Tag: Taxation in the United States

Taxes

orange_county_sealWe got a piece of real first class mail from the bank that holds our mortgage a few days ago. They wanted us to know we were a few grand past due on our real estate taxes.

Say what?

Yesterday they followed up with a phone call. You know they were serious, the CSR was here in the states.

It’s all true. The Foxes who’ve never once had a credit ding of any type (because I am not allowed to handle money) were 90+ days behind on our property taxes.

You’ve got to follow this closely, because it makes no sense. The tax collector doesn’t change the address for tax bills at the time a property is sold. It happens all at once, once every year.

I called the tax collector’s office in Santa Ana to straighten things out.

“Parcel number, please?”

The woman on the other end of the phone couldn’t use my address to find it. I was instructed to call the tax assessor’s office.

Back to the tax collector, now with the parcel number. Everything was explained. We’re good now.

I’m looking at the original pages that came in the mail. They’re marked up with names, numbers and notes. The arrows I’ve drawn since high school, maybe earlier, are scattered on the page. This could pass for 1968 Geoff down to the doodles.

The check, including the next property tax installment, is in the mail. It was suggested, if I requested the county would offer clemency on any penalties or interest. This must happen a lot.

I Hate Preparing My Taxes

Of course the real problem is I always feel I’ve forgotten something or screwed up something. My favor? Their favor? Who knows? Any mistake is money plus or minus.

tax return info on the table.jpgFiling taxes! Is there anything we do more painful or difficult? I hate it and I’m getting a refund. I’d be suicidal if I had to cut a check as well.

For the past few years we’ve been using TurboTax. I logged in, found my account and then realized there are probably online coupons to save money. I found one and reentered the site, but it was too late. TurboTax would only allow me to pay the full price.

Helaine asked if it was worth it to try and undo the $3? No. But this is like the cell companies giving long messages on voicemail so you’ll use more minutes, right? TurboTax rakes in an extra $3 thousands… maybe hundreds of thousands of times. It adds up.

They also charge much more to do Connecticut’s taxes than the federal forms. Let me restate: They also charge much more to do Connecticut’s much shorter and simpler taxes than the federal forms! All the info and questions are already filled-in.
I guess their cost per filer is greater, but this is a little nuts–and by a little I mean a lot.

We only go through this once a year so it’s tough to remember the specific details, but the user interface seems to be a little more sophisticated, more helpful each year. It’s a mature app but they’ve found ways to improve.

Of course the real problem is I always feel I’ve forgotten something or screwed up something. My favor? Their favor? Who knows? Any mistake is money plus or minus.

As the process ends TurboTax invites you to use Mint. The choice is Helaine’s as she’s Secretary of our Treasury, but it might not be a bad idea.