Yep, taxes. Benjamin Franklin got that right. It’s that time again, so no progress on my American terrorist novel. TurboTax is supposed to make filing easier, and I guess it does, but I there sure is a lot of reading in areas that I skip to get to sections that apply to me. Unless a category obviously doesn’t apply, I feel I must read those helpful drop down menus in case a less common type of reportable income or deduction is relevant. It usually isn’t. However, I obsess over each line, sure that if I make a mistake, I’ll get a call from a friendly IRS agent. Responding to that request is sure to take a lot longer than filling out the original tax forms. Surely there must be a way to simplify the federal (and state) tax code, while still taxing on a sliding scale according to income, so as to not harm people scraping by.

Still not finished with my federal yet, let alone the state (although that’s faster).  I’m determined to finish this week – and do some more research. My goal is still to complete the research by the end of the month and start conceptualizing my characters in April. Wish me luck – and wish me a refund on my taxes, too!