Tax Returns

Yay! I just finished my tax returns! And they're in their little envelopes with stamps on them, all ready to go in the mail!

And I got thinking about my mom's tax returns. In the past, the accountant who handled the taxes for my dad's business did my mom's tax returns (poorly, in my humble opinion, with much filing of extensions, etc.) after dad died (sorry, I know that doesn't make much sense, but I don't know how to make it clearer.) (I would insert "My Bad" here, but if there is a phrase that I hate worse than "My Bad", I can't think of it right now.) So anyway, the business got sold, and we needed to find someone to do mom's taxes last year. I do my own taxes, but they are pathetically simple, and mom has all kinds of trust income, etc., which I have no idea how to do. I asked my sister T.I.B., who mom lives with, if her accountant could do it. And T.I.B. was all, "Oh, he does our taxes for us, but he's not really an accountant, and he's really busy, and I think he's sick and blah blah blah" T.I.B. was not touching this with a 10-ft. pole. So I e-mailed the guy at the bank who handles mom's accounts to see if they would do it, or recommend someone, and sent a copy of the e-mail to my sister Alabama (or Florida, or wherever the hell she is right now), because I copy her on all mom's stuff.

So my sister Alabama e-mails back and says, "I'll do mom's taxes! I have Quickbooks! It'll take two minutes!" After which followed weeks of "I can't find this form", and "I don't have a copy of her blah-blah-blah", and "I'm going out of town, but I'll do it when I get back", followed by weeks of deadly silence. Because I am kind, I am going under the assumption that the taxes got filed.

So! Now it's time to start thinking about mom's tax returns! But I'm not! I refuse! That particular rat is going right back in the cage and staying there! BTW, my sister Texas does volunteer work helping senior citizens fill out their tax returns. Complicated, mind-bending returns with all sorts of trust income, etc. When I asked if she would do mom's taxes, the reply was dead silence, followed by a Changing of the Subject.

So! If everyone else in the family is refusing to deal with this particular subject, why should I? Right? Right? Tax returns? What tax returns?

P.S. I know what you're thinking - "Hello, H & R Block!" I repeat, tax returns? What tax returns?