Jun 25th, 2008
Oops: A Mistake to Learn From
I received a note from the State Tax Collector in the mail.
“Uh oh.”
The letter stated in a rather straightforward matter that I had miscaclulated and underpaid on my taxes. I immediately got out my photocopy of my 2007 taxes and discovered that yes, indeed, I had made an error. I had taken the amount I owed from a column one too far to the left while looking it up in the tax table, meaning I underpaid my taxes by $83.
Moreover, I owed a bit of interest and a penalty due to the underpayment. A statement would be forthcoming (it came about a week later), so my total owed was approximately $100.
A $17 lesson.
Next time I work on my own taxes–and I have a hard time seeing myself not working on my own taxes, even when they are a bit more complicated–I need to triple check them. That’s the lesson–we learn through mistakes, and the difference between a beginner and a master is 10,000 mistakes. There’s one of them.
The silver lining is that I can charge the amount owed online, which will get me a little back (1.25%) and let me get a little more time to come up with the cash. And hopefully, I’ve learned my lesson.
Eesh. I used to love doing taxes, but they’re getting more complicated as I’m older and married. Better luck next time!
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