Taxes

I have spent the morning thinking about taxes. It is so much easier thinking about them, than working on figuring out how to pay them, how much to pay, where I will get the money to pay them, or if I want to reside in jail for skipping my annual dues payment.

I wasn’t thinking about any of those mundane but necessary steps, but rather how little I do think about those steps in preparation.

My sister gets her taxes organized by the first week in January. I have friends who wait until the final bell rings onApril 15 to race to the post office. I usually meander in somewhere between those almost four months. I don’t rush on either end, but I do struggle with random thoughts reminding me I need to get them done.

Understand, when I say getting them done, means only that I need to get the information to my tax preparer. Heaven forbid I would actually try to figure out how to fill in all those blanks on the tax form.

I just dump the pile of info on a desk in his office, calmly shut the door behind me as I leave, and hope my phone does not ring for more information. I find it is a test of my patience to just get all the receipts for various categories lumped together and added up properly.

Not being a person with the propensity to keep files and receipts and a running list of expenditures throughout the year, leaves the burden of gathering such details to my disorganized abilities.

But, throughout the years I have managed to complete the task, hopefully not leaving extra money in the hands of Uncle Sam.

Speaking of Uncle Sam, I began wondering why the U.S. is called Uncle Sam, and here is what I found on the Internet’s WorldStrides: “During the War of 1812, the United States Army received supplies from a variety of organizations and individuals, one of which was Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, New York. He labeled his barrels of beef with “U.S.” to indicate U.S. government property, but soldiers referred to the “U.S.” as Uncle Sam (Wilson). A local newspaper picked up the story on September 7, 1813, and this identification eventually led to the widespread use of the nickname. On September 15, 1961, Congress adopted a resolution, making Uncle Sam the official symbol of the United States.”

Do you see how thinking about certain topics can transform into something that has nothing to do with what you were thinking about? It is a marvelous way to avoid thinking about taxes.