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Taxes done: now, the fun
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It's the annual contemplation of what, exactly, is the stupidest question I was asked while filling out my taxes. The early favorite was the state of New York, which wanted to know if I had, during the year, experienced any depreciation on an asset purchased prior to 1960.
On the other hand, DC wanted to know if I was some sort of a lawyer. And whether I was a first-time homebuyer. Also, am I in any way disabled? Might I have lived abroad for any portion of the year?
That seemed hard to beat. But New York swung back at the last minute with a roundhouse punch: did I engage, at any point during the year, in the production of maple syrup? Yes, that's it's own tax category in the Empire State. As the descendant of a long (long, long, long, long) line of New Yorkers, I have to wonder, couldn't they have found something a little less foolish to subsidize? Like, say, a crash program to put Groucho glasses on the Statue of Liberty?
On the other hand, DC wanted to know if I was some sort of a lawyer. And whether I was a first-time homebuyer. Also, am I in any way disabled? Might I have lived abroad for any portion of the year?
That seemed hard to beat. But New York swung back at the last minute with a roundhouse punch: did I engage, at any point during the year, in the production of maple syrup? Yes, that's it's own tax category in the Empire State. As the descendant of a long (long, long, long, long) line of New Yorkers, I have to wonder, couldn't they have found something a little less foolish to subsidize? Like, say, a crash program to put Groucho glasses on the Statue of Liberty?
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