Time to Get out the Calculator and Pretend You Understand Your Taxes

April 15th is fast approaching, and, as is the case in most years, I am behind the times scrambling at the last minute. However, if not for the last minute, nothing would ever get done! Must every year be like this? In January, you begin to think that “tax day” is a long way off. In February, you receive your W-2, if you deserve one, and the 1099′s start trickling in the door. By March, it is time to get serious, but good old-fashioned procrastination steps in to delay the process once more.

Preparing my tax return ranks right up there with a tooth extraction or a screening colonoscopy, but the time to act like I know what I am doing has come. Besides, my wife is asking about it, so action is the only possible solution at this stage. I could get extensions (yes, plural since my state wants one, too!), but doing that seems lame once you get in the mood. There is good tax return preparation software out there, but you almost need a degree in taxes to understand the steps involved, and software will not get your records together in the first place.

The steps at least are familiar. Get last year’s tax return and review it. Has anything materially changed? Have you done anything differently that might require an additional schedule or form for your return? Now that is the question where I usually stumble. To ask it implies that I am aware of all the things that I have not done, yet, that implies that I somehow know what I am doing. Maybe your someone who refinanced your usda mortgage and could find some money through your bank. Sometimes people miss out things they never

I did get into currency trading by opening a forex account during the year. That was a new adventure. I did make money on the AUD USD currency pair, but I lost more than that on the Pound Sterling, so on a “net” basis, I am only down about $2,000. I wonder if that is deductible somewhere? After researching a few websites, I find that the rules are more complicated than actually trading in the first place. Each trade is separate, and, depending on the exchange and type of contract, I could be up or I could be down. Maybe I should accept it as a gambling loss, which I know can only offset a gain, and move on to what I do know. Or I could look into how to get a small business loan for bad credit and try my hand in the entrepreneurial field.

Going to the IRS website is a real trip, too, but at least I can download forms that can actually be filled in and printed, although they would prefer that I file electronically. The mail still works for me, but I have to know what numbers to put where. My only shortcut at this point is to find a tax professional to make sense of my disorderly financial status.

With a big gulp and shoebox of financial records in hand, I head for the only relief I know – my uncle Bob, the CPA. Best idea I’ve had all day!