Friday, February 01, 2008

taxing my resources

I have been extremely pleased with how quickly I received my tax refunds this year. My federal refund arrived on Tuesday; my Oregon refund arrived on Thursday. That was a 9-day and 11-day turn around from filing.

I cannot say enough good things about filing electronically and direct deposit. I was thinking back on the time when I would wait for over a month to get my refunds. Of course, I would also procrastinate in filing because it took so long for all of my records to arrive. With online investments and billing -- and by keeping my financial records updated on my computer -- I am ready to file my taxes usually within the second week of January.

I have several friends who see this relationship between taxes and computers as nothing more than a grand conspiracy to somehow restrict liberties. (That is a charitable description of what they think. At times, I wonder if they check under their beds to see if King George III has quartered any Hessians under there.) I suspect those liberties disappeared long ago when we consented to be taxed.

For now, I will simply plan on using my full refunds to enjoy my trip to Brazil and leave the worrying to others.

5 comments:

  1. REFUND - what's that?

    Juan Calypso

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  2. Being able to do ones taxes online certainly is beneficial for us.

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  3. Juan, I look forward to the day when I will not need to worry about getting my money back from the government. One reason I look forward to moving to Mexico and leaving Oregon is to increase my income by 10% by escaping the confiscatory Oregon income tax. But there will still be taxes to pay to the federal government on my retirement income. So, like Brenda, I am going to be happy that computers exist.

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  4. Steve,

    I looked into this tax issue with my CPA here in Massachusetts. You may first need to "move" to another, income-tax free state before moving to Mexico. Otherwise Oregon may continue to lay its claim to 10%. This move could potentially be as simple as moving to another state long enough to get a driver's license, and to re-register your car. I'd consult a tax advisor now to avoid any nasty surprises later.

    Regards,

    Kim G
    Boston, MA

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  5. Kim -- Your suppositions are correct. I have planned on selling my house and moving to a non-income tax state when I retire -- prior to my departure for Mexico. Either Washington, South Dakota, or Texas -- because I have connections with all three. Texas may be the handiest.

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