Nobody does it with a pencil any more (Jack Bog's Blog)

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on March 24, 2007 1:20 PM. The previous post in this blog was Let it be. The next post in this blog is A story well told. Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

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« Let it be | Main | A story well told »

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Nobody does it with a pencil any more

As I said the other day, the tax system is bigger than all of us. If you hire out the preparation of your own taxes, you are not alone.

Posted at 1:20 PM | Permalink

Comments (9)

While I have many gripes with AARP, they provide a free service for us older folk. I think Weyden's plan has to come into play, I hope it is equatable to the lower and middle class. 15% across the board is not fair and again the middle class picks up the tab. Kinda like the Dimmos selling out on corp. kicker, and welfare for corp. Amerika. How quiet they are on a referendum on corp kicker being put into the rainy day fund. One time and we are pacified?

Posted by KISS | March 24, 2007 2:19 PM

If you want equity in the tax system, you clearly should not vote Republican.

Posted by Jack Bog | March 24, 2007 2:25 PM

Nor if you want peace, justice, security, economic stability, or respect abroad.

I've always done my own taxes, but increasingly feel that it's foolish. I use turbotax to do it, but it requires an act of faith that the program is doing the right things with the numbers I enter, since there doesn't seem to be a way to figure out how its calculations (for example, for depreciation or even for capital gains) are made.

Posted by Allan L. | March 24, 2007 3:20 PM

If you've got children and make too much income to take the child credit, there's a way to have one child claim the credit on the other. TurboTax is fairly incompetent on that issue.

Posted by Jack Bog | March 24, 2007 4:45 PM

equity? ive voted for the person who has won the presidency since my first vote in 72. i dont remember either party doing much to minimize my tax burden. i think democrats run oregon and the city of portland.... are you happy with all of the fees, and taxes you pay now? didnt your govenor promise to raise taxes and the good sheep of oregon all took one step forward and said "please sir take more of my money" before you bash me i think the republicans are equally corrupt. joco

Posted by jocoze | March 24, 2007 11:12 PM

"If you want equity in the tax system, you clearly should not vote Republican"
Show me the difference...both are corrupt.The need for more parties has never been greater.

Posted by KISS | March 25, 2007 5:15 AM

Jack, do you see the bipartisan call for AMT reform to be a window of opportunity for what another commenter called "simplifimacation" of the IRC? Or will Congress just take the easy road and index the AMT threshold to the CPI?

Posted by Matt | March 25, 2007 5:58 PM

I don't think they'll just index the AMT exemptions, although I would hope and pray that that's part of it. I think there will be some more meaningful moves attempted with respect to the AMT. Congress will be trying to get the upper middle class out of AMT Land entirely, but that will require finding new revenue sources. In the latter category, they'll try to pass some combination of "getting touch on the underground economy" (which will be mostly b.s.) and scaling back some of the Bush-Cheney giveaways to the trust fund set.

Wide-ranging simplimafication (however spelled) of the tax law would require a spirit of compromise that we're not likely to see for another decade or so. There could even be a veto or two ahead. I think TurboTax's market share is secure for quite a while.

Posted by Jack Bog | March 25, 2007 6:05 PM

15% across the board is not fair

How is that not fair? 15% is a lot less than I pay now, and with all the loopholes & crazy deductions I bet its more than what most of the "rich" pay.

Posted by Jon | March 27, 2007 8:18 AM

In Vino Veritas

Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
Cameron, Chardonnay
B.R. Cohn, Cabernet, Silver Label 2006
Graffigna, Cabernet 2005
Palo Alto, Reserve Red 2008
Menguante, Garnacha 2008
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Felsina Berardenga, Vin Santo 1997
Anne Amie, Pinot Gris 2009
McKinley Springs, Bombing Ramge Red 2007
Vieux Papes Red
Dionysius Chardonnay 2009
Haden Fig, Pinot Noir 2009
Vega Montan, Mencia 2008
Chateau la Vernede, Coteaux du Languedoc 2007
Mount Defiance, Hellfire (White) 2008
Root: 1, Cabernet 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Pinot Grigio 2009
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 White, 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 Rose, 2007
Abacela, Grenache Rose 2009
Avia Cabernet 2004
Lemelson Pinot Noir, Thea's Selection 2007
Chateau de la Roulerie, Rose d'Anjou 2009
Casal Garcia, Vinho Verde Rose
La Ferme Julien, Rose 2008
Cana's Feast, Bricco Red, 2006
Hogue, Genesis Merlot, 2008
Owen Roe, Sharecropper's Cabernet, 2008
Kim Crawford, Unoaked Chardonnay 2008
J. Scott, Pinot Noir 2008
Edmunds St. John, White, Heart of Gold 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2006
Stevenot, Cabernet, Sierra Foothills, "Stanford" 2000
Portuga, Vinho Rose 2009
Taylor Fladgate, First Estate Reserve Porto
Franciscan, Cabernet, Napa 2006
Chaparral de Vega Sindoa, Garnacha 2008
Quinta da Aveleda, Vinho Verde 2008
St. Francis, Chardonnay Sonoma 2008
E. Guigal, Cotes du Rhone Blanc, 2007
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Noir 2008
St. Innocent, Pinot Noir 2006
Jigsaw, Pinot Noir 2007
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Merlot, Indian Wells 2007
Charles Shaw, Chardonnay 2008
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Rosé 2009
Cameron, Willamette Valley Chardonnay
Il Valore, Sangiovese, Giovane, Puglia 2008
Duck Pond, Chardonnay, Wahluke Slope 2007
Kim Crawford, Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008
Domaine du Pesquier, Cotes du Rhone 2005
Cantina Zaccagnini, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2006
Domaine Matrot, Chardonnay, Bourgogne 2007
David Hill, Oregon Sparkling Wine, Brut
Chandler Reach, Monte Regalo 2006
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2008
Kirkland, Columbia Valley Merlot 2008
D'Aragon, Old Vine Garnacha 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2005
Pavin & Riley, Merlot 2006
David Hill, Estate Pinot Noir, Barrel Select 2006
Castle Rock, Paso Robles Cabernet 2006
Magnificent, Cabernet, Steak House 2008
Conundrum 2008
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1998
Saint Cosme, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
La Granja, Tempranillo 360, 2008
Santa Rita, Mendalla Real Cabernet 2006
Columbia Crest, Grand Estates Merlot 2006
Andezon, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
Collegiata, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Troon, Druid's Fluid 2008
La Granja, Tempranillo 2008
Monte Antico, Toscana 2006
Vieux Papes, Blanc de Blancs

The Occasional Book

Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt

Road Work

Miles run year to date: 26
At this date last year: 15
Total run in 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269