The Square Peg – Tax Time
©
S. Bradley Stoner
Well,
it’s that time of year again. Yep, tax time. I don’t know about the rest
of you, but I hate doing tax returns. First off, you have to make sure you have
all of the documentation. For me that means a stack of 1099s in addition to W-2s.
Heaven forbid you misplace one… it will screw up your whole day… or week, not
to mention the potential to screw up your return. I hate it when that happens.
The other thing is, tax time interferes
with springtime in Texas. Yep, things are starting to grow and bloom. Good
things like my Glads, Mexican Sage, Mexican Firebush, Esperanzas, roses, and Bougainvilla.
And bad things like weeds. I don’t know who brought them in, but there are
thorny dandelions in my lawn. Yep, I said thorny. They have needle-like
stickers on the edges of the leaves… and they have a tap root that tries to
reach China.
Not that I like weeding, but I’d
far rather spend my time outside than stuck in my office trying to muddle
through all the new instructions for forms 1040, 1040sa, 1040sc, 1040se and
1040sse and whatever else I run across that has to be filed this year. Its
enough to drive a CPA crazy. So yeah, even weeding seems a better alternative.
At least I can be in the sunshine, even if it’s a bit cool.
That’s right, I said “cool.” Fifties
and sixties in Texas is cool. Thirties and forties are downright cold. We don’t
get may of those days, thank heaven. And I really don’t want to hear all those
snowpocalypse stories from you notherners. I used to live up there. It’s why I
live in Texas now. It’s more tolerable. At least you don’t have to find excuses
to stay inside and do your taxes. I mean, what else are you going to do?
I just finished downloading all
the IRS forms and going through all my receipts and office expenses. It was
exhausting. I think I’ll go out and pull some weeds.
