Tax Day
Today is Tax Day and as usual, I’m running right to the deadline. My regular tax guy retired, so the return is now being prepared by a young lady who’s been a stickler for details. I keep telling her this is the way we’ve always done the return and have never been audited, but she still wants the extra documentation. The most recent debacle was about quantifying the value of our non-cash donations to the Salvation Army.
For years, a list of such donations was created plus a photograph of the lot was taken, then I’d guesstimate the overall resale shop value for the deduction. Now she wants me to estimate the specific resale value of each and every item. Maybe it’s because we’re in the process of clearing out the accumulated clutter in our home, so the list has gotten quite long.
With all these tax matters on my mind, I had a dream the other night related to donations. The dream was about a guy named John Beresford Tipton, a person I hadn’t heard or thought about since the 50’s while growing up. He was a philanthropist on a TV show called “The Millionaire”. Tipton would anonymously donate $1 million tax-free to people in need, and each show would depict how that individual reacted to the windfall. The show’s premier episode can be viewed at this link, which explains the premise behind the donations and the impact on the first donee.
Enough dreaming, reminiscing and blogging; back to the tax grind as the deadline is fast approaching. Where’s John Beresford Tipton with some tax-free cash when you need him?
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