Procrastination. Frustration. Mild confusion. Relief.
Yep, these are a few words that come to my mind when thinking about the process of filing the annual tax return.
Each year, when tax time comes around, I always try and set a target date for completing my tax return. Since my parents usually visit around this time of year, I tend to complete the return and let them mail it in to the government upon their return to the states. Normally I did this out of convenience; my parents would arrive in Germany, and in addition to any small gifts that they happen to bring, they would have my 1099s in two. Thus, I could complete my return and send them home with the documents.
Because I live abroad, I get an "extension" which gives me a little more flexibility with the due date. That being said, the return is more of a formality, since I only have to declare my earnings from another country, then further down the page (on the tax return) I am able to back out the figure. Thus, I usually do not have to pay any additional taxes. This is totally fine by me, because I am taxed pretty heavily in the country where I live.
I have refined my process over the past few years, and now tend to have my father email me my 1099s (which are still delivered to my US address). This allows me to complete my return before their arrival, and I have in recent years actually put everything in an addressed envelope so that they only have to put it in the mail.
Of course, you might be asking why I do not file electronically, which is a fair question, as I tended to file electronically when living in the states. Maybe I will do this again sometime in the future, but for now, I have my little process, which is not too complicated.
Because the process is not complicated, I tend to put off doing the thing for days, even weeks, then finally, with a bit of exasperation, I quit mucking about and sit down and complete the return.
Almost to the letter, my sister goes through this same experience in the country where she lives. Not surprisingly, we tend to keep tabs on one another to find out who has completed their return already. It is almost a contest to see who can procrastinate the longest. Additionally, we do compare notes to make sure that we are filing everything correctly. Both of us have investments in the states, both of us have salaries that are well under the foreign income allowance, so things tend to be very similar. Until this year.
This year, my sister returned to the states for the school year, and is employed in a school. Thus, she now has a W2 that she has to deal with. Furthermore, because she is physically in the states, she does not get the "extension" that she has had in previous years while in Spain. On top of that, our financial investment guy (from the states) switched firms mid year, so instead of getting one 1099 form, we got two. This created a bit of anxiety for my sister, who always tended to procrastinate the longest (thus always winning the "contest.")
In effort to help support, I decided to try and meet the normal deadline (April 18) this year as a way of motivating my sister to complete her return punctually. A month ago, we talked about our returns, and I had my father send me the 1099s per PDF. Then, my sister started thinking too much about her previous returns and started tripping herself up. This got me a little confused as well, and we had a few hectic conversations trying to make sure we had the same interpretation of how to file, the particular rules, etc. True, there are some differences in the way we have to file our returns (from abroad), but they are not that tricky, as long as you don't think about them too much.
Two weeks ago, we had one more conversation on the topic, agreed that we both had common understanding of how to file our respective returns, and then I simply buckled down and completed mine. This year, I went the extra step (primarily because my parents have not yet visited this year) and posted my return back to the states on the 14th of April, several days ahead of the deadline. I was quite proud of this achievement, and said as such to my father last Friday morning.
Friday evening, as I was having dinner with some friends, I started receiving numerous questions via text messages from my sister, who was still confused and struggling with her return. We made arrangements to speak the following day, and bright and early Saturday morning (bright and early afternoon for me) my sister phoned me and together we went through everything again. "Record your W2 on line 7, and on your schedule B and D, just note that you had 2 1099s. Everything else is the same like before." I showed her how I had filed, and finally she got herself sorted and was able to complete her return.
Late that afternoon, I received a text message confirming that she, too, had sent her return off to the IRS. Another tax year completed.
To celebrate my punctual filing, I bought myself a wok (on the way home from the post office) and spent Saturday afternoon experimenting with a bit of chicken and vegetables. I am still lacking experience in the kitchen, but am slowly getting there. I tend to follow the instructions, make sure I have prepared my ingredients ahead of time, try not to overthink things, and most importantly, pay attention. Using that approach, it really isn't that difficult. In fact, it is far simpler than filing a tax return.
And it certainly tastes better and is more enjoyable, too.
see you out there
bryan
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