Thursday, March 17, 2005

I hate tax time

Every year, it's the same routine: buy the tax software, go through ever-increasing numbers of forms and receipts, and watch the refund/owe meter fluctuate every time I enter a number or go back and check something. I went through both the federal and New York state taxes tonight, and watched the numbers jump all over the place. They seem to have settled now, after I wrangled a particularly nasty form into place, and they're not favorable. It's not as bad as 2002, when we owed so much I almost cried, but it's still painful. For next year, we're getting an accountant to do the taxes. With Liz's home business and everything that goes along with it, the taxes have become too difficult for me to do, even (or especially) using TaxCut.

Damn guv'mint, always takin' my money. I blame the Republicans, especially George Pataki.

And we had a major subway service outage on the East Side on Wednesday. A signal cable corroded and broke, shutting down service during the morning rush. It took me an hour to get to work, via a crosstown bus and a West Side subway line. Then, the replacement signal cable broke in midafternoon, screwing up the system again. I got home at a reasonable time, but come on! I pay $76 a month for the subway -- the least I ask is that it runs during RUSH HOUR. Again, I blame Pataki, for not helping out New York's transit system with more federal and state money. Of course, that money just comes out of my tax bill, so I guess I end up paying either way.

No comments: