Smile-breaks
It’s the Only Part of Doing Taxes that hasn’t been Electronicized
I feel sorry for R. H. Cube and all those tax guys ’n gals who make a living doing other people’s tax returns. They’re sure to be out of business by the time Social Security comes crashing down. Unless… but more about that later.
I can’t wait to sit down with my EasyTax software and get my taxes done. They make it so simple. I’m a bit late this year, but I figure it won’t take more than a minute or two. I mean, the software does the work, right? Just gather your tax documents and sit down and answer a few questions and EasyTax will calculate your refund right then and there. Or – heaven forbid – it’ll calculate how much you’re gonna have to pay Mr. Uncle Sam.
I installed this year’s tax software – zip, zip, zip! No problem! To save work, it’s supposed to download all my transactions from the InQuick software I have for my checking account.
Uh-oh. My InQuick software was sitting in the computer waiting for me to finish last year’s entries. I had a super-busy year last year and I got the software, but I also found out I could log on to the Internet and see if my checking account had any money in it so I kind’a neglected posting my transactions in InQuick.
They make it easy, but it still takes forever – especially if you’re ten months behind and haven’t reconciled your account since January. Of last year. Last month I finally got it reconciled through November.
I’ve been anxious to get on with my chat with Mr. EasyTax, so I went back to reconcile December the other day. I turned on the computer, clicked on InQuick and started working. Went to the reconcile screen. Came to a screeching halt.
InQuick lost everything while I was gone. Everything. The checks were still there, but my reconciling was wiped out. I searched all over the computer, but couldn’t find my November reconciliation anywhere. Finally I gave up and started over. From January.
A week later I stepped up to have my final chat with Mr. EasyTax. They make it so simple – EasyTax asks you and you click on the answer. What could be easier?
I sat down at the computer. Mr. EasyTax said, “Go get all your tax records.” Oh, shoot. You know what that means - the W-2s and the 1099s and the DMV receipts and the year-end mortgage statement and the property tax bill and don’t forget those raffle ticket stubs that never won anything so you can deduct them one hundred percent as a charitable contribution.
This is where R. H. Cube and all those guys ’n gals come in. Here’s a great opportunity for them to keep their profession alive and lucrative for years after Social Security comes crashing down.
They’ll need to go to a seminar or two to learn how to “Get It All Together,” and then - properly trained - they can provide their services to us. For a nice comfortable fee, they can come into our homes and dig through our desk drawers and our file cabinets and our wastebaskets and our glove compartments and find all those pesky papers while we go out for a healthy walk in the sun.
It’s the only part of doing taxes that hasn’t been electronicized. It’s the only part that sends us flying to the Excedrin bottle. “Honey, where’d you put the DMV receipts?” “Me??? I never open the DMV receipts! That’s your job!”
It’s quite definitely the only part of doing taxes that still requires the human touch and I don’t know about you, but I’d sure be willing to pay an efficient, knowledgeable In-home Collector of Tax Records to get it all together for me.
I could probably deduct it on next year’s taxes, too. If I can remember where I put the receipt…