Yes, old Red, the last of the great do it yourselfers, has filled out income tax forms for the last time! Now before some misread this as I don't have to file income tax! No such luck.
I have filled out income tax forms since 1959. It was a bit of a surprise for a 19 year old to discover he had to file an income tax form. So for for 59 years I have faithfully and honestly filled out my tax forms.
Why am I quitting? I'll blame it on the Micro Manager. Much of our reporting has to go together and the Micro manager is not willing to go through the hassle anymore.
I find that the forms get more convoluted every year. The government tries to satisfy many groups that lobby for breaks. So there are breaks for music lessons, bus travel, gym fees...you got it . Everybody gets a break...even seniors.
And that brings me to my point. Here's a challenge. Here senior couples, where only one gets a pension, can split some pension income so that they both can take advantage of a break and claim the maximum for non refundable tax credits. Okay, I won't complain about a benefit as it saves us $150.00.
Now here's the problem and I get a headache trying to write about this. The guy withe the pension transfers $2000.00 to the spouse without the pension. Pension guy's income is $2000.00 less. Pensionless guy must add $2000.00 to their income. After that, pension guy must subtract the tax he would have been paying on the $2000.00 he's giving away and pensionless guy must add the tax to their return. It's a simple switch.
Now you can guess the tax people could spoil this by inventing a form that is impossibly complicated. You have to read it a 100 times and each time the Micro Manager and I disagree because it is written in a very awkward way.
I know , accountants have to do their job and make a form that will do the job.
So with such convoluted forms , I'm not that unhappy to give up my job filling in my tax return.
Now I just have to look for an accountant that I like.
...and I'll bet there's no prize(break) for filling out tax forms for 59 years.
