tax guy

Several years ago, my financial advisor recommended someone to do my taxes. For years I had done my own taxes using the Turbo Tax software. As our lives got more complicated, and our finances became more complex, I began to wonder if I was really doing them right. I followed all of the directions on Turbo Tax, but I really didn’t understand all of the details. What if I had been missing something? So, I asked my financial advisor if he could recommend someone.

He put me in touch with my “tax guy.” That’s not his name or title, but after I shared his name with my brother, he was from that moment on known as “the tax guy.” “Have you taken your stuff to the tax guy? Has the tax guy finished your taxes?”

Last March, my brother and I met at the guy’s office, dropped off our W-2s, etc. and then went to lunch, secure that our taxes would be done right. By April 13th I had not heard anything, so I called his office. There was no answer, so I left a message.

My brother, who is a lot pushier than me, decided to drive down to his office to see what was up. He found a sign on the door saying, “We regret to inform you of the sudden death of “The Tax Guy.” Apparently the guy suffered a major heart attack a few days before. I’m pretty sure it was the taxes that killed him.

So, what does one do when it’s April 15th and your tax guy is deceased? I would have gone ahead and done them myself, except all my tax related paperwork was in a file locked away in the guy’s office.

Eventually I learned that his staff filed an extension for all the clients whose taxes had not yet been completed. Which meant that we had until October 15th to get them done. My brother and I both elected to let the Tax Guy’s staff complete what had been started. I promptly forgot all about it until the other day, when I realized that the 15th is next week! My annual mid-April panic over taxes became my October panic. Panicking twice in one year is too much.

Yesterday I picked up my finally finished taxes. The whole experience was a reminder of our tendency to put things off. We want to try that new restaurant, but we put it off until another day. We put off buying that new shirt because it’s so expensive. We put off spending time with family because we are too busy. We put off going to church until the new building is completed.

Life is short, friends., Go to that restaurant, buy that shirt, spend time with family and worship with us at Mount Vernon United Methodist this Sunday at 11:00.