholdings, then you can get an automatic extension without fear and write "zero" in this box -- you have until Oct. 15 to file, and the government makes all the interest on the money it owes you until you do file and claim your money.
BUT if you actually owe money (withholdings too small), then you have to estimate what you still owe and send in a check with your extension form. Later, when you do your taxes, if you were more than something like 10% off (have to check the actual figure), then you will owe penalties and interest. But you still have until Oct. 15 to file.
TMI? Sorry. In a nutshell: take all the time you want to file if they owe you money, but if you owe them you'd better pay up (within 10%) on April 15 no matter when you get around to actually filing.
akadjian -
This is going to "date" me, but here goes. I have a perfectly good set of Excel spreadsheets which do all the calculations done by TurboTax. I used to use the earliest versions of this program back in the late 1980s (except it was called "MacInTax" then, for us Apple folk). But eventually I just created my own Excel spreadsheets, and update the formulas in them every year (they only change a few things each year, usually). So that's not the problem.
It's the sheer laziness in getting all the tax documents together, sitting down, and actually doing them. I don't think there's a software product out there to solve this fundamental hurdle.
Heh.
-CW
Since CW is home figuring his taxes today, we all get to write our own column.
Wednesday Oct. 16, 1:30 EDT
It's over, the hostages have been freed. Years later, we'll learn Canadians played a vital role. An Oscar winning motion picture will be made about the standoff which minimizes the role of the Canadians.
Moving on to winners in the political reality show somebody around here dubbed" The Cave." Caution: broken metaphors ahead.
Obama and the Democratic Tribe came out winners. Sort of a political first down, 3 yards, cloud of dust. Affordable Health Care moves forward, has even gained a bit in the popularity polls, and Dems have a year to iron out the kinks before the 2014 elections. A line has been drawn in the sand, but it will have to be redrawn in the next few months, due to previous neglect and the fact that sand shifts. (Note to self - draw all future lines in wet pavement.)
On the other side of the Cave, Republican Establishment spin Witch Docs are worried about the GOP's vital signs and are urging the GOP to FINALLY have that tea colored growth on their neck checked out by a specialist. Remember Uncle Whig? It starting to look cancerous. Or maybe Lupus? Is it Lupus????!!!! The establishment Republicans are Losers, hoping it's not fatal, but not sure if surgery, radiation or chemo is the appropriate remedy.
The Tea Party Tribe took a calculated risk. They didn't get a legislative win, but they scored big home town political points for trying. Their mission has been to keep the ship of state from moving, and being the political equivalent of boat anchor means worrying about staying embedded in the local muck, at least until the political winds shift in your favor sometime after the 2014 season. If this means sinking the boat and building another.....
Ted Cruz made no friends in the latest episode. Push back in Texas reminds him of purpling viewer demographics. Starting to look like his career niche is that of Palin and Gingrich. Kingmaker, TV personality.
Poor ol' Boehner. The best he can hope for is the political version of "pity sex" from his own tribe. He'll keep his novelty gavel a bit longer, mostly because nobody else is crazy enough to pick it up just yet. You know that sour facial expression he always makes? "Can anybody else in my tribe smell the scent of failed leadership." They can now.
^^ Hahaha excellent stuff.
Thanks for the tax info CW, quite interesting. So now that taxes are out of the way, are you going to be signing up for insurance through Obama-care and writing on here about your experiences??
(Speaking of which) http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/14/us/mileposts-remain-for-health-care-law.html?ref=world&_r=0
TheStig -
OK, that was funny, especially the ship metaphors.
But -- surprise! -- a new column is actually imminent. Look for it in about 20 minutes....
-CW