12 thoughts on “A Taxing Situation

  1. allein ? April 17, 2018 / 10:56 am

    Well, obviously you can’t claim the superior being as a dependent!

    • Faye April 17, 2018 / 1:59 pm

      Hahahahaha

  2. Laura April 17, 2018 / 11:07 am

    Felines, canines, lagomorphs, and other four-legged family members are very fortunate that they don’t have to file taxes! Although, amazingly, this year for the first time in possibly my entire life, I got my taxes filed in February instead of within 24 hours of the final date, so I’m feeling good about it. That’ll change next year, I’m sure.

    And I’m just curious, Mike — the hovertext doesn’t show up in the subscription email I get for your posts even though it’s here on the website. It’s usually in the email. What gives?

    Also, since Tax Day is an appropriate time for sad news, Dame Angela Sheldrick, founder of the Sheldrick Trust that has saved SO MANY orphaned baby elephants in Kenya, passed away this week. 🙁 She really made a different in the world, I have to say!

    • Not That Mike The Other Mike April 17, 2018 / 11:11 am

      Re: hovertext — I published the post without one, then realized I forgot it, so I added one. But the version without hovertext was already emailed. Let’s just say the gentleman in the background of this photo isn’t the only one scrambling to meet a tax day deadline. 😉

    • Flowerfanatic April 17, 2018 / 11:55 am

      I usually get updates from them but so far haven’t gotten this bit of news. Yes, Dame Sheldrick did wonderful things to save those babies. Sorry to hear of her passing. I can just see the great greeting she got in Heaven from those beautiful big grey beasts that went before her as she came over the Rainbow Bridge. I can hear the trumpeting as I write this.

  3. MyIglets April 17, 2018 / 11:16 am

    I upvoted ten times LOL’ing at work here. I needed that thank you.

  4. Blue Footed Booby April 17, 2018 / 12:22 pm

    Thank you for reminding me to do my taxes tonight lol

  5. Janie4 April 17, 2018 / 12:48 pm

    I wish I could claim my cats as dependents!

  6. Gigi The cat lady April 17, 2018 / 1:48 pm

    Here in Canada we still have to until the end of the month but my husband did ours over the Easter holiday.

  7. Faye April 17, 2018 / 2:02 pm

    One year my father submitted a veterinarian bill with the medical deductions. I think it was by mistake but it worked.

    • Laura April 17, 2018 / 2:51 pm

      For what vets charge for medicine, we *should* be able to deduct their bills! Good grief! We had to pay $50 for one teensy bottle of one medicine for Melody, and that was one of about 10, plus the weekly — or more — vet visits for two months. Her medical bills this year will be twice ours, easily!

      A lot of stuff can slip through the cracks. Important facts: (1) The statute of limitations for ordinary audits is three years, which means that if you’re going to get audited, you will get notified usually at 2 years 11 months after you filed that tax return. So save your tax backup data for at least three years, unless (2) you might have committed fraud, or done something the IRS decides is fraud, in which case the statute of limitations is seven years. So just out of paranoia, I keep tax returns for seven years because, having been audited once, I don’t trust the IRS auditors farther than I can throw them! They will try to totally ruin your life, but if you reach a point where you simply cannot make them see reason, (3) you have the right to elevate the audit to the Appeals Office. Our auditor tried to claim we owed over $10,000 because she disallowed EVERYTHING on our return, but I eventually gave up and, because I had a friend who’d worked for the IRS, knew about the Appeals Office so elevated the appeal there. We ended up accepting their first offer of settlement — for $100. Quite a comedown from $10,000!

      I am not a lawyer, but I was a court reporter in Tax Court for close to 15 years, so I think I’ve seen just about every type of case imaginable. Which is where I learned a lot of these useful little facts, from the revenue agents — who can be quite pleasant as long as you’re not a delinquent taxpayer!

      • Wuyizidi April 17, 2018 / 8:17 pm

        All good things to know. I guess at end of the day IRS are people just like us, and their systems, as a colleague used to say, “are built by people just like us.”

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