Tax Day

Yes, Today is Tax Day

April 17th is the new April 15th because the 15th was on a Sunday and it turns out that the 16th is a holiday (Emancipation Day) in Washington D.C.  So, if you owe and haven't paid, you can file for an extension, which is no big deal.  Or you can spend the day calculatin'.

My Own Tax Problem

We here in the United States pride ourselves on our voluntary taxation system.  Instead of having Pharaoh's henchmen come around and confiscate part of our cooking oil, we carefully calculate what we owe the government and send it in.  Or have someone try to do it for us, since it is vastly more complicated than any actual person can comprehend. 

But, for all its complication, there is one aspect of the tax system that the rules don't cover.  Perhaps you will recall a number of years ago when, in my briefly assumed role as financial advisor, I touted a "sure thing."  It was (and is) See's Candy Gift Certificates.  It is customary for financial advisors to periodically review their records when things are going well, and in the case of this investment they are doing just that.  I have in past years redeemed tranches of my investment for some yummy chocolates, and their appreciation in monetary value exceeded both the sales tax and shipping charges I incurred in gaining physical access to them.

Although I do not technically owe any income tax on this realized appreciation since there is no provision in the tax code for same, the IRS is part of the same government that, long ago, was instrumental in securing unto us the blessings of liberty.  Accordingly, as I suggested in the 2007 investment suggestion, I am planning to send the IRS a key lime truffle.

Q:  Richard, have you checked the weather forecast?  It's hot outside.  It will never arrive unmelted.
A:  Oh.  OK, I'll find another use for it.