Day 107 - back to work

Today is the 2nd day of the 16th week, the 17th day of the 4th month, the 107th day of 2023, and:

• Bat Appreciation Day - around this time they emerge from hibernation
• Blah, Blah, Blah Day
• Boston Marathon Day - the 126th running and always the third Monday in April
• Ellis Island Family History Day
• Herbalist Day
• International Ford Mustang Day
• International Haiku Poetry Day
• Malbec World Day
• National Cheeseball Day
• National Crawfish Day
• National Kickball Day
• National Stress Awareness Day [always the first workday after April 15th, when federal income taxes are traditionally due]
• Nothing Like a Dame Day - I always think of Ray Walston.....  yes, I realize the song is dated and condescending and full of male/female stereotypes.  I still like it.  And South Pacific was noted for the diversity of the cast, so that's a real plus given it came out in 1949
• World Hemophilia Day

Quote of the day:

"Sometimes, to keep going, we have to allow ourselves to stop."

~ Gretchen Rubin, Life in Five Senses

I found it interesting to learn that when the income tax was first implemented in 1913, the threshold was set at an amount that meant only the top 4% of earners would have to file; in today's currency, that means an individual would have to have a a gross income of $90K and over, and a family would be making at least $120K before Uncle Sam took his bite.    Imagine how that would help those struggling to make do on minimum wage!

Tax day 2023 is tomorrow, rather than the traditional April 15th.  The IRS changed the rule so that when the deadline falls on a weekend, the due date is the following Monday - but any federal holiday pushes filing day back a day too.  Since Emancipation Day, which ironically usually falls on April 16th, and is a therefore celebrated the next Monday since it is a federal holiday [ even though only Washington DC offices are actually closed ], Americans have an extra two days to either pay up or request an extension.  

I guess that I shouldn't be surprised that what I thought would be a simple discussion about where our tax dollars are spent couldn't be answered without a quagmire of assumptions about what is a worthy use of funds

Altho this particular chart makes a big deal of the past military benefits given as vets [being totally anti-war, it actually was the pie chart with the fewest snide comments either about the war machine or calling all of the social safety net we pay for "entitlements" [you know, like Social Security, Medicate, SSI disability payments, and Medicaid].  But we pay for those programs...

Like many other people, I firmly believe that either corporations should have to pay taxes on their gross incomes like individuals do, or that Reagan's tax increase by removing consumers' ability to deduct interest paid from their gross income should be repealed.

Me?  I file as soon as I can when I am getting a refund and leave it to just before Tax Day when I owe money, and I file online, so I am never in the line of folks desperately trying to make sure they have that postmark on their envelopes