Less Than a Week

Less Than a Week

Monday - April 10^th, 2017

     Douglas opened his closet door and started rummaging through the cluttered floor. A few minutes later he pulled out a shoe box. After opening it, he dumped the contents onto his bed. Douglas started sorting through the envelopes, letters, bills, etc.

     After going three the envelopes and letters once Douglas got through them again. “It’s not here either. Where is it? How can I do my tax returns if I can’t find my tax records.”

     “I only have a few days left to do my tax returns. Why did I wait so long to do them? That’s a stupid question. I did it because I know I’m not going to be getting any money back. It all goes to past tax returns that they claim I owe them.”

     Douglas went back to his closet. A few minutes later he pulled out another shoe box and dumped it too. After going through it, he grabbed the pile of envelopes and tossed them across the room. “I was sure they were in one of these boxes.”


Tuesday - April 11^th, 2017

     After opening his mailbox, Douglas pulled out his mail and sorted through it. “Mostly junk. Big surprise. It’s still not here. This is another reason why I’m not going to get my taxes done on time this year. How am I supposed to do my taxes if I didn’t get my W-2s?”

     Douglas went back to his car parked in front of the complex laundromat, and the mailboxes. He tossed the mail into his car window then got in. as he drove down the street, turned the corner, and parked his car in his duplex parking place, Douglas was shaking his head sadly.

     “I contacted the IRS two ago and told them I didn’t get my W-2s. And I still haven’t gotten them yet. So, what am I supposed to do now? I got my W-2s from my security job. But I didn’t get them from my job with the IRS.”


Wednesday - April 12^th, 2017

     “I’m not sure which state I’m supposed to file my state tax returns in. I know that I need to file in Missouri because of my IRS job. If I ever get my W-2 forms from them, I will do that. But I’m not sure about my security guard job.”

     Douglas sat in a chair in his bedroom tapping away on his laptop. After a few seconds, the website for the Kansas Revenue department came onto his laptop. “I only worked security a couple of weeks before I went to work for the IRS. When I got out of there, I went back to that security company. But it was in Missouri instead of Kansas. I still work in Kansas, but their offices are in Missouri. So, do I still need to file my tax return in Kansas too?”

     “I could send an email to Kansas Revenue. But by the time I get a response back, it’s only to be too late. And that’s if they send it bac within forty-eight hours like they claim they will.”177


Thursday - April 13^th, 2017

     Looking down at his notebook, Douglas started shaking his head sadly again. “I don’t even know if I can deduct my mileage to and from work this year. While working at the IRS, I wrote down my mileage. But after I started working security again I stopped for a few days. Those few days became weeks. And by then it was too late to play catch-up.”

     “I did it last year. But I kept a notebook, and a spreadsheet, with my mileage in it. Should I do it this year even though I didn’t keep very good records last year? I could just do what I did before last year’s tax returns when I estimated it.”

     “True, I would be underestimating my total. But I’m not greedy. It should be more than enough to offset the taxes I owe. I think that’s what I’m going to do. After all, what are they going to do? Take away my refund that I’m not going to get anyway.”


Friday - April 14^th, 2017

     “Now that I finally got my IRS W-2s I can do my taxes. One day before the deadline. They almost didn’t get here in time. I should be able to get my taxes done on time after all.” Douglas tapped away on his laptop. He glanced up at the view screen every few seconds.

     “I still don’t know if I should do my Kansas tax return or not. But I have decided to do both states. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Let them sort out if I should do it for both.” Douglas picked up his cell phone and brought up the calculator app. A few seconds later he picked up his W-2s and started tapping away on his calculator.

     A few hours later Douglas shut down his laptop. “I’m finally done.”

     Douglas glanced at his cell phone time. “I didn’t realize it was so late. But I still have almost twenty-four hours to print it and mail it.”


Saturday - April 15^th, 2017

     “I only have a few hours to get my tax returns mailed. And the lines at the post office are probably going to be a mile back. That’s if I’m lucky.”

     Douglas glanced down at his speedometer. It read about thirty- nine. His eyes returned to the road just in time to see a car turning left. Douglas swerved around it. He had switched three more times before he heard the siren. “Oh, great. Another delay.”

     A couple of minutes after Douglas pulled over a female Officer stepped up to his car. “Driver’s license and Prove of Insurance, please.”

     After looking at both, she continued. “You do know why I pulled you over, don’t you?”

     “Please Officer, can we hurry this up. I’m running out of time to file my tax returns this year.”

     Jennifer smiled. “That’s the excuse you are going to use to get out of this ticket. Everybody know that the deadline for filing your taxes isn’t until the eighteenth this year.”

Word Count = 994