The Silver Lining

Today on tv I heard someone exclaiming about "The Silver Lining" to be found while doing your taxes this year. With a big procrastinator's sigh I realized that today would be as good as any to find out how much I was going to owe Uncle Sam this, something I'd been putting off because it was way too depressing, when I considered my dwindling funds and the ever increasing coverage I seemed to need for everyday items.

I sat down grimly determined not to get upset no matter how much Uncle Sam hit me up with. I wondered if one could file an extension because one is unemployed and can't cover taxes due, or was that how they finally caught Al Capone?

As I have done the past few years, I went to the IRS website and took advantage of the WONDERFUL thing called "free file" (if you haven't heard of it yet, you need to check it out!) and proceeded to use TurboTax to file my return. For FREE.

With sweaty palms and nervous twitches, I entered all of my W-2's, 1099's and other miscellaneous forms, as the software did its amazing calculations and put an unbelievable number up in the corner, a number that was GREEN, indicating a REFUND!

At the end of it, the number in the corner, although smaller than when I started, still showed GREEN, and a fairly substantial number in GREEN, too!

I actually stood up and did a partial jig! (Good thing no one was around, because it wasn't my best, but was certainly heartfelt!)

Thanks to my love of refunds vs. payment due, I had elected to take 0 deductions at my last, most unfortunate place of employment. Oh thank GOODNESS for my little foresight! I could have kissed me!

I discovered the "Silver Lining" although probably not the one they were referring to on the commercial, it worked for me!