Tax Evasion

I do my own taxes. Every year I buy the software and spend my weekends preparing - piling up receipts, adding totals, gathering W-2's, 1099's, etc. and making notes. Eventually I sit down and plug all the data into the software. Then I walk away. I never submit the taxes first time around. I simply don't trust myself. I take a week or two off from the project and let the numbers and paperwork just sit. Then I go back, well rested with a clear head, and review all of my entries to be sure I didn't make any mistakes. I live in fear of the almighty audit.

I have NO reason to be afraid of being audited. I have every receipt, copy, and form from the past 8 years stored away in marked folders, far in excess of the recommended retention. I don't take any chances and don't guess. If I question anything, I ask questions and research until I'm comfortable I'm compliant. And yet, I'm still nervous. I sort of believe the IRS wants everyone to feel the way I do. The way they word questions and lines on the forms leaves me at a loss. According to a study conducted by the US Department of Education and the National Institute of Literary, 32 million adults in the US can't read - a full 14% of the population, and 21 percent of adults read below a 5th grade level. Someone needs to send a memo to the IRS!  I read quite well, and I still do not understand half of the language on these forms, which is part of why I buy software to spoon-feed me through the process. And even then, the software often takes ambiguity to a new level.

So, this is a knitting blog. WHY?!?! am I talking about taxes?

Ha! Tax evasion, of course.

This is the weekend I'm supposed to be doing my last review before submitting. So far, I've gotten groceries, done laundry, had a haircut, done dishes, taken myself out to lunch, finished a new knitting pattern design, written the pattern for said new design, sent it off for testing, started blocking a shawl, repotted several house plants, taken the winter divider door off the mud room (spring is here afterall), weeded the garden, washed the basket I collect my garden produce in, set up not one, but two crockpots full of porkbutt for shreading, visited my chickens, collected eggs, read, cleaned, updated my annual yardage tracking, updated my Ravelry stash tracking, refilled a soap pump, washed a mirror, gone through old coats and determined what needed to be donated, dusted, and now I'm typing a blog entry. I'm seriously considering baking bacon for the work week and perhaps making a batch of cupcakes. There is also an opportunity to go plant carrot seeds in the garden, and the dog could really use a bath and shave.

No, I haven't reviewed my taxes yet.

Of course, had I simply done the review first thing this morning, it would be done, but look at ALL the things I accomplished by avoiding this one chore.

Now if I simply substituted working on my WIPs for all these chores, and pushed this off for the allowed 10 more days, I might finish my WIPs pile...

Yeehaw! The dryer just buzzed. I've got laundry that must be folded.

Psst, yeah, you read that right... new design coming ;)