I did our taxes last night. Our taxes are relatively simple and there are online programs that make filing nearly idiot proof. The whole process took under an hour. But I didn't expect to be reminded of my childless state while doing taxes.
The software asks all kinds of questions about things that happened in the previous year? Did you buy a house? Did you buy an energy efficient car? Did you contribute to a retirement account? Did you pay student loan interest? I was cruising right along until.... Do you have any dependents to claim on your 2014 taxes? I quickly checked 'no' and moved on to the next question. Did you give birth to or adopt a child in 2014? No. No I didn't. In fact I gave up on ever having kids in 2014. Can I get a deduction for that?
After a (big) glass of wine I was able to laugh at the absurdity of being reminded of my infertility while doing taxes. Luckily we don't owe anything more than what we already paid so that was a huge bonus. I don't want to talk about our effective tax rate nor how much it would have helped us out to have a $3700 dependent deduction or two though because it will just piss me off.
The reminders come when we least expect them, don't they? I am always reminded on our forms (equally easy to file) that we're not eligible for a Working for Families tax credit. Sigh. Glad you had a big glass of wine. It's 6 pm and I'm thinking that sounds like a good idea!
ReplyDeleteThis is so true! I anticipated and was prepared for the number of dependents question but I wasn't prepared for the tax software to ask me if I'd had a baby. At least I'll be prepared for both next year!
DeleteWhy do tax codes seem to benefit people with children? It's not a huge stretch to assume that people with children use more resources (parks, schools, medical care, etc.) so they should have to pay more taxes and not less!
I hope you enjoyed your glass of wine! Shiraz was my pick for the evening.
ReplyDeleteI know, we have the same thing also in our tax system.
We got yesterday at work a document that states how many days of holidays do I have in 2015.
On my document was stated:
number of days of holidays: 20
extra days of holidays for children: 0
Grrr. So unfair. Our company actually gives 2 extra days of holidays for each child. So unfair!
So my coworker with 2 kids has 24 days off per year.
That is so discriminatory and unfair! Why do workplaces do this? My work recently announced their intention to place $500 in the dependent care spending account (an account where people can place pre-tax earnings to spend on dependent care) for eligible employees to "ease the burden of paying for childcare". Of course you need to have dependents to have a dependent care spending account. So basically they get a $500 raise and I don't.
DeleteExactly - they get a $500 raise and you don't. Discriminatory and unfair.
DeleteExtra holidays for people with kids? Dependent care spending accounts? Seriously??! That is discrimination. My (former) company was, fortunately, not too bad on this front. They allowed us to use up to 3 of our 8 sick days per year (in half or full day segments -- use them or lose them, they did not carry over from year to year) for what they called "personal obligation days." You could use them for whatever reason -- staying home with a sick child, running errands for an elderly parent, a lengthy medical appointment, waiting for a repairman at home, etc. -- whether you had a child or not. If you booked it long enough in advance, you didn't have to provide a reason. And you were not required to provide a reason why you wanted to request a flexible work arrangement (working from home, sharing a job, etc.). The proposal was judged on how you planned to get the work done, not whether you had "legitimate" reason to ask. I'm sure that in practice, it didn't always work out that way, and that most of the people using these programs were mothers with children at home, but I appreciated that these things didn't necessarily depend on whether or not I had kids.
DeleteHave you read "The Baby Boon" by Elinor Burkett? It's written from a childfree by choice perspective but I agree with a lot of what she had to say.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7397.The_Baby_Boon
Wow, your former workplace sounds really forward thinking! I love the idea of personal obligation days. I haven't read that book. I'll have to check it out!
DeleteIt's been probably two weeks since I got the email about the $500 and I'm still livid about it!
I hear you... not many (if any?) tax breaks for those of us Canadian childless people either. :p I think the only "perq" dh & I got when we were working was a credit for being monthly public transit pass users (and now that we're not working and commuting, we wont' get that anymore). Parents here get child tax credits, and they can even claim credits for having their kids in registered sports programs. There is a radio commercial right now with our illustrious prime minister going on & on about all his government has done for "working families" and "giving parents choices." The rest of us obviously don't count. :p
ReplyDeleteI have heard that some American states have moved to limit or eliminate Medicare benefits for childless people (mostly seniors, if I understand correctly). Because of course, childless people are all rolling in money and can afford to pay for their own health care, right? :p (Another reason why I'm glad I live in Canada...)
It is nice to know that at least four countries treat taxpayers without children equally crappy! Tax credits for sports programs? That's absurd.
DeleteI've heard of your prime minister. What an asshat!
I haven't heard that states are trying to eliminate Medicare benefits for childless people (yes, medicare is the insurance program for seniors) but it doesn't surprise me one bit. I know there is a movement to increase the age where a person can claim Social Security benefits (retirement entitlement program). To be honest I don't pay much attention to it because I don't anticipate that Social Security or Medicaid will still be around by the time I'm retirement age (despite the fact that I've been paying 6.5% of my annual income into SS since I started my first job at 16 and I'm not sure of the Medicare percentage). But I don't want to get on a soapbox before I've finished my first cup of coffee.
I'm sorry, I hate that. I also hate the question on the paperwork at the Doctor's asking about all of that - how many pregnancies and how many live births and then what I use for birth control.
ReplyDeleteI hate that too! I actually had my annual yesterday and was asked the birth control question. I don't think the nurse was amused when I responded with "asshat ovaries."
DeleteI was upset when some moms were giving me dirty looks when I walked my dog in a neighborhood park (it wasn't in DC, people here are awesome!). I was thinking - you know, a huge chunk of my high property taxes goes towards educating your children, and almost all my HOA fees goes into maintaining this park so no, I am not feeling guilty for enjoying it with my dog.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I don't want to start thinking about taxes imposed on two income families without kids!
What jerks! You have just as much right to be there as they do! Glad it's different (better) in DC though!
Delete"In fact I gave up on ever having kids in 2014. Can I get a deduction for that?" - Love it!
ReplyDelete