Actor James Dean with his accountant, 1955

Can I just say that I absolutely detest getting my information together to prepare my yearly tax return? And this year, it's been "prep on steroids" as I've dealt with not only my return, but both my sister's returns (pre- and post- Sept. 5, 2005) and two CPAs!

One of the CPAs doesn't want anything to do with her estate stuff and the other is just trying to keep me out of an audit as I've got lots going on (a move, unemployment, 1099s from my non-profits who just this year decided they needed to declare my "income" with them, big deposits in my checking account, etc., etc., etc.). In the meantime, I have 3 1099-OMBs, whatever those are, that neither CPA wants to deal with. I swear, if someone ran for office today supporting a flat tax, s(he'd) have my vote.

I have spent many hours getting all the information gathered for the filings. Last night, I actually completed the task and have just now FedEx'ed a packet to the Dallas CPA who will file Sherry's pre-Sept. 5th tax and the other CPA here in DC is telling me that he is mailing my return to me today so, although it will be close, I should be able to mail all returns next Monday to fall within the deadline.

It shouldn't be this painful, but then last night I was reminded that our tax system is not the only screwed up system in this country. To locate some of the records I needed, I had to go through a box of Sherry's records with a fine tooth comb and ran across her huge 5" 3-ring binder which contained all her medical records from the past 2 years. Within that binder were copies of letters/faxes/emails that she sent to healthcare providers and insurance companies to try to get her claims paid. It made me so angry seeing all this stuff, as I just thought how unfair it was that my sister, who only had a limited time left on this earth when she was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, had to spend even one precious second on this kind of crap! Knowing how meticulous she was with money and savings, I'm sure this caused her more stress than she needed to deal with in her final days.

Yes, indeed, tax time is taxing.