Tax Return | The Habitation of Justice

Taxed with doing taxes

Lincoln Adams | January 10, 2010 @ 11:15 am

Been reading up on miscellaneous income at the IRS due to having to report my blog earnings now, which skyrocketed to $3.34 last year (adjusted for inflation).

When I scanned the list of the different types of income, I noticed this:

They really expect people to confess to a crime, on their TAX RETURNS? Seriously?

Anyhoo, I’m wringing my hand over doing taxes this year since it marks the first time I have to report an income stream outside of my full-time job. I like keeping things simple, so simple in fact that for 10 years or more I’ve only had to file a 1040A using standard deduction to get my refund. It takes like 5 minutes to do my taxes, but then of course I have to do my NY state taxes too, which typically takes me 5 weeks. You think federal taxes are complex? Come live here. You’ll never complain about the feds again.

Evidently I have to report ALL my additional income (not just the ones I got a 1099 for), including the $5 lottery scratch-off I won as a Christmas present. Sure, I’ll get right on that. I’m just righteously anxious to fork over what little of my money I have left so the gubmint can continue to hand out welfare checks to crack addicts. You betcha!

Seriously though, it doesn’t look like it will be too bad this year. I just need to switch over to a 1040 and there’s a line on it where I can report miscellaneous income. Next year though will likely be a completely different story. I can’t even wrap my mind around it, but the day might come where I may have to incorporate my blog as a business, because it’s getting to be THAT profitable. Habitation of Justice, LLC? :blink:

By that time I’ll probably need a tax advisor or some dweebie expert to walk me through incorporation and doing my taxes, and just hope they’ll be reputable. All this business crap gives me a serious headache. I just wanna blog and whine about about my lack of a love life in peace, ya know?

Tags: blog, business, earnings, federal taxes, income, incorporation, irs, report, state taxes, tax return
Categories: Blog Fog, Comic Relief

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One Step Closer to Financial Independence

Lincoln Adams | February 20, 2009 @ 9:15 am

I paid off my car loan! :banana: :guitarna:

2 down, 1 to go! I paid off my credit card last July, so all the remains now is my college loan, which at my current pace should be paid off this 4th of July, of all days.

I learned a few things today too. For one, withdrawing a few hundred bucks from an ATM machine is not quite as easy as you might think. My tax return was finally deposited into my account yesterday, but the account that held my car loan was with a different bank, so I needed to deposit part of my tax return into that account so I could pay off my loan in its entirety. I figured no problem though, I’ll just hit up the ATM for a few hundred and be on my way.

First I went to the local gas station where their ATM doesn’t give me lame surcharges. I cheerily walked in, took out my card and…

“Out of Service. Please come back another time.”

Of course…

So I went to a 7-11 and used the ATM there.

“Withdrawal request exceeds allotted funds. Please try again.”

For the love of… ok, I’m sure by now you’re thinking why I didn’t just go to my bank directly and make the withdrawal there. The bank was 20 miles away, and a trip there and back would lose me an hour at least. By the time I got to the other bank holding my car loan it’d be closed, and I REALLY wanted to get this over with now.

So I took the maximum amount of cash the ATM could dish out, which was $400, then drove to another ATM. This time I could only withdraw $100. I withdrew that amount, then swiped my card again to make another withdrawal.

“We’re sorry, you have exceeded the daily limit of withdrawals that can be made. Please try again tomorrow.”

Huh? :blink:

I tried it again.

“We’re sorry, you have exceeded the daily limit of withdrawals that can be made. Please try again tomorrow.”

I just stood there, trying to figure out what to do next. I was still a $100 short, and I needed to find some other way to get it. Ooooh I know, I’ll use my credit card! I could pay the difference when I got home too. Easy peachy! So I swiped my credit card.

“Please enter your pin number.”

Pin number? Oh crap. I had forgotten what it was. Let’s see, I think it was 1-2-3-4.

“Incorrect PIN number. Please try again.”

@#$%^!!!

Ok, ok, let me think here, how else can I get cash without using the ATM… … …

Cashbacks!!

I quickly ran into another 7-11 and bought myself coffee. Swiped my card at the register and waited for the cashback screen to show up:

“Cashback amount?”

I inputted $100, then waited, confident and enjoying my coffee.

“You may only withdraw a maximum of $10.”

Dude… why?

“Is everything alright, sir?”

“Could I like, get some money from your register?”

The cashier stood there wide-eyed.

“No no no, I mean the cashback here only goes up to, you know… uh, I didn’t mean…, I’ll just take my coffee now.” I quickly walked out.

Alright, what now… I vaguely remembered being able to get more than $40 cashback from the supermarket, so I figured my best bet would be there. I drove a few miles to a nice big honking supermarket and went inside.

Only one thing was going to make all this aggravation worth it. Bagels! I bought myself a few whole wheats and some cappy ham, then quickly went to the self check-out. Swiped the card again, said a little prayer and inputted $100.

“Card Approved.”

YES! Finally! The machine started dispensing my $100… in 5 dollar bills, and of course, it had to be one of those nuclear powered cash dispensers where gobs of 5 dollar bills went flying out like a winning slot machine. I frantically picked up the cash, counted it to make sure I had it all, then hauled heinie out of there.

At long last, after what had to be 5 or 6 stops (I lost count) of putting together the cash I needed, I stopped by my bank and proudly slapped down the money.

“I’d like to pay off my car loan please.” I smiled broadly.

They gave me a receipt and that was it. I got into my beautiful ride and took a deep breath.

“Finally, you’re all mine.” I turned the ignition and sighed happily.

*click*

Ha, just kidding, it started up fine. :ggrin:

I have to tell you though, during the drive home it seemed like the whole world was literally aiming at my car, almost as if they all knew it had just been paid off too. Oy.

But finally, FINALLY, this headache was now over with, and with all that behind me my college loan was the only thing left that stood between me and becoming completely debt free.

I can’t wait! :shades: