Paying Uncle Sam

Yesterday morning I woke with a purpose. Initially I didn't know what that purpose was, but I knew something had to get done. I thought I would do my usual internet minutiae to pass the time and hopefully jog my memory. Sure enough, I remembered that the deadline for taxes was yesterday. Later on I learned it was today, but that's neither here nor there. The point is I had been meaning to do them for a while, I mean actually had all the W-2's and assorted other forms all together. Just never prioritized it enough.

So I downloaded the update to the program I had last year and began the process. It's a simple program. You fill in the blanks and it figures out how much you pay or get back. As you fill in the information though, prompts come up from time to time asking you to buy the deluxe version. Screens pop up with the amazing amounts of deductions the deluxe version can find. Luckily all those big deductions can only come about when life gets really complicated (read: grown-up) so no worries there.

The whole idea of taxes is such a transition point. Even as I was filling it out, it was almost like I was having an out-of-body experience. Yes it was me filing as single. And not a dependent. With college expenses that I paid myself. And my occupation is not student (though I'd love it to be). It just had me thinking about all the stuff to come.

Insha Allah, one day there will be dependents I have to mark off. I will get the education credits when my kids go to school. I'll have mortgage interest to deduct. Capital gains will have to be monitored. I'll have another occupation! While it's all exciting, sometimes it can be overwhelming. I know that life will come one step at a time and that God won't give me anything I can't handle. It's nice at this point to look ahead when the slate is relatively blank.