Part of me can’t believe that I’m taking the time to put together this note, now, the week of the big tax deadlines. But I also know if I don’t do it now, this tax season having been so full … well, I may be spending a few days in bed this week just to recover from all of the caffeine (still) in my bloodstream.

And, of course, the other part of me (the wiser part) says: “Alan,helping people with their taxes is only the means to a greater end: enabling your clients to live richer lives, without having to fret about the details.”

My relationship with you is worth the time investment (and more).

And speaking of investments, I know that a fair number of our clients were graciously invited to send their final “investment” to the IRS (and their state) this week.

And some of our clients also received (or will be receiving) a payment from the Treasury, as a sort of “thanks for letting us have your money for a year!” gesture. No interest paid out, of course.

Both of these circumstances are problematic in their own way.

In the following weeks, I’ll be sharing with you how you can fix that .

But the primary thing I’d like to communicate in this note is: Thank you.

This is one of those situations when those words don’t really suffice — and I may have communicated something along those lines already, but I wanted to make sure you heard it from me again.

I suppose I should also thank the federal government for creating a tax system so frustratingly complex and counterintuitive for so many families that it has provided myself and those who work for me with gainful employment.

When we are able to step away from all of the haze of forms and regulations, we actually find ourselves saying: We get to do this! *We* get to be hope-bringers in the midst of financial storms.

Yes, I’d be thrilled if our tax system was much simpler — no matter what it would mean for my “job”.

But it isn’t simple — and as I’ve often said, it is far better to live in the reality of what *is* (and work to make positive change), than to simply moan about a problem that is larger than what any one person can fix.

Preparing tax returns is like that — it is dealing with what *is* — not with what “could be”. Which is why tax PLANNING will be the subject of a few of my Notes in the future.

Lastly, I hope you’ll forgive me for taking a break from writing you a Personal Strategy Note for this week … I’m not sure that if I did so, anything besides numbers and spreadsheets would come out. It’s amazing what four months of staring at government forms does to a brain!

But hey — this is what we signed up for.

We will be in touch again soon. That’s assuming this caffeine hangover should ever release me from its grip, of course!

With affection,

Alan Newcomb
(618) 532-7223
Bills Tax Service