The Start of Tax Season

This week I sat down and started putting together the information for my taxes. Normally I go through all of my spending for the year and categorize everything I spent. This year I decided to try a different method. I loaded up TurboTax on my computer and started filling in information based off the paperwork I received from my employer, banks, and the government. That allowed me to input all of my income for 2020.

Next I came to deductions. I do a fair amount of donations to charities and last year I had about 8 or 9 different organizations that I made donations to. Part of the reason is I started cleaning out my basement and discovered it is better to donate than to throw away. After all, a charitable donation earns a tax deduction that landfill doesn't provide. The only problem is that all of those charities are listed again for this year and I need to figure out if I donated anything to them.

The first thing I did is go through my checkbook registers for the year to see if I wrote any checks to any charities. Then I asked my wife if she had any receipts for donations we made. Ultimately I had hoped I could eliminate a few of the steps I have used in the past to shorten the amount of time it takes me to gather everything so I can complete my taxes. Unfortunately I can't. I guess all of the steps I have used to file my taxes for the past 30 years came about from running through this process every year. Going through the steps in a different order doesn't really save any time. Oh well. I guess I had better get back to categorizing all of my spending for the year.

Time To Vote

Today I voted. I will not be in my state of residence on Election Tuesday and so I took advantage of early voting here in Utah. There was one polling location open on Saturday and so I had to drive all the way to the city/county building in downtown Salt Lake. I was pleased I was able to vote as this is a very important election year.

In my eagerness to get downtown and vote, I probably didn't spend enough time researching the issues and/or candidates. My wife warned me that there were a few bozos and so I steered clear of them. What about everybody else? I hate political ads on the TV and so I tune them out. I don't think they are the best source of information anyways. As you may have a week or so before the election, I recommend you use your favorite Internet search engine and educate yourself on not only the candidates, but also the issues being voted on this year. I voted against any new taxes, but you may feel differently.

I try to avoid politics in my blog and so my only advice for the election this year is for the office of president: Mit Romney. While some believe it was nice to have a change in the Presidency these last 4 years, I think Obama's health care plan is just one more nail in the coffin for American jobs. I know a number of small to mid-sized companies that cannot afford the increase in health insurance premiums. With the ease of outsourcing jobs overseas these days, these small to mid-sized companies will find it much less expensive to employ someone in a foreign country.