But since it's April 15, I'm going to start off complaining about taxes. They've never been enjoyable, and I've always resented the time I had to spend doing them, but this year they were worse than usual. Three or four times worse.
I did our federal taxes back in February and found that we owed $$$$ for the first time in many years. I assumed I had made some wrong entries, checked my numbers, and came up with the same thing. I promptly put them away and didn't even want to think about state taxes.
So I didn't, until a few weeks ago. John had a W-2 for his earnings in DE, and I just assumed that I would have to file a DE return to get a refund of everything that had been withheld. Wrong! His company is in DE, and while we live four miles away in MD, DE doesn't care about that. We ended up owing more money on top of what was withheld, so that was another disappointment. Next I waded through MD bureaucracy to determine what we owed them, figured it out (hopefully correctly) and filed that. I've never thought of NJ as being the home of fair and reasonable taxes, but I've changed my mind after figuring out that NJ was kind enough to give us a credit for the slightly outrageous property taxes that we pay and another credit for the taxes we paid to DE. We even get a small refund from NJ.
So while I'm feeling literally and figuratively overtaxed, I'm on my way to the post office to mail these envelopes, grateful that we've got the money to pay what we owe, and even more thankful that these tax tribulations are done (at least until next year).
I admire you for doing your taxes yourself, especially considering how many states you have to deal with. We have been having a professional do them for as long as we've been together, and thank goodness, because I wouldn't even know where to start! I'm sorry they were such a pain, but it must feel extra good to be done!
ReplyDeleteOy. I feel your pain and I think you win the over taxation award! We too owed this year (first time in a very long time for use too) but ours was on $$$ versus your $$$$ - I recommend a nice cup of tea and a virtual trip to the Loopy Ewe!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to see you back here and I am happy that you are on the road to recover!
So nice to see you back in your spot. You were missed! Now that the taxes are done (sorry they were rough) I hope you can relax and continue your road to recovery.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you are on the mend and that you are back here, Bonny! You've been in my prayers. The same day you posted about your PE, my friend's daughter was diagnosed with a PE just a few days postpartum, she was on bedrest for the last three weeks of her pregnancy. Thankfully, she is on the mend as well. I hope your week is a good one and that you can put the pain of those taxes behind you!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Debbie! I'm sorry to hear about your friend's daughter's PE. The bedrest is needed, but the resulting PE is especially awful in a new mother. I'm glad she is recovering, and I'm not thinking about taxes one bit until next year!
DeleteWelcome back Bonny! You were missed. Sorry about those taxes...We managed ok this year...a little to the state and a little back from the Fed. It's always a crapshoot!
ReplyDeleteIt is so great to see you back, Bonny! A mental lift on tax day is not to be ignored. You have stated my case exactly about today. We owed much more than I expected (I actually gasped!), but we are able to pay, and it is over for another year. I am so happy that you feel well enough to get back to the blog. I hope you continue to feel better and better. Let's both try to have a good spring!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, Bonny!! It's so great to hear from you. Taxes are awful and, thankfully, DONE. On to better things!! ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Bonny! It's so nice to have you back! XO I'm so sorry about the tax woes. UGH. But as a former tax accountant, I can tell you that the sun always shines and the birds always sing once you put those babies in the mailbox! :-)
ReplyDeleteSo good to "hear" your voice again Bonny! Glad you are up to posting again. Sorry about the tax woes. My friend who lives in Chesapeake City has bitched about MD and DE taxes for years (she worked in DE for a little while). Glad all that is behind you now. Did you have those bad storms last night?
ReplyDeleteWow! I can't believe you are tackling taxes with your health issues.
ReplyDeleteI remember everything in Md being complicated.
I hope you are taking care of yourself!
I am taking care of myself and following all the doctor's instructions! I did talk to a CPA in MD about how to proceed and he gave me some good advice, but when he said it would be $1800 for him to do our federal and three state taxes, I decided to put that advice into practice and do them myself. I'm going to look at it with the mindset that I saved $1800 and move on to much better things!
DeleteYep, that’s life. On and on it goes, where it stops or pauses or rebounds or makes one stressed - no one knows until it happens.
ReplyDeleteAt least the taxes are done and finished - free at last.
So glad you’re back!
(Google let me write # wow)
I am so glad you are feeling better. It is not an easy recovery. Taxes...ugh. At least I can say that we had no surprises this year. Still, it was not fun
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kathy. Taxes are never fun, but at least we can be glad that they are done, mailed, and we can focus on much better things (until next year).
DeleteI am so glad you are feeling better. Continue to take good care. But taxes - oh man. I think this was quite a challenging year for everyone.
ReplyDeleteWe owed buckets.... but we had the money in the bank so there is that. I have a cpa do the taxes because ours is complicated.
ReplyDeleteOh it's so nice to see a post from you in my feed again ... and woot! for getting your taxes done.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you're back! I def agree on the taxes, too. Blergh.
ReplyDeleteI think all or nearly all states give a credit for taxes paid to another, non-resident state. That is rather small consolation if the non-resident state is, say, New Mexico or Alabama, which have low tax rates, and the resident state is New York or California or Minnesota, which have significantly higher tax rates. (Can you tell I did taxes for a living for 20+ years?) I sat down to do our taxes on a Sunday morning in early April, expecting to spread them out over a couple-three days. I was done in three hours. We had refunds, which I applied to 2019 taxes since I will have that big Jeopardy check in this year's return. My father-in-law would have accused me of not being able to manage my money by letting the government keep those refunds for a year; I prefer not to have to scramble next April.
ReplyDelete