Tax time is fun?
Well, it depends how you look at it.
Here it is, the end of January. Time to start playing THE GAME. After all, that appointment with the taxman is just a month away.
The Set-up
(1) Find the checklist of things I’ll need. I know I stored a list of those items on the computer last year. Here it is:
- income statements
- interest paid: mortgages, parent loan,
- interest received
- last year’s state tax paid
- last year’s taxman fee
- car registrations donations (and photos of things donated in the computer)
- books & supplies, license fees, dues, cell phone for work, refinance fees
(2) All the papers that came in the mail have been placed in a file: TAX 2009. Dump the file, organize the papers, begin checking off the list, and filling in the amounts of each item on the list.
(3) Find what papers are missing from the list. Make notes about where to find those papers.
“Do I need to look online for the interest paid for that refinance in 2009?”
“Do I need to look on past check stubs for that car registration?”
The Game
Search for each missing document.
The Goal
Find at least one missing document each day.
The Winner
There are two possible winners:
(1) The person (me) who locates all the missing papers
(2) The person (me – or the U.S. Government) who comes out ahead, as proclaimed by the taxman next month.
Fun? Not so, you say? Try it – and let me know at robertebsen@hotmail.com.
Good luck on being winner #1 and #2!