How did it get to be mid-March already? Once again, Miss Flora Mouse has not yet begun to organize her taxes. Isn’t it nice that the IRS is now sending out friendly “field agents” to give procrastinators like Flora a nudge, so she won’t be tempted to wait until the very last minute to start?
Like me, Flora is an artist and sole proprietor, which means gathering together receipts, invoices, check stubs, etc.—all of which could be stashed pretty much anywhere!
Every January, Flora vows to turn over a new leaf, and does. But in just a few months she’s gotten distracted by some new project and lapses back into her usual “creative” filing methods. (What a nightmare!)
And yet somehow, every March, Flora and I both pull things together in time to meet with our accountants, and get all the proper forms—i.e., a “Request for Extension to File”—submitted in time.
Sending out a special greeting tonight to anyone else who is up, and just starting their tax prep. (And congratulations to all you high-functioning sorts who have already filed!)
I have so been there Flora Mouse!
She feels much better knowing that (and so do I) — Thanks, Alece!
When I was a single mouse, I used to wait until the evening of April 14 and then, fortified by a couple of glasses of wine, dive into the tax forms. Anything involving math, money and government forms is totally daunting.
LOL —Have to say, what a great image, Dorothy!
When I was a young mouse living in Manhattan, one of the local radio stations used to sponsor a party for us procrastinators on the steps of the main Post Office (which stayed open until 11:59 PM on April 15th) with music, free hot dogs, etc… (Yeehaw!) I went at least once.
Then there was a period of a few years in the late-80s, where taxes and “money stuff” just didn’t seem traumatic at all for me. For a while I had a combo fairy godmother/earth mother accountant, a woman in Brooklyn named Adelaide T. Stella, whom I found through artist friends. She was an excellent tax advisor, unofficial therapist and life coach, and also became a good friend. I used to staple my receipts onto different colored strips of construction paper (for different categories) to make the process more “fun,” and would give them to her like that—a colorful bouquet that she’d then fan out on the floor of her office and interpret.
Clients like me no doubt burnt Adele out over time (she always had unlimited time for us, and I think we took up a ton of it). She eventually left accounting, went into real estate, and last I heard, went into teaching (her dream and true calling).
I just Googled to see if I could find out what she was up to now, as we lost touch along the way, and found an entry on her brother’s blog that she had passed in 2008. Very sad. Adele was really something.
[Sigh] OK…back to my taxes.
During the late-80’s, I had Adele as my tax accountant as well. I have to concur, Jean. She was irreplaceable, a great coach…up there with therapists, teachers and caregivers….demystifying the mystified.
So nice hearing you had that same experience/felt that way also, Bill…but I’m not at all surprised.
As I mentioned in the note I just sent her brother, Adele encouraged me to “think outside the box,” literally, back when my tiny (400 sq foot!) Manhattan apartment was cramping my creativity, and the opportunity came up to rent outside commercial space. —Which I then did, with you. What a great adventure that was — and one more reason I feel grateful to Adele.
For years we had Dick Cross do our taxes. He was quite a character. He and Steve would have a little contest to see who could come up with the “best” tax number. Dick would always win. Dick retired a few years ago.
Good accountants are worth their weight in gold 🙂