TO FILE OR NOT TO FILE - That is the question

It is that time of year again – filing our income tax!!  Yikes!!  I think there is a conspiracy going on – why is it that Income Tax time and Property Tax time occur at approximately the same time?  Easy come, easy go – or in some cases, easy go x 2. 

Doing my family’s income tax forms is always a daunting task (yes pun intended-tax and task) and sometimes feels insurmountable.  Procrastination rears its ugly head this time of year.  The huge mountain of papers, the thought that I will have to actually use the brains that God gave me is never a pleasant thought.  Even thoughts of going to jail for failing to fill out my tax return has a somewhat surreal appeal – some peace and quiet and time ‘away from home' enter my mind.  But I shrug it off, and let duty prevail and so, I get all the paperwork and receipts out (it is strange how receipts that I thought  were safely placed in one location  suddenly emerge in many other locations).  So yesterday, I sat at my desk and took a deep breath.  Here I go.  The only thing that made it seem worthwhile was the thought that there would be a surprise awaiting me at the end – would I get a refund? How much would it be?  That, my friends, is what kept me going.  I decided to do my son’s income tax first as his was pretty straightforward – nothing in there but the general info (I wondered for a split second what made my son so Special as I looked at the ‘Special’ form).  But I knew that his would come out ‘neutral’ – no money back, no money out.  Simple and fast.

However, this was not to be the case with my husband’s.  I dreaded doing his.  You see, he had applied for CPP (Canada Pension Plan for all those reading this who do not livle in Canada (I have been blamed of being an optimistic person) last year and he had neglected to tell them to take 10-15% off for income tax purposes.  So clearly his would have money owed.  While doing his, I kept my thoughts positive, thinking surely it would not be too bad.  I soon found out that not asking CPP to with-hold funds is never a good thing.  There it was – in black and white – he owed to the government.  I immediately felt like saying a few things about our government, but after having worked for her Royal Magesty for 35 years, I had learned my lesson well – keep private thoughts about the government to myself.  But I did make sure my wonderful (if brainless) husband knew what he had done.  I love my husband dearly but this year, after finishing his income tax return (knowing full well that ‘return’ was a misnomer), I wondered why I had even thought of marrying this man.  After 10 minutes (my husband would likely tell you that it was more like half an hour) of my speaking gently to him (yes, I have a sarcastic sense of humor), he picked up the telephone and humbly called CPP and told them to start with-holding some of his (our?) money.

Then came time to do my income tax return.  Isn’t it strange how a woman always puts other’s needs and problems ahead of her own?  Oh well, I reminded myself yesterday, it IS International Woman’s Day and I am strong, I am woman (Helen Reddy would be proud).  I knew that my income tax return would be a daunting task and would be a time consuming one. All I kept thinking what how when one retires, one should relax and enjoy life. I usually think this way, until tax time rolls around and I wonder why I was placed on this earth.  But I knew that in the end, I would, from experience, be able to sit back and smile, because I would have money coming back (hopefully enough to cover my ‘almost ex-husband’s oversight). 

So, today, they are all complete and I can sit back and smile.  I telefiled my son’s, made out a cheque for my husband’s (did I tell you he was shaking with fear as I told him to SIGN the cheque), and sat smugly with mine.  All that remains today is making photocopies and putting them in the mail.  Job well done, I told myself.  A hard day’s work completed!! 

Now to wait until my refund is deposited into the bank so I can write a cheque to the Property Tax people.  Easy come, easy go. 

This is a very boring entry, my friends.  But such was my day yesterday.  Tomorrow morning, I will write about tax breaks for those who are caregivers of someone with a disability.  It is not at all complicated once you have done it a few times, have cried, have pulled out a few white hairs, have called the automated telephone number that is enough to drive a person crazy a few times (pressing 1,2, 3 and finally 0 is always very frustrating) – I  often wonder why, with all the money they make from the  ‘returns’ they cannot hire an actual person to answer the telephone.  But by this year, I don’t have to do this because I have learned how to do it properly and somewhat easily. 

And having learned the hard way, I want to make it easy for those of you who have never done an income tax return if you have a family member with a disability.   You see, there are thousands of dollars in savings that can be had (I personally put in any savings that come back from the Caregiver Amount and the Transfer of funds into an RDSP and into the Henson Trust) – if you are asking yourself what these are, you will have to continue coming here to check……..

I need something to keep my faithful readers interested – and tomorrow you will be amazed at what you will learn (perhaps for yourself, perhaps for a friend who is a caregiver).  I will spell it all out (OK maybe not spell it out, but point it out) in detail how you can claim amounts for being a caregiver and receive thousands of dollars in refunds.

But for today, I relax in the knowledge that my Property Tax will be paid, that I will have enough money to cover my husband’s lack of foresight (…meant kindly now that I am over the shock..) and enough left over to make a sizable contribution to my son’s RDSP and Henson Trust.  Stay tuned.. as Scarlett said 'tomorrow is another day'...