WHERE THE FAKAWI?

It has been one full month till the official end of the tax filing season – although the filing deadline was extended from April 15 to May 11th for residents of some New Jersey Counties.

I realize that it sounds strange, and is not logical, but after April 15th I, and I would expect other tax pros in similar situations, experience something that is not unlike “postpartum depression”.

After doing almost nothing but 1040s (and 1040As) for 12+ hours a day, 7 days a week for some 10 weeks it is truly difficult to get motivated to continue to deal with 1040s once the pressure of the April 15th deadline has come and gone. I cannot bring myself to do more than 1, or on occasion 2, GD extensions a day.

I have been told by a fellow tax professional – an EA practicing in NYC – that, “It's a law of physics that if you complete more than 3 tax returns any day after April 15, the universe collapses upon itself”. I certainly do not want to be the cause of the end of days.

As of this writing there are 20 GDEs in the “to be done” box and 7 that have been “red-filed” (need more – or any – information to begin or continue). From this count I have made a good dent in the GDEs – for which I am very pleased – but there are still too many left.

I am too distracted by apartment and car shopping (mission accomplished on that item on Friday!), getting ready to make my move to Monmouth County, hopefully on July 1, and possible “wanderings” and theatre outings.

And I want to get back to regular 6-day a-week blogging and to writing items for MainStreet.com.

Looking to the future I no longer want more than at most 10 workload-related or late-receipt GD extensions in the box on April 15th. I would be the proverbial pig in you-know-what if there were no workload-related GD extensions. I long for the “good old days” when it was really over on April 15th.

I don’t mind a handful of GDE for clients who are not yet ready to file – and who will get me their “stuff” in the summer. A small number of returns, prepared at a leisurely pace with no pressure, would be ok during the off season.

To reach this goal I must strictly enforce “read my lips – no new clients”, reduce distractions and non-productive activities during the filing season, thin the herd, or refuse to accept new work not in my hands by the third week of March – or more likely a combination of the four.

Today and tomorrow (Saturday and Sunday) I will be devoting to GDEs – and I will tempt the laws of physics by trying to get as many done as possible.

I will be working on the NJ Property Tax Reimbursement applications (PTR-1 and PTR-2) early next week. The initial filing deadline is June 1st. In the past this deadline has consistently been eventually extended to October – but considering the State’s financial situation I do not feel safe assuming the same will be done this year. Once those are in the mail I will return to the GDEs – at 1 or 2 a day – with the hopes of getting all those that can be completed done and in the mail by month’s end.

Wish me luck!

TTFN