I hope that all and your families are well and safe. I am guessing that most, if not all, of you, are under self-isolation, quarantine or something similar due to COVID 19. Life has certainly changed.
I was shocked to find out that I am an essential service! No, not as a blogger – as an accountant. This has been an interesting tax season. One day the Federal due date of the returns changed from April to July – but not the date for payment of taxes (which basically means that the taxes still have to be done by April 15 so the client can pay the amount due). The next day payment was also extended to July. But I have to explain to clients that while payment for their 2019 taxes and for their April 15 estimated tax payments towards their 2020 tax are delayed until mid July – they still will (as of right now) have to pay their June 15 estimated taxes by June 15. So they will be paying their second payment before their first payment – and there is only one month between them! Then the next day my home state said that they will go along with the Federal changes. But the tax return I was working on is for a client who lives in New Mexico – and New Mexico has extended the time to file the state income tax return, but not to pay it – and they have not mentioned estimated taxes at all! Plus I have a client who always has me file for an extension of time to file his return – and the July date is not late enough in the year – so I still need to file an extension for him – and I will do so by April 15 just to make sure it is on time. I have been in contact with other clients (who live in my home state) and told the to take their time sending me their tax info – quite frankly I would be happier not to have their paperwork coming into the house right now.
So I moved on to the taxes for the a very small business corporation that husband and I have together. Last year you may remember, I had all sorts of craziness going on and I had a problem matching what the corporation owes us a loan on the corporation's books and ours – and just figured that I would match it up after wards. Of course it now a year later and I have still have to do it – and suddenly have the time to do so. I managed to figure out that 2016 and 2017 did not seem to match as we paid money to the corporation in December and deposited in the corporation in January – so both years were fine. But 2018! Apparently when I did the taxes last year I picked up the wrong number from our books to use for the corporation taxes (and on the corporation's books). So I have to prepare a corrected return (for both Federal and state) for last year after fixing the error on the books – and then start finishing the books for 2019 and do the return for that – plus of course, my husband would like to get our personal returns done – as long I do not have client's returns (paid work) to do.
Speaking of mail - 5 - 7 years ago we started having a problem with our mail delivery at home. We received mail for people on streets we had never heard of (and husband has lived in this areas since he was 7). We received mail that had been opened and taped closed – having done this myself, I presume that someone else received the mail, opened it without looking at the name/address, and then taped it closed and dropped it back in the mail when they realized their error. Plus there are at least 5 items we never received - 3 credit card statements and 2 items for my accounting practice from IRS. So we changed our mailing address for most things which come to us in the mail to our PO Box for our corporation. We have had the box for a couple of decades. It is in a Post Office which is much closer to our house than the one that which delivers mail to us. (We live at the opposite end of that PO's delivery area from the PO and close to two POs for the adjacent delivery areas.)
Having the mail go to the PO Box has worked great – until now. We normally stop in daily Monday to Friday and check for mail – and mail out any outgoing mail we have. No longer. Since we are hunkered down in the house as much as possible, we are not going to the Post Office. We knew we had to go there. I started thinking. Our Post Office is a 24 hour location. This means that anyone can walk in 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to mail items or check their PO Box. One just inserts any credit or debit card to open the door. Okay, we could go at night to pick up mail – much less people then, if any. Since we were not going to every day for a long time, I figured out that if we went on Sunday night, there would be the fewest people in the building since the close of business late Saturday afternoon – after all, who would go to the Post Office on a Sunday night?
So, 7 pm last Sunday we made our first weekly, Sunday trip to the Post Office. I had a large plastic bag for the mail in the box and two items to mail out – the return that had to go to New Mexico and the estimated tax forms for the other client. As we pulled up in front in of the Post Office – someone else pulled up there also in front of us and went in with a package to mail. We looked at each other. Husband said that we would go to the other nearby Post Office and mail out what I needed to mail out and then come back later to check our box. We got to the other Post Office and it was not a 24 hour one, so we could not go in. We headed home – past the Post Office with our box. Not only were the other people still in there – we saw someone else walk in the door! Wow – it is a hot spot to go on a Sunday night – or others had the same idea as us. We went home and had dinner and went back around 10 pm. The large outgoing mail box inside was jammed shut. I hate to mail items in outside boxes as in years past different clients of mine mailed items to me from different communities and the mail in the boxes were set on fire. But, the outside box it was to be. We grabbed the mail from from our box and put it in the large bag I brought - which I sealed closed and went home.
While everything I read about mail and COVID 19 says it okay to open to mail and packages, everything husband reads says the opposite. So I am leaving the mail for a week before opening it. I pointed out to him that the small amount of mail that comes to the house had been opened all week – big mistake – now that mail has to sit a week in a sealed bag also!
How are the rest of you handling this change in life? Please post back – I get so lonesome sometimes because no one every posts to me.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
As the days pass and politicians argue if there will be a quick resolution or if it will take a long time before life resumes some semblance of normal – take some time away from watching and listening to information about COVID 19 and all that is going with it. Constantly watching and hearing about it can make one feel even worse. Pay attention to what needs to be done and take care of yourself and your loved ones – but also make sure to do things to divert your mind to help you keep your sanity.
At some point – whether soon or not (and I don't think it will be soon) it will be end and life will start to move back towards normal. In the mean time stay well and take care of yourself and those you love.
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