I ask myself about this time of the year why, Bob, have you put off the inevitable?
The inevitable is pulling together information so Duane McCammon, as he has for decades, can complete my state and federal income returns.
I go long form because of a sideline or two that brings in a bit of money, and requires compiling income and expenses. Sometimes I wonder whether what little I make is worth the effort.
Friends have chided me for going to the trouble to report occasional sales. “No one would ever know the difference,” they say. Perhaps — but I would. I’m no angel by any stretch of the imagination, but I have never considered dishonesty in financial matters.
Being forthright is the correct thing to do.
And, if everyone followed that principle, all of our tax bills might be a little less.
There was a time when fur prices were much higher than today and I reported sales each trapping season. Then, with coons bringing upward of $40 and muskrats at $6 of $7, my annual two-week vacation to trap paid off handsomely. A check of $2,000 or $3,000 for a season wasn’t unusual.
Today, low prices, but more to the point arthritis in back and shoulders, have me talking about “maybe I’ll trap this year,” but not having done it for some time. I’d like to run a line one more time but I know the thought is next to fantasy.
For years when I finally convinced myself I had to get the tax prep done, I’d get in a pretty sour mood. Wife Beverly knew and stayed out of harm’s way. In more recent years I’ve mellowed. I no longer pound the table, yell and scream or kick whatever is within reach.
Even so, when I mentioned earlier this week it was time and said I’d be efficient and unemotional, she looked askance.
I had planned to dive into the pile of papers Tuesday evening, but the primary elections interrupted. You do have to have priorities — and it was worthwhile to hear Rubio’s remarkable concession speech.
I settled in Wednesday evening and, as usual, in a couple of hours the chains of tax preparation slid from my shoulders.
