It's income tax time and I can hear everybody cheering with great joy!
In the good old days income tax was simple to file. All we did was add up our income. Everybody got the first $1000.00 tax free before calculating the tax. We did not get a bazillion slips reporting our income . We added up our income, took off the $1000.00 and calculated the tax manually. Finished! Done!
The first time I filed an income tax form was 1957. I worked on the railroad for 10 weeks and made 400.00. I didn't have to pay income tax. I just had to make sure that I filed a return.
Now every dollar we receive in income must be reported to the government and of course to the tax payer. We have some rinky dink things like age amount, care of children blah , blah blah. We get a wopping 10% of this for a tax reduction. Then they make us jump through many hopes taking things off an putting things on. And don't forget the instalment payments you made. I used to do my own income tax return. It just got too complicated and laborious. I finally went to a professional to fill out and file my return.
Well, yesterday was the appointed day for me to receive my assessment notice. The assessment notice from the tax dept. tells me if what I filed was correct. When I filled out my own tax it was either exactly correct or off by a few bucks. I knew this year that I was getting some money returned. When I got my assessment notice I saw that I was receiving much more money back than had been calculated.
I could not think of why this change had been made. Finally, I phoned the guy who filled out my tax return. It was easy. I pay instalments . That is I pay a certain amount each quarter so that I'm not hit with a big bill in April. The bank had put my instalment payment as paying my income tax. The income tax dept was just giving my money back . So my bank was in big trouble. My money had gone to paying my tax instead of the instalment.
Usually the income tax dept. can mess things up. This time it was the bank.
There was no joy in getting extra money back because it wasn't mine. If I kept it I would have had to pay interest on it.
So income tax reporting isn't simple anymore
It sure isn't simple. I stopped doing my own paper filing many years ago. It was always wrong and I'm not a bad mathematician! After using H & R Block for years, I decided I can return to doing my own but these days it's much easier for me as I just plug in all the right numbers on the right line and the tax software (I use different ones) does all the work for me. Even then CRA always seems to do a reassessment. I don't know why that happens but sometimes they surprise me and give me a bit more!
ReplyDeleteI thought of using a tax program but I'm glad I didn't .this guy gives you confidence that it's done and correct.
DeleteI don't know about your country, but here the tax laws keep changing so it's hard to know what to expect each year. Because of the frequent changes we pay a tax service to do ours for us. That's awful that your bank messed up yours! I hope they were able to get it all straightened out for you!
ReplyDeleteYes, rules and regulations change here. they have a list of what's new every year.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteHubby did our taxes and now we are waiting for a refund. Take care, enjoy your day!
Good for Hubby to stick at it and do your taxes.
DeleteI still have to do mine. I used a software program, but in my dotage, I could have it done for free.
ReplyDeleteI thought about using a soft ware package but I'm glad I didn't , I have confidence that it's going to be right with the guy I hire.
DeleteWe started our returns yesterday. Hateful!
ReplyDeleteGreat word HATEFUL.
DeleteI broke down and paid someone. I am so fed up.
ReplyDeleteGlad you got things straightened out.
(ツ) from Cottage Country Ontario , ON, Canada!
iT'S A NUISANCE THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO BE BOTHERED WITH.
DeleteDealing with that stuff would give me a big headache. Fortunately, I have never had to file a tax statement in my life.
ReplyDeleteNow I'd like to hear the answer to your story. Maybe I should move to the UK.
DeleteNow that we're retired, it's pretty easy, but we still file every year and get a little back from the amount we withheld if we needed to pay anything. A hundred dollars or so, but it comes in handy. :-)
ReplyDeleteGood for you to do your own taxes. If you can avoid some of the complications it's OK to file your own taxes.
DeleteMy husband does all the crazy tax stuff. This year, after days and days of filling in all kinds of forms, I suggested that maybe next year we should have an accountant do it. Hah! We'll see if that happens.
ReplyDeleteI had a hard time giving up doing my own taxes. It has to do with losing control when you hire someone else.
DeleteYou really have to keep on top of what CRA is telling you in their (many) mail-outs. Many people would have just accepted the refund without question. It's good that you followed up on it. I find dealing with the bank frustrating for the very reason you stated - they make mistakes that have real consequences for the taxpayer unless you are alert and follow up. CRA has also been known to make mistakes when applying payments to different accounts (example, for businesses with both tax and payroll accounts). It's so annoying!
ReplyDeleteThere are many opportunities for errors to occur. I found some things difficult to understand alike split income.
DeleteSounds like a big headache to me, glad I don't have to do it.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that some people don't have to file a tax return.
DeleteArt takes care of sorting our papers for the accountant to do. It seems like he's doing all the work and she just needs to fill in the blanks. Tax time is never a happy time. Sigh...
ReplyDeleteThe happy is why we went to someone to do the return. We argued with each other and that added to the stress.
DeleteI've got to get it sorted. Mine's fairly simple in terms of documents to bring in.
ReplyDeleteWe find that it's easier if we keep things sorted as we go along in the year.
DeleteI have always done our taxes. Now I use TurboTax. It is fairly simple but time consuming and sometimes confusing.
ReplyDeleteOne year I got everything we paid in back as a refund, I knew that wasn't right, but I had a heck of a time convincing the tax person I talked to that they had made an error. Like you, I knew eventually I would have to pay it back with interest if I couldn't get them to straighten it out.
Yes, it's sad when you have difficulty persuading tax people that they get more money.
DeleteCertainly isn't!
ReplyDeleteI did my tax return for years and years, but when it became too complex, I gave it to my accountant. It's worse and worse. The poor accountant is busy with her clients twelve solid months.
ReplyDeleteUgh. Taxes. We paid over $400 to get the taxes done. We had extra money taken from our pay check because we knew we were going to be hard hit. We were. We paid in a lot last year. It is tripled this year.
ReplyDeleteAfter not doing my taxes for three years I find I'm not keeping up with the program!
ReplyDeleteOur problem is our business. Separating and adding up the bills for each property, calculating the costs of major work against a three year depreciation. By the time we are done, our forms are submitted with 30+ pages of schedules and exemptions, etc. There is no way that either one of us could get this done on our own.
ReplyDeleteWe have an account because I refuse to do them anymore. I told my husband he could do them if he wanted:)
ReplyDeleteI thought I had commented here but I guess I haven't! When I was a single mom, I paid to get my taxes done. Now my husband does them. We don't have any complicated things to include, so it's fairly quick and easy for him.
ReplyDelete