The sad fact of the day

[Patrick]

I have enough processing power to run a small business at home (and then some.)

I have spent 8 hours thus far today doing taxes. Getting married, multiple state returns and a stack of IRS forms does not make life any easier.

Just sad that even with modern platforms like TurboTax that putting this information into the system is not easy. Bummer that it is bottlenecked by the human.

 

[T_Minus]

Patrick - After going through numerous accountants and tax persons we finally found a company / small-biz in San Jose that's super qualified, and knows their stuff. It's not cheap but it pays for itself year after year Both my wife and I run our own businesses so we have a TON of forms, etc throughout the year and @end... it's worth it to off-load, even for a few grand a year. Shooting you PM with info.

 

[capn_pineapple]

I've got everything going through a business (of which i'm the only employee) and have a business accountant do everything. Which is also tax claimable

 

[nitrobass24]

I know what you mean...then I got smart and married an accountant.

 

[Patrick]

I know what you mean...then I got smart and married an accountant.

I married a programmer! I do not mind paying taxes, I do think it is a bit out there that for my 3 days in Utah I have $5 to pay. Utah requires a check payment and I am 99% certain it will cost me more to send and them to process than $5.

Oh well... there is the downside to being a private sector consultant.

 

[spazoid]

Wow.. Here in Denmark most of that stuff is sorted out more on less by itself. Almost every company and employer sends information to the relevant authorities, like my work sending my salary information, my retirement fund sending my current assets and yearly payment information etc.

I spend way more time on this stuff than the average Dane, but I still only spend maybe a few hours a year.

 

[mackle]

Having recently moved to the US I really struggle to comprehend how such an advanced country could have such antiquated government systems.

I know, of course, that it is because of two main reasons:
1. The difficulty in turning a huge ship. A $1.5B tax IT overhaul in New Zealand would be a $150B+++ tax IT overhaul in the US... Being small really does make it easier to be nimble
2. A culture (both inside and outside government) that doesn't reward efficiency gains. In fact, it's one that actually penalises it: sure, you can make things better, but you have to take the money from somewhere else to do it, and when it's done we'll take back all of your savings. Why would I seek to reduce the work required to complete a process by 10% if I have to pull money from another project to do so, and it then means I'm going to have to fire 10% of my staff working on the newly efficient process?

When I travel to and from New Zealand I don't need to speak to an immigration official, it's all biometric now, and they have made huge steps towards online applications and processing (visas for foreigners etc). I just hand the customs guy my declaration card and because the country is paranoid about biosecurity, they put my bag through the X-ray and provided I don't have any bananas on me I'm through and out. Last time it seemed slow (probably because there is a morning rush of big long-haul planes), and that meant it was about a 5 minute process. Sure the airport only has 15 million passenger movements a year, but inbound passenger screening is embarrassingly parallel. It's weird though to see a long line of immigration booths with only a few occupied by officials, who are just there waiting to help out anyone with a problem.

The other area where New Zealand is years ahead of the US is in digital medical records. Again, that's due to having a small NHS type system, rather than a massive and fragmented health industry.

 

[T_Minus]

Wow.. Here in Denmark most of that stuff is sorted out more on less by itself. Almost every company and employer sends information to the relevant authorities, like my work sending my salary information, my retirement fund sending my current assets and yearly payment information etc.

I spend way more time on this stuff than the average Dane, but I still only spend maybe a few hours a year.

That's how it is here in US with employee/company relationships. But, those of us who do consulting have a lot more rules to play by, forms to fill out, and information to track. That is, of course, if you don't want to end up owing 44% of your income at the end of the year.

 

[badskater]

While Canada has its upsides, being a private consultant isn't. It's about the same for me here, and with even more forms (as I worked for out of the country/province companies). Even a single hour for a company based outside my province of origin gives me 4 to 8 more paper to fill up. (And some aren't even possible to tax according to the laws, just need to provide the info about it...) Luckily, I have somebody within my family who's an accountant, and doesn't charge me much to fill all my taxes papers...

Anyway, I only have 48% of my income going into taxes this year, could be a lot worst... (If I would only do jobs in the province, it would be 63%...)