I hope so, since today is the deadline.
Strangely enough, today is the deadline to pay and submit an extension if you really can't have it finished today.
That lesson came as a surprise during college when I found out April 15 was going to require me to write Federal government a check.
A check I wasn't ready (who is?) to write.
My dad explained that I could file for an extension, but a payment needed to be in mail and postmarked before April 15 was over.
That seemed odd, if I had the money I wouldn't need an extension!
(Thankfully, money was found and I did not need a temporary address change to Leavenworth, Kansas.)
1981 was the first year I filed. $3,214 in gross income and at the bottom of the tax form (yes, I still have the copy) I was going to receive a refund of $192. (1981 was the year I graduated Janesville Craig High School, started attending Drake University and worked for WCLO/WJVL and KDMI.)
It's always seemed to me on a very basic level that paying taxes is part of our civil responsibility. In a fair system, the more money we are blessed to earn - the more we are called upon to pay "unto Caesar."
One might quibble about various things dealing with the details of taxation. Unfortunately, a lot of the time now it seems that many folks feel the only good tax is the one paid by somebody else!
I don't think we should pay more than we ought, but we ought to pay what is owed.
Living in the United States of America is worth it and most of the world agrees (based on the numbers still coming to our land of opportunity). Our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents were called on to pay tax on their income (in 1895 the Supreme Court ruled an early version of income tax unconstitutional, only revived by Constitutional amendment in1913).
Deciding what those taxes should be used for is a matter for the leaders we elect to decide. For the most part, though, just like our home budgets - once we are used to a benefit (clean air, smooth roads, Social Security retirement checks) they tend to stay around. Depending on your point of view, you vote for the individual who you believe has the best interests of the country at heart. (Which would be better than voting for our own best interest.)
So, you've made it Tax Day. Whether you spent your refund months ago or are just writing and mailing (or electronically sending) the check today, the process is behind you.
The ribbon to tie up the taxation process is close at hand.
Next week, April 21 is estimated to be Tax Freedom Day in Wisconsin - meaning it's day we've worked long enough to pay our obligations to government entities at Federal, State, and Local levels.
For my friends in Indiana, that day arrives tomorrow! Enjoy!
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