As it's April, I've been having fun giving weekends and nights to the addictive ritual the US government dreamt up in the late nineteenth century - Income Taxation. The history of taxation provides a once funny and sad read. Summary: America was formed for religious and taxation freedom principles, and survives on minimal business transaction taxation history for nearly a century, until we spent more than peace requires. Only after incurring the Civil War's exceptional costs did the United States feel that a federal income tax was required. At least the first take on the unpopular new rule were considered relatively fair (flat tax, and just 3% on income above poverty level). So, income taxes have come a longggg way to their now fun and costly preparation routine (whether you pay an accountant or toil yourself) which when all said and done takes roughly 3+ months of your work to pay. Unless you're Mitt Romney or Warren Buffet...those gents find ways to lower their effective rate to below what Joe Average pays, and probably can pay their tax bill simply via the "work" in a working lunch.
As you can tell, I really wish legislators would stop listening to so many lobbyists, so we could get rid of special treatment with the tax code and get back to a flat or consumption based tax. The US GDP would be buoyed twice over, once through higher revenue that aligns with consumption, but also freeing the America workforce to focus on other topics related to workplace efficiency. The tax accountants will find other work.
Anyway, before I get irate on my taxation milk crate, I'll return to my blog point. While on page 231 of my tax filing, reading inscrutable instructions, (local tax authorities are half as well organized as the state folks, who are half as well organized as the federal IRS army) I had a sudden realization: the color of my character continues to mature into the tint of my father's as I age.
- Even though I dislike preparing taxes and all the deductions and special exemptions I can't get, I do find the game of working the giant puzzle of taxes and credits interesting. There are some interesting cases out there that tested various aspects of the tax code, and sometimes it's kind of fun to jump through a goose chase of 17 different reference documents to actually find a goose egg of a tax savings, making it worth it. I've even found errors in the calculations the vastly used program TurboTax in 3 of the last 5 years to let them know where they had it wrong. Guess what? My dad taught Accounting for years, not as much tax accounting, but still...to actually find taxes interesting, we've got to share a very rare gene.
- I recently injured an ankle and fibula, and the healing time is going exasperatingly slowly (nice spring weather doesn't help watching the clock with my leg elevated and iced). I recall my father telling me that this day would come - the day when I didn't heal and wasn't quite as flexible as I was 20 years ago. Well, it's arrived, and I can't heal in 2 days from anything like I could. So, time to learn yet another lesson in patience, a third quality of my father I continue to encourage in myself.
- My short term memory has definitely taken a nose dive in the last few years. I'd provide an example if I could recall it. My father has plead this one for at least 15 years...at least he has some medically sound reasons for his.
- I now appreciate the past and "the good old days" as much as current events. I used to turn my head at the brand new Ferrari, now I look right past to catch a glimpse of a Frazer Nash. However, I remain fascinated by the evolution of technology and take advantage of it anywhere I can. My dad is much like this, which is actually unusual if you consider his generation. He's continually current on the latest mobile devices, but can talk to you in depth about the very first IBM PC he had. I still remember getting better grades on book reports in junior high school simply because mine was done on a computer and printed out. (Wonder if kids just email or blog their papers now?)
- Lastly, life is now about just taking a breath. Nearly everyone goes through this, but I can attribute my understanding of not sweating the small stuff to my dad - really helpful in enjoying life to the fullest.
Speaking of, I'm going to go chill out and enjoy this beautiful afternoon casually working on a vintage sports car. While I'll be working on a conveyance from a different generation, I'll certainly be thinking of generational conveyance and what else I could learn from my father.
