Now This is Entertainment

How does a Jewish person stay entertained this time of year when the only people who are still in town are those who are getting ready to celebrate Christmas with their own families? Well, given that TV sucks this time of year, that leaves me plenty of time to figure out my taxes for 2006. It's a little too early to actually complete my tax forms, but I have hda a blast trying to figure out if:

1) I need to pay estimated taxes before the end of the year and
2) Will I owe the dreaded alternative minimum tax

Thankfully I checked out both of these items, no matter how dry and confusing they may be. I did owe estimated taxes before the end of the year, but only because this is the first year that I will be able to itemize on my tax return. That only earned a 4 on the confusion scale (from 1-10) since I am a math dork and created a spreadsheet to determine my tax liability a long time ago.

Whoever created the idea of the alternative minimum tax (AMT) should be tarred and feathered. I agree that this is a noble idea in theory to ensure that the super wealthy are taxed appropriately if they try to deduct a significant portion of their income for various reasons or receive most of their compensation through stock options/grants, but I do not meet the definition of super wealthy. Therefore, I shouldn't even have to figure out whether I owe this stupid tax. Thankfully, I did not owe any AMT this year, but I was close enough that I had to really figure out how this tax worked and ensure that I didn't make any mistakes. The AMT scores a 79,000 on the confusion scale. Yes, a 79,000. If you don't believe me, check out IRS form 6251. Thankfully, this website was very helpful, although somewhat simplistic.

Now this is a fun way to kill time during Christmas weekend. It sure beats fighting the traffic outside my apartment!