3988 Freakout

Friday, October 17, 2014

What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.

 --Ralph Waldo Emerson--

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Our mail arrives usually after 5:30-ish, too late to conduct any business based on it.

One innocent-looking envelope today was from the IRS.

They claim I owe $61,569 additional on my 2012 income tax, $9,786 of which is a "tax understatement penalty". They want the money by November 13, 2014.

What?!

Tomorrow I'm going to copy the multi-page letter, and send copies to my investment guy Piper, and my CPA Angelo.

Something is VERY wrong.

I think my total 2012 income was around $72,000, including social security, retirement, capital gains, interest, and dividends, most of which is reinvested and I don't actually "see" it.

I fully expect Piper and Angelo to FIX THIS!
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3264 Moving forward, but slowly

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

“The deeper insanity becomes, the more consistent it becomes,
until it wraps around and looks like sanity.”
-- Silk, August 9, 2008 --

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It was a beautiful day today, sunny and warm with a gentle breeze, the first nice day in the past week and a half. And I spent most of the best part of the day, from 10:30 am until almost 4 pm, in the doctor's office or the hospital.

I admit I was worried when the doctor, to all appearances, was in no hurry to look at my scans, and then once he did look at them he wanted to see me immediately. That's almost never a good sign.

Last night I ran through all the bad scenarios, what he could say, end-stage renal failure, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, etc. etc., and pretty much came to terms with it all.

When I got there, the nurse put me in an examining room, and then later the doctor stuck his head in the door and asked me to come to his office. You know, with the big desk, and the two chairs in front, and the box of tissues on the corner. Another bad sign.

That made his news a relief. The most recent scans do not confirm either the first set which implied one collection chamber and one ureter on the left, or the second scan which says two collection chambers and two ureters. This latest set says two collection chambers, with the stent in the upper, and the obstructing stone and a few smaller ones in the lower, but neither the x-ray (IVP) nor CT confirm a second ureter, because I've got really good kidney function apparently, and the upper chamber cleared the contrast solution so quickly that it never even reached the second chamber or ureter (which is blocked anyway, remember?). So we still don't know exactly what we've got in there. But at least it is pretty clear where the stone is.

So we're going to smash the stone(s).

Not this week, because of the holiday coming up, but probably the end of next week. The procedure is Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL), described here: http://www.healtheast.org/st-joes/programs-services/kidney-stone/treating-stones/shock-wave-lithotripsy-eswl.html.

I told him how the stent is now causing bleeding after physical activity, it's irritating the bladder, and how I can feel it poking and it is getting worse, to the point where the seat belt hurts, and the urinary urgency is getting worse, so will we be removing the stent at the same time? He said no, because we're not sure where and how the second chamber drains, and the worst case is only one ureter, and some piece of the smashed stone gets stuck in it, blocking the entire left kidney. So no, the stent stays until we know what's going on.

Crap. I can lessen the bleeding and poking and irritation by avoiding physical activity. No lifting, raking, mowing, walking far, dancing, driving long distances, etc. etc. etc., anything that makes the stent move. Crap crap crap. I want this damn thing OUT! NOW!

So when I got home I read up a bit on ESWL. Two possible negative consequences are damage to the pancreas leading to diabetes, and damage to the capillaries in the kidney, leading to renal failure. The pancreas thing is unlikely because we're working only on the left kidney. The capillary thing worries me a little. I have fragile capillaries. I'll have to tell him about that. However, my stone isn't very big, so it (I hope) won't require much to break it up, and it's localized, and my clotting abilities are ok, so maybe that will be ok.

[My theory of what's in there is different from his, I think. I do think there's a second ureter, which the larger stone is blocking, because there are also a few much smaller stones in that chamber which, if that chamber connects with the chamber with the stent, seems to me that I should have passed those stones by now through the stent. A few other details argue for the second ureter joining the first somewhere north of the bladder. So the stent could actually CAUSE the moving stones to get jammed at the joining point. But at least then the second ureter would show up on a contrast x-ray for the length that it's open, and the blockade could be eased by pulling the stent. So I'm not going to argue with him.]

I just want this DONE!

After I left his office I went to the hospital to pick up my personal copies of the scan and x-ray done elsewhere a few weeks ago, that they had asked for for comparison, and to get copies of the recent scan and x-rays with contrast. There were at least three misunderstandings. It was three and a half hours before they managed to get it all together. About every 40 minutes or so they'd bring out part of it, and I'd have to ask again for the rest. And then wait. (At one point they actually insisted that I had NOT had the CT scan.)

When I first arrived at the hospital, at about noonish, as I was putting the top up on Hal, I got a call from Piper. We had a lot to talk about, and about 20 minutes in I mentioned that I had a bone to pick with The Angel, and told Piper about the IRS and NYS letters. Piper said he was worried about The Angel. He's had some kind of serious medical problem for the past few weeks or months, and Piper had called him twice yesterday and again this morning, "...and he always returns my calls immediately", but he hadn't heard from him. Piper was afraid The Angel was in the hospital, and if so, it was bad because otherwise The Angel would have contacted him.

Piper said if he hadn't heard from The Angel by this evening, he'd call his parents. He'll let me know.

So. Onward. Fred's tire is still flat. Sigh.
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1952 Taxes, Still!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Well, if I ever drop out of sight, look for me in prison, convicted of tax evasion.

My 2007 taxes are still a mess.

I got all the info to The Angel (the CPA and Piper's business partner), in early April. Something to keep in mind, The Angel doesn't deal with people. Piper does all the people talking, and The Angel does only numbers. So I don't get to talk to The Angel. Everything goes through Piper.

The Angel was backed up, and my taxes are a bit involved (even though what I give him is complete, neatly sorted, paper clipped, and labeled) because we also plan for the next year's investments at the same time. I shrugged and said no problem, go ahead and apply for an extension.

Now, when you get an extension, if you owe anything, you still have to pay it by April 15! When The Angel didn't come back to me for a check by the 15th, I figured either I didn't owe anything (I usually get a very small refund) or that The Angel had got the money from my account with Piper.

I am also supposed to pay the 2008 estimated taxes by April 15, but I got nothing from The Angel as to how much. Piper said not to worry about it, that the 2007 refunds applied to 2008 would cover it.

In mid June, I finally got to see the 1040s, which The Angel had already filed electronically. According to that form, I got a $2,000 refund from the federal, which was applied to 2008 taxes, and I owed the state $500 (all figures rounded). I asked Piper if the state had been paid, and to my horror, he said no.

(Now, it was about that time, just before or just after, that I was at the gas station across the street, and saw/overheard Piper and The Angel having one heck of a shouting match outside the office, with the word "taxes" clearly audible.)

When I reviewed the 1040 in Piper's office, I discovered that The Angel had completely omitted $15,000 in income. The 1099 was there, but he'd skipped right over it. I freaked. I gave the forms back to Piper to give to The Angel to redo, keeping only the quarterly slips for the 2008 estimated payments, which were due in Mid-June, and which I paid.

Ok. So far, I have no idea how much I owe the IRS or NYS, but I know I'm at least six months delinquent on the NYS payment. In addition, I've missed at least one NYS 2008 estimated tax payment (the federal would have been paid from the refund, although the amount of that refund is now suspect), and the estimated payments I made in June were based on an incorrect estimate, so I'm probably to some degree delinquent on them, too.

I'm not feeling so good.

In mid-July I get a nasty letter from the state. They want their $500, now! Piper said to wait until I got the amended returns.

In the last few days of July, I got to see the amended returns. However, The Angel had given Piper only the amendment pages, not the original returns. When I looked at them, it was obvious that there was something very wrong. Very. I couldn't remember what the original numbers were, exactly, but somehow, with the addition of $15,000 in income, I now owe the IRS $5,000 (I seemed to recall a $2,000 refund on the originals), and I now owe the state $300 (I seemed to recall that it had been more like $500). It didn't feel at all right.

Ack!

Again, no checks had been sent.

Piper couldn't explain the discrepancies.

I left the forms with Piper, and asked him to check with The Angel.

What I'm getting back is very garbled. He says I owe less on the state because I get a "bye" on $18,000 of income because I'm over 62. (Huh? I was over 62 when they did the first 1040s. Did he forget it then?) In addition, according to Piper, I don't really owe the IRS $5,000, I owe only $3,000, because --- and this I don't I don't understand AT ALL! --- I had a $2,000 refund on the first pass. That doesn't sound right.

They way *I* see it, the $2,000 refund on the first pass was incorrect, because it didn't take into consideration the $15,000 additional income. So the amended return shows me owing $7,000 more than the original return, right? $2,000 of which is paid by withholding and estimated tax payment, and $5,000 of which I still owe.

What this means is that if I owe $7,000 additional tax on $15,000 additional income (from which $1,000 had been withheld, by the way, so my already paid amount went up, too), I paid $8,000 additional tax on $15,000 additional income, which puts me in like a 53% tax bracket. No way!

I'm not feeling so good.

Something is very wrong.

I guess I'm going to just pay what The Angel says I owe, and if the IRS or the state gets upset, he'll have to defend it, and he'll have to pay any monetary penalties.

'Cept, he doesn't get to go to jail. I do.

Sigh.
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1849 2007 Taxes

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Boring. Reread that top bar. This whole thing serves as my notes to me, you know (and to keep Daughter apprised as to my sanity).

I finally got my 2007 tax forms from Piper today. I had given him the 2007 folder before mid-April, but The Angel, the CPA, was a bit overwhelmed, so he had applied for an extension for me (I guess he figured it was ok because I am "a friend of the firm". Piper got extended, too). Then they kept promising and promising, and it kept getting put off for one reason after another, but they were aware I was running out of patience, so today they produced.

Angel has already e-filed both federal and state, before I had a chance to review it, which annoys the hell out of me. I wish he wouldn't do that.

It took me about 30 seconds to notice that he hadn't listed my Company retirement as income. I have income from several different sources, but the ones that get their own lines are the SS widow's pension, and the Company retirement, and it's rather obvious when it isn't there. There were two 1099s from The Company in the file I had given him, one was my retirement income, and the other is my (tiny) widow's share of Jay's retirement, and he apparently used the smaller one and dismissed the second much larger one as a copy of the first without looking at it.

Then I looked at the state business sales tax filings, and noticed that I was being charged a $50 penalty for late filing. Bull poopy. I gave him the materials in plenty of time. If it was filed late, The Angel will have to pay the penalty. Piper agreed with me on that.

I am not happy. He's going to have to file an amended return, and I STILL don't have my final numbers.
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