No, not those taxes. Those tax papers are with the accountant. She hopes to get my return done tonight. Although I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be encouraged or nervous that she's planning to stay at the office until 2 A.M. Just as I don't want to be the final surgery in the 36-hour rotation, I'm not wild about my return coming at the end of a week of very little sleep.
But I digress.
To distract me from worrying about my income tax return, I've been filing all the other taxes that are due this month and thus need to be paid before we leave on vacation. The one that amuses me the most is 941: Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return. I swear the instructions for this one were designed by someone in a very bad mood.
Take for example, this warning:
Caution: Use Form 941-V when making any payment with Form 941. However, if you pay an amount with Form 941 that should have been deposited, you may be subject to a penalty.
Or this one, which always sounds vaguely threatening:
Detach Form 941-V and send it with your payment and Form 941 to the address in the Instructions for Form 941. Do not send a photocopy of Form 941-V because your payment may be misapplied or delayed.
And why is that, exactly? Do the numbers transpose themselves in the photocopy? Or do they not trust photocopy machines to make readable copies?
And speaking of the address in the instructions, is there a reason why forms with checks and forms without checks have to go to different addresses? In different states? It's like the final test at the end of the process--can you stick the correct label on the envelope?
Actually, sticking the label on at all is tricky. There is something wrong with the adhesive. And there has been for years. I have to tape it on.
I hope they are taking the money they save on sticky labels and paying down the debt.
2 comments:
I file taxes with those 941 forms for my job, and yes, I've noticed some bizarre instructions as well.
We are especially loving the IRS this year -- hubby received a grant, and is now paid on a 1099 instead of a W-2, which means, simply put, that we lose what little raise he got and more because we don't get a refund this year (can't take the additional child tax credit any more). Ugh!
I also love how the address to mail my returns is always different in the instructions vs. the form itself. Which is it, people???
Post a Comment