Deep Thoughts about Taxes

After a late night's work on taxes, I only have one thought, and it would probably get me arrested - If I just filed as "deceased" next year, could I just stop paying them? Hmmmm. Somehow it just seem sick and wrong that even dead people have to file.

It's also odd that Good Friday, Easter and Tax Day fall on the same weekend. Truly a weekend dedicated to the certainties of life (death and taxes).

I was determined not to procrastinate to the absolute minute, so I actually got them done on the 15th.

To be fair to myself, I actually started the taxes a couple of months ago on the site of a major preparer that offered "free" taxes. I realized I needed some documentation and one thing led to another (birth, death, trips, major life crises, all the normal things that validate procrastination) and there I was last night, frantically trying to e-file at zero minus a day or so and counting.

I'd had enough and was determined to get this all over with. So, I rolled up my sleeves, went to the free IRS site to make sure my "free" service was free, and worked on my application. At 3 a.m., was set to hit the send button and the darn program did an "oh gee, but there are a few small charges" kind of move and I realized that my "free federal filing" was actually going to cost $60!!! Had been prepared to pay a small amount to get the state returns filed with the feds, but this made me really mad! They wanted to force me to pay to "prepare" the tax on-line... but then the e-file was free. Uh huh. So how was a person supposed to get to the free service without doing the preparation? Clap my hands and think of Neverland and all the Lost Boys? It seems obvious that they're counting on most people to be so glad to be almost done that they just throw out the money to get the whole business over with that few people actually complain. I did, got an immediate computerized reply, and assume I'll never get a real human to respond.

Oregon Dept. of Revenue, however, has actually gathered some REAL free filing sites through its own web portal. So, if you want real free e-filing, stay away from the big-name folks at IRS and keep it local, baby!