Taxes
There are few things that frustrate me as much as taxes. I hate them. They make me say bad words. My stress level spikes this time of year, probably because we've had some bad experiences. Here's the thing folks, I just gotta vent....and rant....so if you have better things to read, I totally understand.
I hate compiling everything that has to be sent to the accountant. It's not that I'm not organized, I am. I have file folders designated for this and that, I don't just shove things in drawers or leave them in piles. Every January I set aside a folder for the previous year's tax documents, and when they arrive in the mail, they go directly to that folder so I don't have to go searching. So maybe you're wondering why it's such a big deal? Our corporate taxes are just scary. It seems like every year the accountants ask for something that, for one reason or another, is not in my folder and I have to make phone calls and go chasing around to get what I need. I am not very intelligent when it comes to this stuff and I have a really difficult time making sense of what is being requested. This year has been extra stressful because we fired our old accountant (I'll tell ya about him in a minute) and are now with a new firm and they're still gathering all the stuff they need. I just hate the headache of it all.
The accountant. When Brent bought his practices a few years ago, he hired an accountant to do whatever it is that accountants do. This included tax preparation. The first two years, we met with Mr. Accountant at tax time and he told us we'd have to pay a substantial amount in taxes. We weren't thrilled, but what do you do? So we figured it would all work out. In the end, each of those years Mr. Accountant came back to us and said after other things were figured (and one time he did make a mistake), etc. we actually were in pretty good shape, as in, we didn't owe nearly as much as he'd originally thought. It was a relief and we were grateful. Well, last year, the same thing happened. We met with him and he told us we were gonna have to pay $15,000 (that's not a typo). Brent and I both just about had heart attacks. But in our minds we were thinking, Mr. Accountant has been wrong every year and once he figures things out the right way we'll be in much better shape. Um, no. He actually did it right last year and we had to cough up that money. It wasn't Mr. Accountant's fault we had to pay that much, he was just the bearer of bad news. But we decided we were sick of the yo-yo games and this year we hired a firm that actually knows what they are doing. I should mention that our corporate taxes are very complicated and intricate with the way Brent's businesses are set up.
If you're thinking that maybe we should pay taxes on a monthly basis in hopes of avoiding such a big hit at tax time, we do. We pay monthly and quarterly taxes in addition to what we get nailed with in the Spring. See why I hate it so much?
Speaking of monthly and quarterly stuff, there was a tax payment that was due yesterday. This was a new one for me because some things changed and now the state says I have to do stuff different. Anyway, because I'm so un-smart in this department, this payment made no sense to me so I called the new firm to ask my dumb questions and try to figure stuff out. I'm just sure the guy I was talking to was sitting there rolling his eyes in unbelief at my lack of intelligence. And here's another thing, why do accountants assume that everyone else understands their lingo? Or maybe it's just me that doesn't understand. I totally didn't get what he was telling me.
Now that I've got that off my chest, I will say that I do understand that taxes are a necessary and important part of making a country function. I don't understand why it must be so confusing and I do think taxes are much too high, but I also get that there is a price to pay to be able live where I do.
I hate compiling everything that has to be sent to the accountant. It's not that I'm not organized, I am. I have file folders designated for this and that, I don't just shove things in drawers or leave them in piles. Every January I set aside a folder for the previous year's tax documents, and when they arrive in the mail, they go directly to that folder so I don't have to go searching. So maybe you're wondering why it's such a big deal? Our corporate taxes are just scary. It seems like every year the accountants ask for something that, for one reason or another, is not in my folder and I have to make phone calls and go chasing around to get what I need. I am not very intelligent when it comes to this stuff and I have a really difficult time making sense of what is being requested. This year has been extra stressful because we fired our old accountant (I'll tell ya about him in a minute) and are now with a new firm and they're still gathering all the stuff they need. I just hate the headache of it all.
The accountant. When Brent bought his practices a few years ago, he hired an accountant to do whatever it is that accountants do. This included tax preparation. The first two years, we met with Mr. Accountant at tax time and he told us we'd have to pay a substantial amount in taxes. We weren't thrilled, but what do you do? So we figured it would all work out. In the end, each of those years Mr. Accountant came back to us and said after other things were figured (and one time he did make a mistake), etc. we actually were in pretty good shape, as in, we didn't owe nearly as much as he'd originally thought. It was a relief and we were grateful. Well, last year, the same thing happened. We met with him and he told us we were gonna have to pay $15,000 (that's not a typo). Brent and I both just about had heart attacks. But in our minds we were thinking, Mr. Accountant has been wrong every year and once he figures things out the right way we'll be in much better shape. Um, no. He actually did it right last year and we had to cough up that money. It wasn't Mr. Accountant's fault we had to pay that much, he was just the bearer of bad news. But we decided we were sick of the yo-yo games and this year we hired a firm that actually knows what they are doing. I should mention that our corporate taxes are very complicated and intricate with the way Brent's businesses are set up.
If you're thinking that maybe we should pay taxes on a monthly basis in hopes of avoiding such a big hit at tax time, we do. We pay monthly and quarterly taxes in addition to what we get nailed with in the Spring. See why I hate it so much?
Speaking of monthly and quarterly stuff, there was a tax payment that was due yesterday. This was a new one for me because some things changed and now the state says I have to do stuff different. Anyway, because I'm so un-smart in this department, this payment made no sense to me so I called the new firm to ask my dumb questions and try to figure stuff out. I'm just sure the guy I was talking to was sitting there rolling his eyes in unbelief at my lack of intelligence. And here's another thing, why do accountants assume that everyone else understands their lingo? Or maybe it's just me that doesn't understand. I totally didn't get what he was telling me.
Now that I've got that off my chest, I will say that I do understand that taxes are a necessary and important part of making a country function. I don't understand why it must be so confusing and I do think taxes are much too high, but I also get that there is a price to pay to be able live where I do.
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