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For the past couple of years, immediately following my divorce, I did not pay much attention to Uncle Sam on that certain day in April. There are many reasons for my lack of good judgment in that regard, but it really just comes down to not wanting to deal with it. I was getting refunds each of the years I chose not to file, but the cash had been "certified" by agencies to which I owed money. I'm better now, thanks, and back to taking care of business. Getting divorced is a financial and emotional nightmare, to say the least.
Recent events have proven that not taking care of business is a huge mistake, even when we don't consider the immediate benefits of filing for an income tax refund (i.e. not getting the money). My daughter is beginning her college career. It turns out that my income and tax information has a great deal to do with her student loans and government grants.
Today, my daughter has decided to withdraw from her first semester of college so she won't be charged her tuition. Her student loans are on hold (read: denied) because I did not file my taxes on time for 2010. I have since caught up with Uncle Sam, but at the expense of my daughter's plans. She's a great kid and has, in her infinite and kindhearted wisdom, forgiven me for being so irresponsible. But in the end, it is my fault that she has to put off her education until the fall.
I learned a couple of things along the way.
First, if you owe the government money, you have to pay on time, even if you don't file your taxes on time. If they owe you, they don't much care if you don't file on time. They get to use your money for free. Generally, the outside limit is three years, though. In speaking with the IRS during myriad phone calls the past week, I learned that they were going to create a return for me, give me no deductions and bill me for what they would claim I owed, plus penalties and interest.
Second, I learned that our financial lives affect everyone, not just us. If my lack of foresight caused this much pain for my daughter, it is obvious that major corporations who have too much foresight and use major-league creative bookkeeping to pay no taxes at all affects everyone. Go Occupy Movement!
And finally, I learned that there are a few civil servants in the world who really do care about the people they serve and actually like their jobs. I spoke with a couple of them at the IRS this week. That was a little off-topic, but it just goes to show that I was avoiding Uncle Sam for no reason at all, really.
My daughter will return to school in the fall, with a transcript of my 2011 taxes in hand. I'll be filing on April 17, youbetcha. Why am I not filing now? Because I'm so much "better" than I was a couple of years ago, that I'll probably have to cut them a check. Maybe taking care of business isn't all it's cracked up to be, after all.
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