jonathanhickman.com

On the Tennessee income tax - don’t get mad at me

It seems like every few years the Tennessee legislators get into a battle over how to tax us. One big issue is whether Tennessee should have a progressive income tax. And every time the issue comes up, the status quo is preserved.

But what most people don’t understand is that Tennessee does have a state income tax. And I’m not just talking about the so-called Franchise and Excise tax on businesses, which is another issue altogether. I’m talking about the Hall income tax, which is a levy on any dividend, interest, s corp distributions, etc, over $1250 per individual, excluding national banks and most state institutions and municipalities.

Well, like I said, a lot of people don’t even know there is a state income tax, and those who do don’t often know the exact rules, which are arguably quite unfair - eg taxing tax-free but out-of-state interest.

Lots of people don’t understand it, and lots of those people have been mad at me of late.

Not conducive to work

Days like this are hard for me. I love a good spat of nasty weather as much as the next guy, but dark and dreary mornings just aren’t a lot of fun when you have a lot of work to do.

Must find energy.

I’m trying not to look at my to do list

Ugh.

Pardon my absence.

A new skill I’m acquiring

A new skill I’m acquiring: being able to wake from a nap and immediately talk intelligibly to a client about specific tax information.

I need to get up more

I spend way too much time sitting at this desk.

I’m not saying I spend too much time working, and I’m not saying it’s bad that my work puts me in a desk. I’m saying I need to make myself get up and walk around more, especially on Mondays.

On the typical Monday, I sit in the same spot for nine hours, with only the occasional excuse to get up for a minute or two. Starting next week, I’m resolved to take a walk during lunch.

Anybody else spend way too much time in one spot? How do you compensate?

Slammed

I am super busy and kind of stressed, in case you hadn’t figured that out.

I hate it when

I hate it when I get something off my desk on one day just to find it returning the next.

And I can’t decide if it’s worse when it’s my fault or someone else’s.

Priorities

I’ve got a ton of things to do on my house to do list this weekend, but I’ve also got a tall stack of work to do because it’s tax season. I’m trying to make a good dent in the paying work first, but it’s hard to prioritize, knowing there’s so much to do.

Hey boss -

When I have to leave two hours late because of ice, do I still get paid?

Just because I love cold weather

Just because I love cold weather doesn’t mean I love being cold. I’m having issues warming up enough to work this morning.

Next weekend, I will have the house all to myself, and I will setup my work in front of a nice fire.

But that’s a few days away, and I need to warm up now!

Friday

This morning I finished my first tax return of the 2008 tax season. I’ve got quite a long to do list that will be waiting my return on Monday, but I think I’ll wait at least one week longer before starting to bring any work home.

Generally speaking, the real work wouldn’t normally hit for a few more weeks, but we picked up quite a few new clients last year, and it’s hard to judge how long their returns will take, especially because a certain amount of “catchup” will have to be done just to get them in our system.

But I guess that will wait until Monday. As for now, I just remembered I was supposed to leave early so I could go by the IRS office in Knoxville for some paperwork…