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Late Night, Early Edition: The Tax Man's Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Tue Oct 10, 2006 at 03:57:12 PM EST
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[George Harrison and Eric Claption, Live In Japan - 1991]

October 15, the last date for filing tax returns, is right around the corner. My accountant says tomorrow is my due date, so I'll be buried in paper until the wee hours.

For those of you smart enough to have filed on April 15, here's an open thread.

Update: It's 11:05 pm and I just found my accountant's "tax organizer" that I have to fill out by tomorrow. It was buried at the bottom of the 10th moving box I just unpacked. I hope this isn't an all-nighter, but it's looking that way. On the bright side, what did people do before Quicken?

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    Late Night, Early Edition: The Tax Man's Open Thread | 13 comments (13 topical)
    Re: Late Night, Early Edition: The Tax Man's Open (none / 0) (#1)
    by Pol on Tue Oct 10, 2006 at 07:49:10 PM EST
    Sorry you have to do taxes today, Jeralyn, but I'm thankful you shared the song with us. I miss George.

    Re: Late Night, Early Edition: The Tax Man's Open (none / 0) (#2)
    by LizDexic on Tue Oct 10, 2006 at 09:16:29 PM EST
    Wow. What a great post. I'm *doing the same thing*!...with the same thoughts. And hassles... (maybe more since a 160 Gig HD went south on me along with my invoices) and yeah...my accountant said tomorrow or else. so, Thanks.

    Re: Late Night, Early Edition: The Tax Man's Open (none / 0) (#3)
    by Domino on Tue Oct 10, 2006 at 10:58:52 PM EST
    On the bright side, what did people do before Quicken? Hired accountants to do their taxes. Another case of computers eliminating jobs.

    Re: Late Night, Early Edition: The Tax Man's Open (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Oct 10, 2006 at 11:12:29 PM EST
    Of course an accountant does my taxes. But I have to supply the numbers to him, and Quicken makes that so much easier.

    Re: Late Night, Early Edition: The Tax Man's Open (none / 0) (#5)
    by cpinva on Tue Oct 10, 2006 at 11:13:49 PM EST
    as a cpa, with many, many years of experience in the tax field, i can tell you what most people did, before quicken: they filed their returns on a timely basis. to be blunt, 98% of all individuals have no legitimate reason for getting an extension to file (you still have to pay by 4-15), other than shear laziness. their returns just aren't that complex. or, another common reason for filing extensions is to spread your accountant's work over a longer period of time, vs the 3.5 month crunch. jeralyn, i'll go out on a limb, and assume you're in a partnership, filing a 1065, 1120S, LLP or LLC. you got a K-1 from it, giving you pretty much all the info needed to file your 1040 on a timely basis. if a sole proprietor, using quicken, you're on a cash basis, filing a Sch. C with your 1040. you should be able to do this yourself; you're smart enough to be a lawyer, the code sections applying to you aren't that complex. anyway, have fun! :)

    Re: Late Night, Early Edition: The Tax Man's Open (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Oct 10, 2006 at 11:16:33 PM EST
    Cpinva:
    jeralyn, i'll go out on a limb, and assume you're in a partnership, filing a 1065, 1120S, LLP or LLC. you got a K-1 from it, giving you pretty much all the info needed to file your 1040 on a timely basis.
    I have no clue what any of those things are. I'm not any one of them.

    Re: Late Night, Early Edition: The Tax Man's Open (none / 0) (#7)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 05:47:57 AM EST
    cpinva - And your position on a national sales tax vs the current mess is???? ;-)

    Re: Late Night, Early Edition: The Tax Man's Open (none / 0) (#8)
    by Molly Bloom on Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 07:37:22 AM EST
    Paying taxes is no-one's idea of fun. The only relevant question is fairness. A national sales tax places the burden of paying for government mostly on the poor and middle class. A progressive (as in rates) income tax is a fairer way to raise government revenue. A sales tax is basically a tax on consumption. It is the polar opposite of income taxes. On a proportionate basis, high-income people are less affected by these consumption taxes than low-income earners because they spend a smaller proportion of their income on consumer goods. The opposite is true of income taxes, which affect high-income people much more than low-income ones. A progressive income tax was espoused by Presidents Lincoln (R-Sane wing) and Theodore Roosevelt (R-Sane wing). It should be noted that the Confederacy adopted consumption taxes and it worked really well- NOT! From Wikipedia :
    With no revenue from taxation, and with the disastrous effects of the wholesale issue of paper money before it, the Confederate government made every effort to borrow money by the issuing bonds. The initial $15 million loan was soon followed by an issue of one hundred million in bonds, which it was, however, difficult to place. This was followed by even larger loans. The bonds rapidly fell in value
    Generally speaking, social liberals (ahem) and people who believe fair taxation (those who have gotten the most out our society, pay the most and those who have gotten the least...) oppose a national sales tax. A good starting point is The Great Tax Wars: Lincoln to Wilson--The Fierce Battles over Money and Power That Transformed the Nation

    Re: Late Night, Early Edition: The Tax Man's Open (none / 0) (#9)
    by Che's Lounge on Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 08:31:34 AM EST
    if a sole proprietor, using quicken, you're on a cash basis, filing a Sch. C with your 1040. you should be able to do this yourself; you're smart enough to be a lawyer, the code sections applying to you aren't that complex. Try getting 1099's from 30 different insurance companies and 15 medical groups every year. You can't rely on their accounting either or Uncle Sam will get you. And he always gets you. But if I want to meet with the boss I just look in the mirror. Ya gotta serve somebody. Might as well be yourself.

    Re: Late Night, Early Edition: The Tax Man's Open (none / 0) (#10)
    by kdog on Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 03:50:11 PM EST
    I've always been on the fence about income vs. sales tax. I'd go with the sales tax if food, generic clothing, economy cars, housing, and other undeniable modern-day necessities were exempt. Tax stuff like luxury cars, designer clothes, tobacco, alcohol, legal reefer, dvd players, yachts, etc. Cut discretionary spending as necessary, by half is a good start. A tax based on leisure consumption. If everybody is taking home their gross...who is gonna mind an extra 5% tax on a big screen tv? At the rate we consume leisure items, there would be loads of fundage for social security, health care, education, legit defense, infrastructure. All the pork and all the thieving and all the ineffective programs would have to go though.

    Re: Late Night, Early Edition: The Tax Man's Open (none / 0) (#11)
    by Che's Lounge on Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 07:20:06 PM EST
    Take away the home loan interest deduction? All homeowners here raise their hands and say "aye"!

    Re: Late Night, Early Edition: The Tax Man's Open (none / 0) (#12)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 07:23:25 AM EST
    Molly - You missed my joke, but then I haven't seen much of a sense of humor from you. I'll explain. cpinva is a CPA... thus he most likely has a vested interest in income taxes becoming for complex because like the priests of old, he is needed to explain.... A national sales tax wouldn't require a CPA for individual tax returns... As for "fairness," surely you jest. What's fair about a family of four not paying FIT on income of about $38,000? And you are right that a sales tax is a consumpation tax. What's wrong with that? Do you have a problem with us asking those dealing in cash paying their fair share? What's wrong with telling people that if they save and invest they will be rewarded? How do you think wealth is created? Certainly not by the government. But actually my favorite would be the flat tax. No deductions. Just "x" percent on the income. You can take what's left and do whatever you want. ....And before you start crying that these aren't liberal positions, note this. I'm not saying we don't have national health care, roads, schools, etc... I'm just saying we get honest about who's paying and who's not.

    Re: Late Night, Early Edition: The Tax Man's Open (none / 0) (#13)
    by kdog on Thu Oct 12, 2006 at 10:09:04 AM EST
    The system is broken now. There are so many loopholes in our progressive system for the wealthy...the middle class ends up with the biggest burden. Remember Leona Helmsley? "Only little people pay taxes"

    Late Night, Early Edition: The Tax Man's Open Thread | 13 comments (13 topical)