3216 Taxes

Monday, April 11, 2011

We don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

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I finally finished pulling together all the various pieces of paper for the income taxes. Wasn't easy.

Were you aware that when you sell stock, the 1099-Bs the brokers send you (and the Feds) have the total of the sale on it, but not the cost basis? You have to provide that yourself. Otherwise you end up paying taxes on the entire proceeds, not just the profit. Not to mention getting to deduct losses. And I sold a LOT of stock (60 lots of various sizes from 57 different companies) in 2010 to buy the car and the new house, and most of it I'd purchased 10 to 20 years ago.

That's stupid. They know exactly when I bought it and how much I paid for it. Why can't they just list the cost basis too?

I had the information, of course. Finding it was the problem. Some was here, some was up north at the old house. I was certain that I had brought all the files down south, but I couldn't for the life of me find them - until yesterday afternoon, when I opened a drawer in the "unused" side of the new desk, and there they were.

So now I have to get the stuff to The Angel. We'd already agreed that he'd file for an extension for me, but I was worried that maybe I hadn't paid enough estimated taxes, so I wanted to have at least rough numbers.

I did better than that! He ought to be able to do my taxes in an hour from my summary sheet alone.

I'll leave it up to him to figure out whether I was a resident of NJ for any part of 2010, and if so, how much of 2010. That will be interesting....

After I finished the tax packet, I started calling urologists, so I can get this stent and stone taken care of. I can feel the stent in my bladder, and it's starting to get annoying. The earliest office appointment I could get is the 21st. That's awfully close to Daughter's due date, but frankly, due dates are arbitrary anyway, and I don't suppose any other date would be any safer.

Today was beautiful, so Daughter and I went for a ride with the top down, walked around a classy little village a half-hour down the road, and had dinner at this place: http://www.nauvoogrillclub.com/. The building was stunning - art deco lighting fixtures and Frank Lloyd Wright-esque inside walls. (The photo on the site is not the most interesting view.) The food was excellent, but two iced teas, two appetzers, two entrees, and two desserts came to almost $90, so I won't be dining there often. (The individual prices weren't that bad - I'm wondering now if there wasn't maybe a mistake in the bill. Wouldn't be the first time....)
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