The Massage Pundit

I was thrilled to hear from my accountant yesterday that I have paid enough estimated tax and don’t owe any additional money.  That wasn’t the case last year, when I had a big shock about the amount I owed.

I have independent contractors working in my clinic, self-employed folks, and I do try to reinforce the message that the money they make isn’t all theirs to keep.  Each quarter I print out a statement for them showing how much they’ve made so far, so they can keep on top of the amount of tax they need to be paying.  I’m sad to say that many of them ignore that until April 15 is looming, at which time panic usually sets in.

I am meticulous about keeping good records.  That’s due to a hard lesson I learned at the tender age of 19 when I opened my first restaurant, and got myself into trouble with the tax people.  Contrary to popular belief, the IRS will actually bend over backwards to work with you.  The state revenue folks here in North Carolina, on the other hand, will chase you to the grave if you owe them any money. The agent who dealt (severely) with me all those years ago had such an attitude, you’d have thought I owed it to him personally.  He went out of his way to make my life a living hell for several years until I had the debt paid off.  A few years ago, this same man came to me for a massage.  He had no memory of me whatsoever, no idea who I was, and the whole time I was massaging him, I was thinking of how rude and mean he had been to me all those years ago and fighting off the urge to just choke him on the table!

If you haven’t done your taxes yet, you can apply for an extension.  However, a lot of people are confused about that, too.  An extension doesn’t mean you get extra time to pay.  It just means you have extra time to file the return.  If you owe money, you are supposed to send that in when you request the extension.  Failure to do so can result in a whole lot of interest and penalties.

None of us like to hand over that tax money, but it’s one of those facts of life we just have to deal with.  Born free and taxed to death, as the saying goes.  If you’re not good at keeping records, ask someone who is to help you get organized.  It’s worth paying an accountant to set up your bookkeeping system and to keep you on task with paying your estimated taxes.  It can save you a lot of headaches and heartaches when the tax man cometh.

Peace & Prosperity,

Laura Allen