So, what else is taxing?
The newsstand appearance of this edition on “tax day” should find Westshore residents who filed early sighing in relief. You can tell who they are. They’re the ones smiling and jauntily going about their normal routines.
Conversely, notice who calls off sick to work on tax day and then watch for their cars stacked in the long post-office queues when reported on the late-evening news.
Many refund checks have likely been spent by now, meaning it’s a long haul until the next IRS windfall, provided that the tax gods smile down on their subjects the next time around.
Caution: it’s the folks who prudently lost little time depositing their refund checks into their savings accounts who would best take heed.
Their roofs, windows, cars, appliances and any other big-ticket items requiring routine maintenance, repair and eventual replacement know about their deposit. Don’t ask how. Those who have been through it know that "they" know!
Has anybody heard about an undocumented scientific finding that indicates a direct correlation between the amount of a tax refund and the amount that will flow right back out into the economy to cover replacements, services and/or repairs in no time at all? Perhaps there is none, but this sounds like a good opportunity for a thesis or government-funded study!
It’s amazing how this all comes down. A small refund may result in swapping out an old toaster oven or electric broom. A somewhat larger sum of money may replace a tire (and hopefully not a rim) that was damaged in an encounter with a colossal chuckhole. The more gi-normous the refund, the more likely that a significant expense will arise that is neither covered by insurance nor is tax-deductible (the latter of which could have helped to generate a refund from next year’s filing.)
But back to the scientific thesis or study: home repairs, car(s), and appliances take turns! What is not known is how they are able to communicate their needs, set priorities among each other and determine how much money is available. Is it possible that any object with an electric current running through it can sense these things, and then relay what it knows?
The very thought is taxing.
As for those who have filed extensions (undoubtedly with good reason), the specter of another tax deadline looming and the possibility of interest accruing with or without penalties is never pleasant. The good news is that without a refund on the way, their big-ticket household items might last a little longer.
Do you recall the recent television commercial featuring a voraciously greedy refrigerator filching cash from a little boy, his mom and his dad?
That beast may have been related to appliances in local households that required replacement prior to the April 15 tax deadline, depleting cash reserves kept on hand to pony up to Uncle Sam!
That, too, is taxing. “Pay me now, or pay me later.” It all gets spent in the end!