2008 Taxes UGH.

Due to circumstances that are mostly my fault (and will be blogged about in future posts), I owe big time money to the government (both Federal and state). I had been putting off dealing with it, because it just depresses me to think about how much money this is that I don't have. But since I got another notice from Uncle Sam the other day and today is payday, I figured better do it now.

I owe (including most recent penalties and fees)...

Federal: $3,876.88
State: $1,185.43

Yes, ouch. Big time.

Anyway, a while back, I got a horrid piece of junk mail from Capital One that promised that I could get a credit card with no interest for a year. So, on a lark, I figured that I could pay a big chunk of the debt to the government that way, and pay off the card no interest before June 2010 (one year later). So, I applied online, hoping that they'd tell me what the credit limit would be and that I could accept or decline. Unfortunately, there was no such thing. And about a week later, I got a card in the mail saying that I had a $500 limit.

Well, crap. The limit isn't really enough to pay anyone in full. So, I put it off to the side and didn't think about it.

Tonight, I figured that I'd spend the $400+ in my savings on the taxes to get the ball rolling. I looked online at the Federal website, and I saw that I was eligible for a monthly payment plan. So, I signed up for that and promised to pay $250/month (I'll probably send more), until it's done. It also says that if I am eligible for a refund for 2009 that they'll apply the refund to my balance instead of sending a refund. That will be nice, since now that taxes are being withheld (they weren't before), I'll probably be getting a small refund. So, Federal is taken care of, for now. My first payment is due in August.

As for state, no such luck. So, I went online and paid $400 on the Capital One card (for a $9.96 fee), and I used their bill to mail them a check for an additional $350, which is coming from my savings. This should bring my balance down to $435.43. That's way more manageable.

It's going to suck major ass not being able to put much money in savings, but I was only putting money in savings now to pay the taxes later. So, it evens out. Plus, I'll be reducing fees by paying the state taxes off in the next few months. And I know that I just increased my credit card debt some, but it's interest free for a year, and I can pay off the $410 in a year (well, 11 months). And I'm not going to use the card for anything else. It's already in the drawer in the kitchen and not in my wallet.

And this has been way too much dealing with money for one night. I need some Toaster Strudel.