Petty annoyances

This past weekend, I've been having trouble staying focused. I've been wanting to just sit down and do something amusing ("Marvel Ultimate Alliance" for the PS2, or finally playing through the entire storyline of Warcraft III - or bits of both.) But then I remembered something. I worked in Oregon, and have to file an Oregon return because Oregon is one of those places that actually has an income tax. (I was indescribably pleased to learn that WA doesn't have one. At least it explains the outrageous sales tax!)

So I downloaded the tax forms and instructions. I figured I was going to be just fine; I'd worked there, but they withheld taxes. What could go wrong? There are deductions and exemptions and so forth... I might be owed a few bucks.

Well, no, Oregon has this complicated system for partial year residents. I earned 7.2% of my money there, so they tax my entire income, figure out deductions, credits, exemptions, and then multiple the result by .072.

Net result: I owe $42.

Oh, hell, no big deal, but now, let's print out the tax forms and... can you believe it?

I'm out of paper. I just don't print all that often, so I didn't bother to bring a ream of paper with me when I moved back. So before I can write the state of Oregon a check, I have to go buy paper so I can print out the forms proving that I owe them money. And it's looking like I might have to hunt down all of my W2s and 1099s because they base their taxes on my entire income.

Total time spent: 4 hours. Four hours where I could have been doing something *important* like leveling up my experimental team (Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Ms. Marvel and Spider Woman) or getting through the Orc levels on Warcraft III. When dealing with government agencies cuts into time one could spend playing computer/video games, there's something seriously wrong with our culture.

Petty annoyances

This past weekend, I've been having trouble staying focused. I've been wanting to just sit down and do something amusing ("Marvel Ultimate Alliance" for the PS2, or finally playing through the entire storyline of Warcraft III - or bits of both.) But then I remembered something. I worked in Oregon, and have to file an Oregon return because Oregon is one of those places that actually has an income tax. (I was indescribably pleased to learn that WA doesn't have one. At least it explains the outrageous sales tax!)

So I downloaded the tax forms and instructions. I figured I was going to be just fine; I'd worked there, but they withheld taxes. What could go wrong? There are deductions and exemptions and so forth... I might be owed a few bucks.

Well, no, Oregon has this complicated system for partial year residents. I earned 7.2% of my money there, so they tax my entire income, figure out deductions, credits, exemptions, and then multiple the result by .072.

Net result: I owe $42.

Oh, hell, no big deal, but now, let's print out the tax forms and... can you believe it?

I'm out of paper. I just don't print all that often, so I didn't bother to bring a ream of paper with me when I moved back. So before I can write the state of Oregon a check, I have to go buy paper so I can print out the forms proving that I owe them money. And it's looking like I might have to hunt down all of my W2s and 1099s because they base their taxes on my entire income.

Total time spent: 4 hours. Four hours where I could have been doing something *important* like leveling up my experimental team (Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Ms. Marvel and Spider Woman) or getting through the Orc levels on Warcraft III. When dealing with government agencies cuts into time one could spend playing computer/video games, there's something seriously wrong with our culture.