Belated Income Tax Return

April 15 came and went, and there was no 2020 tax return in the U.S. mail from me.  My accountant was kind enough to file an extension – something that I thought I would never have to do, again.  File an extension.  Time was, when I had a couple of small (very small) businesses, my accountant filed an extension almost every year.  I would start each year with the best of intensions.  This year, I would have all of my tax information to my accountant on time, I would pledge.  But, life happens, and the tax information stayed on the work table without being put in order.  And, so, the accountant would file an extension so I would not be in trouble.  Or, sometimes, I would get the information to him before the April 15, but it was provided so close to April 15 that I know he filed an extension, even then.

Then came the letter telling all of his clients that his firm would no longer provide tax preparation services to regular people (like me), but only to corporations.  The letter precipitated the search for a new accountant; I asked neighbors and other friends to give suggestions.  The accounting firm I chose from those recommendations charged me $500 to get a $250 refund from my 2018 return.  This didn’t seem to be a very good trade-off, so I was again in the market for an accountant.  My mother always said that, “it’s an ill wind that blows no good,” and a friend recommended Terri.  That turned out to be the best recommendation.  She reviewed my return from the preceding year, telling me that the $500 charge was way more than I should have been charged.  She prepared my 2019 return, made suggestions for my follow-through to make my next year easier, and intervened when there was an unforeseen problem.  And DID NOT charge me an arm and a leg to do the work.

As usual in January of this year, I looked through the box into which I had placed all of the information for my 2020 return.  And, as usual, my intent to get the information prepared and to the accountant was at its highest peak.  During the following two months, more information cam in, and it all went into the box marked “2020 Income Tax Return.”  By now, it is early March, and I look for the box to start the final preparation, as planned. AND, THE BOX HAD DISAPPEARED INTO NEVERNEVERLAND!  I spent the entire month of March looking for the box with the income tax information.  I did not find it.  (Whenever I tell sister Clara that I’ve lost something, she tells me that I need a keeper.  She may be right.)  Anyway, I found boxes with books.  I found boxes with things I planned to take to Wisconsin at the end of April and early June for my granddaughter’s high school graduation and Daughter #3’s knee surgery.  I found boxes that needed to be taken to ARC (I have a rule that something has to leave my house, every day, and never come back).  But, not the income tax box.

Couple that with passing out in the dog run, hospital visits, etc., I knew that I would need to have an extension for the 2020 return, arranged by Terri.  April, May, and June came and went; the box never surfaced.  I started recreating the data that would be needed to file.  Income and expenditure figures; federal and state taxes paid.  Medical mileage.  Medical insurance.  Property taxes paid.  Cash contributions- donations to charities.  And, some figures that I thought would probably not be allowable – but, Terri would know that.  With all of that data assembled, it was time to deliver it to Terri – which I did – today.  Terri will do what she does best with it,

That’s not all, of course.  Next week, I’ll go back to sign the necessary documents and send the return to the IRS.  Or, maybe, Terri will do that electronically.

Then, within a week or so after getting the 2020 return in, I’ll probably find the box with the documentation in it.  Isn’t that the way it usually works?

Be safe and well.

The Cranky Crone

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