Taxed. Taxing. Overtaxed.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Maybe the problem is that I will just never learn. Just…never learn.

Every year, for however many years I have done my taxes, which is quite a darn few, I spend the week or two before tax deadline completely in a meltdown. Things that would have been so easy to organize starting in January of the year before , wait,  let me say this–things that I did begin to organize in January of the year before– completely fall apart. Nothing is in chronological order, and even though I have files, carefully  beautifully labeled files, why are things in the wrong file?

It’s all well and good to keep every single receipt about everything, which indeed I have, but then comes a time when you have to organize those receipts in some semblance of some logical order, and at that point, my brain just goes up in smoke. 

Yes, I have all my credit card statements in a special file, and in some order. Yes, I have all my bank statements in a file, in some order. But what if I have missed one of those little tax documents that they send you that look frighteningly the same as junk mail? Yes, I have a file that those are all supposed to go in, but who knows what’s supposed to be there that isn’t? 

I’m predicting some of you have some sort of fancy dancy online tax prep system, and to you I say, well, trying to think of what I say. I will just say congratulations, you are wise and smart and practical. I think I am all those things from time to time, but somehow, not in April. Thank goodness for my tax preparer--she has saved my life for years. “Here, darling  Sharon,”  I say, “it's all yours.” 

How about you Reds? Are you tax savvy or simply...overtaxed?

RHYS BOWEN: I’m taking advantage of living in Marin County. CA this year as it’s one of the counties impacted by storms and we have been given a tax extension! This is great as I want to finish my first draft while I’m in the mood and can see where I’m going.

I try to be organized. I input all my expenses into a spreadsheet every couple of months so in theory all I have to do is see totals for each category. What takes me longer is the 1099s from various financial institutions. Put this amount on line 21 of form blankety blank etc. I don’t have a tax person at the moment because the hard part is assembling everything and in the past I’ve found that the average tax person has no idea of what being a writer entails.  But next year I will find one. I’ve had enough of making sure everything is entered in the right place!  Too stressful. 

JENN MCKINLAY: Every year. Every year I try to be organized from the start but…no. I’m meeting with my accountant next week. Luckily, I finished my book last night so now I can spend five days up to my hips in paperwork, trying to track my expenses from last year like a dope. 

What’s even more ridiculous is I keep buying these wonderful accounting binders and apps and computer programs, thinking I’ll utilize them and, yet, I never do. I think I am mathematically broken. 

LUCY BURDETTE: I am a disaster. I have one folder called TAXES in my file drawer and something similar in my gmail account. Everything gets stuffed in there. No wonder I dread the moment when John says: “When can you have your part done?” It would be so wonderful as Hank says if I entered every expense onto a spreadsheet the moment they happened. 

Sigh. I did get so far as to label a spreadsheet, but it’s April 2023 and it’s empty.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: You guys are making me feel SO MUCH BETTER about myself! Finally, in a group of women who are super organized and always hitting their deadlines, I get my chance to shine!

I toss all my papers into an antique tin basket over the course of the year - BUT, following Celia’s suggestion, I also keep the tax category folders in there as well, and four times a year I go through and stuff loose bills, etc into the proper folder. My online receipts and travel information have their own electronic folder. So at the beginning of the year, I pull the folders - real and virtual - put the info into an Excel doc (I have a template I use every year) and fire it off to my accountant. I had everything, including the physical documents, into her office by March 9th.

Please crown me Julia, Queen of Taxes.

HALLIE EPHRON: I crown thee Julia, Tax Princess!! 

Mine are done. Mailed. Despite my best efforts I owe. Which infuriates me…

HANK: I HATE that. Grr.

HALLIE: I keep ongoing spreadsheets for my work related expenses. And the bills go in a file. When the 1099s come I print them out and save them in another folder. But because a writer’s income is so inconsistent, the hard thing for me is making sure I’m taking enough out for state and federal withholding. The IRS doesn’t like it when you owe much more than you’ve already paid them by the end of the year.

I haven’t done my own taxes for decades. The man who prepares them for me is blessedly thorough and I love him for that. 

DEBORAH CROMBIE: If Julia is the queen of taxes, I am the lowliest of pawns. Can I confess that I have never made an Excel spreadsheet for..anything? And that I’ve filed for an extension every year in (practically) living memory? I do, however, keep all my 1099s and tax-related documents together and when I do get around to doing the taxes I categorize every expense. And I have a terrific tax person. Here’s my burning question–do you all still save PAPER receipts? Because I don’t, unless I pay cash for something business related and that’s only occasionally when I’m traveling. Everything else is trackable through debit and credit card statements.

HANK: Well, great question, Debs. This is the year I realized, wait–I don’t need most paper receipts  And, drumroll, on the road for my recent book tour, I started using the notes app on my phone every time I bought something. (Latte, bagel,diet coke, almonds.)  It adds up, and it was very easy to do!

 Okay,  U.S. Reds and Readers! Have you sent in your taxes? What's your tax mentality? And if you live outside the U,S.,  how does it work in your part of the world?