i'm a tax virgin!

so every year we all have to file our taxes. every year i hand over all my paperwork to my dad. every year he enters my numbers onto the computer. every year i blindly sign on the bottom line, just long enuf to see how much my refund is. every year i trudge over to canada post and mail my tax return to surrey.



this year, i made a change. after 28 years of my dad taking care of everything for me, i decided that as a married young woman with property in my own name, that it was time to stand on my own two feet. well, sort of. i managed to print out the T1 form (yes, i'm doing my taxes on paper, not computer), instruction manual, gathered all my random papers, and then i got line 1 right - my income. game over. i struggled for several hours on what boxed numbers corresponded to what lined numbers, threw around all sorts of schedules, and got myself completely in a knot. chris wasn't much help either because he's never actually done his taxes either - i guess that's what happens when you have a family business w/your own accountant!

so with the april 30 deadline looming, and i was just assuming i had a refund coming my way, i started to get panicky.......what if i don't get it done on time? what if i actually OWE money? what if i don't have all the right forms? what if i don't have all my receipts? what if i can't figure out the mathematical equations? what if...... and on i went.

so last night, we had dinner at my parents' house, and i took all my tax stuff over with me. my dad confirmed that i indeed had line 1 right - my income. and from there onwards, he rambled off all the lines to fill in, forms to complete, etc. etc. 30 minutes later i was finished. it was incredible! well, i still have to white-out a few spaces where i incorrectly put information, but not a big deal. hopefully i'll retain everything i learned last night, and successfully complete my taxes next year all by myself.