Tax Season

The best part of the beginning of the year is doing our taxes. Well, not DOING the taxes part. That part is actually really stressful. I don't understand what they are trying to explain half the time, so I resort to calling my dad 4 times a night until they are filed.

This past year was even more confusing. As most of you know, I won 2 seats to every Jazz game for the whole season. Very cool. We really enjoy going. A few weeks later, Trav ALSO won 2 seats for the season. The same night we won Travs seats, his cousin (whose husband is an accountant) informed me that we have to claim them on our taxes. HOW STUPID! Hey guys, we are going to give you this really cool prize, but make you claim it as income, and take money out of your return to pay the state for it, since we aren't pay for it from ours. I know, I know, don't everyone jump on me at once explaining the way taxes work, and how its fair, blah blah blah. (I'm just venting here ok?) But if we had an extra $4000, it sure as heck wouldn't be going towards Jazz tickets, that's for sure. And not only did I have to wait forever for the 1099 form to come in the mail, THEY DID IT WRONG! Something about line 3, instead of line 7. Really? Really?! Now I have to call them and explain how they did it wrong so they can send a correction. Not exactly the most relaxing evening.

Did I mention that I did our taxes a week ago? We got our w-2 forms for our jobs (our REAL income) a while ago, so I thought it would be fun to see what we were getting back before the Jazz 1099 form was entered. Trav warned me not to do it. We both knew it would go down after we claimed the tickets, but greedy little me couldn't start spending our return in my mind fast enough lol When I first did the calculations, we were getting a lot back. I was really excited. Even if we lost some to paying taxes on our tickets, it was still going to be a lot (having kids are wonderful). Today, we got our mail, I received the 1099, and once I figured out where to submit it, I was HIGHLY disappointed :( I watched our little Turbo Tax calculator count down, and down, and down... I didn't think we would loose SO MUCH! Over half! I was mad. Mad at 1320kfan for running the contest, mad at the Jazz for giving us the tickets and sending incorrect forms, mad at Trav for winning a second set of tickets, mad at Riley for pushing buttons on the keyboard, mad at the shows that were recording on our DVR.. you get the idea. Right as I was filing and checking for any mistakes, something magical happened... Apparently, I didn't mention Trav was NOT in school. All I did was 'check' a fabulous little box, and I don't know what that did, but our precious little calculator went up, up, up. We got it all back! Minus a few $100, but for 4 season tickets to the Jazz, I am convinced it's worth it (considering each seat is worth about $1000 a piece, and we have 4) ALL IS WELL WITH THE WORLD. lol Taxes are still worth doing, and my complex little mind is again spending our money in many many different ways :) Happy April 15 all!