Tax Day... Every Stinkin' Month

The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.

- Albert Einstein

It's Friday 🎉

But it's the 20th...Business Tax Day...not as "yea" 🙃

Business taxes are my kryptonite.

When I launched Quilt 2 End ALZ, I had to learn everything about running a business, and particularly a nonprofit business. Becuase I created a retail section to generate revenue for the nonprofit, I have to report monthly sales and pay taxes on those sales.

Sounds pretty straight-forward, right?

Wrong!

The bulk of my Q2EA sales are online, which means they come from all over the country (even the world). And the tax obligation for each sale depends upon the delivery address of the item. So, if I deliver a purchase to California, I have to research and review California tax policies, set up an account, and submit taxes there for that order. And if I deliver a purchase to Montana, I have to research and review Montana tax policies, set up an account, and submit taxes there for that order. If I deliver a purchase to Tennessee— well, you get the idea. It's a lot to learn and deal with for every single state.

The good news is that Oklahoma sales only require me look up every delivery city to determine which city rate scale to use and then the county (some cities cross county lines, so I have to look up the specific location on the street). The rate scale is updated regularly, so I look up all those cities and counties on the latest tax rate worksheet. Once I've found all that, I can submit my in-state sales taxes for the month.

Texas is my favorite... They said, don't report until you sell $500,000 in Texas in a fiscal year. Until then (which will be forever), I'm small potatoes and not worth the pennies they'd get from me. And I'm good with that!

Please don't get the wrong idea. It's not like I have hundreds or thousands of orders to decipher taxes on each month. But I still put it off and put it off and put if off as long as I can because I dread doing it every single month. And then I fall behind. And then I get letters from the state of Oklahoma saying, "If you don't get caught up, we're closing your business." —es...plural.

I'm so bad at monthly business taxes that I started a second business, so I could dread doing it twice a month instead of just once 🤪

Before you say, "Just hire someone!" let me tell you: I've tried.

I've reached out to no less than a dozen CPAs, bookkeepers, and write-up service companies. Not one has wanted my business. Because the nonprofit is fairly small, I again don't seem to be worth the nominal paycheck one would receive from helping me. I get it, but man this shouldn't be so difficult.

I did mention that I have ZERO business training, right?

My degrees are in mathematics and library science.

If you're a business guru, and I'm doing this all wrong. Please, please tell me the right way to do it. Oh, and how to do it in Alabama instead of Oklahoma, please 🙏

Well, you know where I'll be today...
Have a fabulous Friday 💝

With love and hugs,