Taxes

Here is a phrase that most will never say, “Happy Tax Day”. Ok, maybe the spouses of CPAs, but that might be it.

Well, I did my financially responsible thing this morning, I mailed off my check for the taxes that we owe. At first, I was really upset that we owed. Then, I looked at that we did well financially this year. And then I got frustrated again with myself, because I like to get our taxes close to zero. The last few years we have had a ping pong effect. We went from owing, to getting back a large sum, to getting back a smaller sum, to this year owing.

I’ve had a few conversations with my CPA already about next year. We are on track to give even more this year, even with paying down our credit card debt and also paying off our tax bill, we are in a good position. If things stay the course, we are looking at 3 more credit cards being paid off in the next few months. Then, we tackle the big ones.

So, as I think about the day and reading the recent job numbers and how many are looking for work, I feel blessed to be in a position that we did well financially last year and hope to do even better this year. But this year, hopefully we’ll be able to mitigate some of our taxes.

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Murphy’s Law, if it can happen or go wrong, it will.  And if it does go wrong, it usually goes wrong in a bad way.

Now, there are two ways to look at this, glass half empty or half full.

Last night I got an email from my CPA saying that we owed a considerable amount this year. Now, I write this and I’m waiting on confirmation back from him on a few things, so the number should go down some. BUT, my first thought was holy crap, how are we going to pull this off? Half empty. First thought was not that we were fortunate enough to get raises give more money last year, etc. It was how are we are going to pay this off? I went to bed worried. I went to bed thinking how we could shave off of our budget to cover this?

I woke up this morning, stressed out. I woke up concerned. But I woke up.

I woke up to hearing Baby A calling my name. Not screaming, but saying “It’s morning Daddy!”

We’ve been blessed beyond belief. We have been able to save, build a little of an emergency fund, which we will have to use some of it more than likely to pay off the tax bill. But we’ve been blessed. And as I was making coffee for me and a cup of Apple Juice for Baby A, as Baby B and my wife slept, I realized that sure, Murphy’s Law likes to hit at really bad times. Sure, I could use that extra money that I’ll be paying to the government each month to pay down credit cards. But maybe this is a chance for us to get creative? Maybe this is a time that I pickup a few extra websites and make a little side money? Maybe now, we are in a better place financially and can look at Murphy’s Law as a slight speed bump in the road of life, as opposed to the doom and gloom that we once did.

I’m choosing to look today at Murphy’s Law as a glass full of stuff, that from time to time, we just have to deal with.

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I keep reading all of these posts online about Happy Tax Day! What exactly is so happy about it? Granted, this year, we are getting a refund, so it will be a good day, once we get the money. But there again, we filed our paperwork weeks before the deadline and we have to wait 8 – 10 weeks at a minimum before the money is sent to us. Meaning that the Government gets to keep earning interest on it for that period of time.

So Happy Tax Day to you and yours and as you raise your children, help them understand the importance of how they file their taxes, what they should declare for what they are claiming, etc. Because, I for one would like to make sure that I am close to breaking even every year, instead of getting a big refund 3 months after I file my taxes.

And if you do get a refund back this year, if you have debt, pay that down first, but put some away for a rainy day.

Happy Tax Day

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Now that the new year has started and it is time for the dreaded tax season, remember to take a look at the IRS 2011 Child Tax Credit deductions.

This is also a good time for a teachable moment with the kids too. One of the things that we are doing this year, and even though the boys are too young this year to understand, we will be away some of the boys toys and donating them to charity. Ask your CPA, but this should fall under a standard donation and can come off of your taxes as tax credits as well.

I want to make sure that we raise the boys to be humble and remember that they can help those that do not have as much as they do.

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