That blog title was not written to draw readers in here to see what the heck I'm talking about!  It's the truth --- I love the IRS and H&R Block.

I spent the last week running around like a chicken looking for its missing head, trying to find out how to log onto the ADP website so I can get my W-2 printed out.  Inquiring at the personnel department at work did nothing; the system locked me out since I couldn't remember the particulars of the "I forgot my password" questions.  As you know from previous blogs, I've been waiting for my tax refund so I can drop $900 of it on a 282 x 25-foot store for rent in nearby Rome City.  Ahh... but lo!  And behold even --- the danged W-2 arrived in the mail on Thursday, just one day before my appointment at H&R Block.  So all my efforts and running around has been for naught.  That makes me go "grrr!"

So anyway, I got the W-2 and all the other paperwork from the previous year has been ready for the past three weeks.  As a means of keeping me from having to camp out at the H&R Block store for hours and hours, I list out all the things that Kathie the tax person needs to know on a "master list" that I have with my accumulated reciepts.  If she sees anything hinky, she can easily request and be provided with the paperwork to prove what I have on the master list.  Not many people walk into H&R Block with a box stuffed with papers!

Kathie was figuring up my taxes and deductions and stuff.  We're chatting as she does her thing; I'm making inquiry about how much I need to separate my money from the "company" money.  Example --- should I pay the storefront's rent and utilities by cashier's check or money order so they won't appear in my personal checkbook?  Kathie said that at this point, it's not necessary but it would be a good habit to get into.  The enterprise Jim and I call "W Brothers" isn't even close to needing its own checking account yet.  But it will need to do so someday to avoid looking like a hobby business.  Okay, cool.  Good to know.  Then she gave me an expenses folder and a nine-point "hobby vs business" checklist so I can deliberately avoid the things that scream to the IRS that what I'm doing is merely a hobby.  Thanks, Kathie.

As Kathie is doing her thing, what do my wondering eyes do I see?  My daughter Jennifer, her boyfriend Luis and my youngest grandson Jorge coming it to get their own taxes done!  Happy surprise!  I excuse myself from Kathie and try to playfully sneak up on Jennifer.  But Luis saw me too soon, told her I was coming and spoiled my "Boo!" in her ear.  It'd been the first time I saw her or Jorge since Christmas, so I was pleased.

I visited with her for a couple of minutes and headed back to Kathie's office.  Just as I'm sitting down, my cellphone makes my incoming text ring.  Turns out that my son John III (herein "J-3" for brevity) is sitting in his car outside my place with a $100 payment for the 1983 Dodge 400 convertible he's buying from me!  Moreover, he said in subsiquent texts that he's going to use his own tax refund to pay off the remaining $500 balance on the car next week.  And that is just about the time my tax refunds --- federal and state --- will arrive electronically in my checking account.  Now all that's left is for Kathie to give me the figures for both of the refunds.

After another thirty minutes, she finished up and tells me that I'm getting $1877 back from federal --- that's the figure after H&R Block takes their fees --- and $680 from state.  Both refunds and J-3's promised car pay off adds up to $3057.  I need just $900 to get custody of the venue, plus whatever fees are needed to put the storefront's lights, gas and Internet cable in my name.  Using the past couple of years as a guide, I predict my refunds will be in my checking account on February 6.  That's kind of ironic to my mind since that date is six months to the day from when I broke my arm.  An accident, injury and eviction from my apartment was the catalyst for the launching of a business!

Go figure.

Jim got a job recently so he's no longer interested in the deal we had worked out beforehand.  But he wants to rent the garage portion of the store for storage and a workspace out of the weather; there's enough room for both as the garage is 77x25 feet!  So he has committed to paying me $100 a month for the garage while I occupy the 105x25-foot center room for my eBay inventory storage and packaging area.  The front 100x25-foot showroom area will store unsold inventory.  If something gets listed three or four times and remains unsold, it'll get a price tag put on it and be placed in the showroom.  There it will wait until I have a garage sale and I can at least get my investment back.

The most beautiful thing about having the store in Rome City is that the town is one-third wrapped around Sylvan Lake, the largest powerboat and skiing lake in Noble County.  Two of the ten vintage outboard motors I have are ready to sell right now, and Jim will refurbish the others for me at $20 an hour.  That's not as bad as it sounds because Jim owes me $170 at this moment for goods and services I've bought or paid for at his request.  So I'll get the first 8-1/2 hours of repair work for free!  There are collectors of vintage outboard motors out there, and a few of them reside on Sylvan Lake.

So that is pretty much why I love the IRS and H&R Block, since W Brothers could not be launched without either.  Kathie at the Kendallville branch of H&R Block figures out the taxes and searches for loopholes so I get the most back from the IRS.  Then our beloved "Aunt Iris" gives me the big wad of cash Kathie says is owed.

What, you didn't know that Aunt Iris is married to Uncle Sam?!

Cheers!

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