Argh - Taxes!

It is that time of year, again, when we are forced to try and understand nonsensical instructions to write random numbers on pages and in the end tell the government what we think we owe them or they owe us!

I NEVER get this right, I am so math challenged that the instructions are beyond my comprehension.  I have to understand why, mathematically, I need to end up with a number in any space on the form - not just follow the direction,  really mean -actually understand, and there is never sufficient explanation nor understanding!  It is assumed you do understand!

Unfortunately, I have proven every year since 1971 I can not do this.

At first it was not so bad, my father was a mathematician and he did this for me. 
But, when I turned 21, I was expected to do this annual task!  I did try, for three solid weeks all free time went into the one page 1040 and I never got the same answer twice!  So, in crayon I wrote the US-IRS and told them that if it was so important they could do this!  I got charged $35 and a refund of a similar amount.

So, I saved that US-IRS paper they produced and expected to be able to match numbers on my paperwork with the 1040 and then extrapolate the following year's numbers.

There was only one number which correlated!  Nothing else matched any number or any instruction on the sheets.  To this day I do not understand that single correlation.

So, every year I go to my local CPA, hand him a pile of paper and somehow he manages to get it feed into his computer and generally I then find out what the damage is going to be!

Last year I managed to have to schedule payments to the IRS for the next three years!  Yeah, they change a rule, apparently I get shafted.

I can hardly wait to find out what I get to do with last years numbers!  I have already spent a week and managed to walk away with nothing accomplished ...  Friday is my CPA appointment, I better be able to get it together today!

* Sigh *