The Tax Man Cometh

It's tax season. As Benjamin Franklin once said, the only two certain things in life were death and taxes. I'm hoping to avoid the former for a very long time, but the latter is coming up soon.

Part of Bankrupt Betty's discharge involves the Court Trustee getting most of my return. I called my attorney's office the other day to let them know I was still waiting on some tax forms and probably would do my taxes in Mid February. The paralegal told me that when they amended my BK petition, I get to keep part of my tax return. $400-not much, but better than nothing. That is already earmarked for my Emergency Fund

My previous couple returns netted me a decent return, mainly because I had a lot of non reimbursed employee expenses and costs that I got to write off. Not the case with my new job. A lot of my expenses are employer paid and therefore I can't write them off. Ah well.

MSN Money has a 15 Point Tax Return Check List that is worth looking at, written by MSN Contributor, Jeff Schnepper . Even if you are organized about your taxes, it can't hurt to read the article just to make sure no stone is left unturned!