It's That Time

Well, today is tax day and for the first time in my life I'm going to be one of those people scrambling to finish before the deadline. So, what am I doing writing this blog, you may ask? Why am I not crunching numbers and imputing data into Turbo Tax? Denial. Plain and simple. I do not want to face the inevitable writing of that check.

When I hear friends talking about what they're doing with their tax refunds, I want to cry. We haven't had the pleasure of opening one of those envelopes for years. And now, no longer able to claim our children as dependents (even though one of them is still occupying a bedroom), the possibility of ever receiving payback from Uncle Sam seems more remote than ever.

I suppose I have no right to complain. I live in the greatest country in the world and everyone needs to pull their weight, right? But it's not always fun to do the right thing. Maybe I shouldn't have watched that show on CNBC last night about tax cheats. Stories about billionaires hiding money in the Cayman Islands and millionaires trying to get away with paying $400 tax bills didn't help. I'm being honest and they're sailing off the coast of Barbados. Of course, a bunch of them ended up in jail. I did enjoy that part.

So, I guess I've procrastinated long enough. Time to stop whining and pay up. After all, the IRS did give us a couple of extra days this year. Good thing. When I'm finished I still have to help my two non-dependents with their returns. But they have no good reason for their tardiness. They're two of the lucky ones. They're getting money back. Must be nice.