Taxes . . . Taxes . . .

First of all, yes, this is a prelude to a post about taxes.

But more important: Pat Buttram, Andy Devine, and John Fiedler in the SAME FREAKING SCENE. Hearing those three unique voices in the same scene is FAR MORE IMPORTANT than anything I can say about taxes.

The presence of this video here is a deflection because as I begin this blog post about taxes, I have to confess of the four individuals who appear in this little clip, you’re going to think I’m most like the Sheriff of Nottingham.

No, I’m not taking the last farthing out of The Poor Box, prompting Friar Tuck to pull the Friar Tuck Face. But in relation to taxes, some of you probably will think I am taking from the poor.

Here’s why: Although I paid federal taxes through payroll deduction, I’m getting it all back. Every penny. I’m the Amazon of Matchpoint Drive, in that technically for 2018, I ended up paying no federal income taxes at all, once all the paperwork is processed.

How is that done?

Well, we have three dependents. Though only two of them qualify as full dependents as far as the IRS goes, we still get tax credits because of them. Add to that a one-time tax credit thanks to our installation of solar panels on the house last year, we’ve effectively paid no taxes at all.

Oh, we will next year. And we actually ended up owing tax money to the state. But the last few years, that’s always been the case.

I’ve seen on Facebook recently people railing about corporations not paying taxes. Or corporations buying back their own stock and making the “investor class” more wealthy.

And I have to hide a little bit because, hey, I am part of the investor class, pinning my hopes on real estate and the stock market so someday I can retire before my heart explodes or other body parts give out.



(It’s an important lesson that often when we’re railing about OTHERS, sometimes that net catches, you know, me.) Because here I am paying no taxes and earning money off the stock market and I’m probably part of the problem and other people want me dead.

My answer to that: