Damn the Tax Man!!

This time of year, aka tax time, has always been a wonderful time of year. Since my income is no where near baller status I have always been happy to accept a nice bonus from the government, especially while in university when my tax refund kept me afloat for the rest of the semester.

As I collected all my papers and such to get ready for a phone date to do taxes my dad (yep, I'm 26 and my dad still does my taxes) I just imagined how big my refund would be. Let me tell you I was most upset to find out I OWE the goverment money. I wondered how it's possible that I owe taxes when I didn't have an income for a good 4 months of the year? (Side note, next time I move across the country, have a job lined up).

Here's how they screw you/I screwed myself and didn't know it. It turns out that having multiple jobs, even if they are short term/part time, isn't the best idea. Two of my jobs didn't deduct any taxes and then when all of my incomes were added together it bumped me into a higher income bracket. Add in the un-taxed income and I'm getting set to write the feds a cheque. I probably should have paid more attention to the tax forms I signed when I started each of these jobs.

So the part time job that I've had since September could have actually done more harm then good. The irony is that I had the second job to earn extra pocket money but in reality, half of what I made while working job #2 is going back to the government. Awesome.

I quit job #2 last week so maybe next year will be like the good ol' days with an April bonus...or this could be the start of a lifetime of paying taxes.