You live, you learn.

4/10/2006 12:32:00 AM

Whew.  I've just finished my taxes, and it's a good thing.  I've got a busy week ahead; I'm flying to California (twice!) and I'll be there over the tax-day weekend.

The feds will allow you to deduct the larger of either your state income tax or your state sales tax.  Since Washington doesn't have a state income tax, it's a no-brainer.  Then comes the harder part-- take the "standard" claim or itemize your receipts.  The standard claim is based on a formula applied to your income, and the itemized is just that... You save every receipt and total them up.  Everyone assures me that I'm a crazy spender, and it's true that I pretty much spend everything that doesn't go into the house or my 401k.  So I figure that saving receipts is going to be the best idea ever.  I even go so far as to justify big purchases based on all of the sales tax I'm going to get to deduct (not that that makes sense, even as I'm thinking it).  So anyway, I end up with this crazy drawer full of receipts that is overflowing and takes somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 hours to sum up.  And all year long, I've got receipts falling out of my wallet and all over the car, my room etc.  But, boy, am I going to stick it to the feds come tax day.

So, I just finished my taxes.  The "standard" claim is within about 5 bucks of my foot tall stack of receipts.  Argh....

Does this mean maybe I'm not a crazy spender after all?