The Liberty Papers

Tonight, the wife and I were working out our taxes using TurboTax. Our taxes aren’t very complex, so I don’t feel the need to employ too much help to understand the byzantine tax code we live under. It’s a pretty boring thing to do but sorting out tax needs to be done. And we really enjoy using TurboTax to speed the whole process up a little. If you’re interested in TurboTax, you can find some TurboTax discount codes here!

Well, I am usually not very good at saving money for rainy days, so I tend to manage my finances to ensure a refund at the end of the year. I still check each time to see how much ends up getting paid to the government. This year, adding in the employer contribution to SS and Medicare, it works out to a pretty sizable 5-figure number. Now, I’m not a rich man. While I make a pretty decent income, my net worth is barely positive. Yet I pay taxes like a rich man, and it makes me angry every year.

My wife, on the other hand, doesn’t have the same level of anger. She looks at our refund (about $2K this year), and thinks “oh well, at least we didn’t have to pay!” We’re planning a trip to Mexico, and she sees this refund as the quick and easy way to pay for the trip. We get $2K back on a total payment of $25K+, and she’s happy about it.

So here’s an idea for all of you readers, or at least those who are married folks who don’t have spouses of libertarian bent. Start claiming too many dependents on your W-4. Work it out so you owe every year. It won’t take long before your spouse is complaining about taxes, when he/she is scrambling to find $2K instead of trying to figure out how to spend the $2K the benevolent government is sending you.