Feeling Good About Mailing Taxes…

Posted by Laura

April 15, 2005

Today is tax day — and I need to feel good about paying taxes, so I used the cute little “I Love You” stamps to send in my checks and forms to the IRS. It’s one small thing I can do to spread cheer while I do something I don’t particularly like to do.

Why do I usually feel so glum on April 15? It’s partly the tedium of filing…surely there has to be an easier way to pay taxes than going through hundreds of pages of forms! I always liked the idea of a sales tax instead of an income tax…we’d get taxed only on what we purchase, not on what we make.

That would be easy and fair. It would also help the economy and increase productivity. Look at it this way: if you make more money, you’re probably going to buy more stuff. You’d be able to budget better. The government gets its fair share of taxes from higher income folks that way. And don’t tax whole foods…grains, fruits, and veggies…that’d help the poor, as well as improve our national obesity issue.

And think of all the IRS agents that could be liberated from their jobs! These jobs provide absolutely nothing in terms of productivity! And it would free all of us taxpayers from wasting hours and hours filling out forms and collecting receipts like little pack rats! Watch national productivity soar! Wheeee!

Is there any flaw in my reasoning?

Anyway, the other glum part about April 15 is the double-whammy: I don’t just pay 2004 taxes, I also have to file the first quarter estimates fo 2005. That’s what I get for owning my own business. I think part of the glumness of the day has to do with the shock of seeing so much money flee my account, for which I see no immediate, tanglible value.

It’s a pretty day…so perhaps I should go look at a road, for example, and say, “My taxes paid for that!” Go to a park, watch some children playing, and feel a sense of comfort that in some small way, I contributed to their happiness.