My own fault

I know it is my own fault. I admit that. But I can not change it. I just wish they would be decent and take care of it.

I did my taxes. I always get really nice refunds. I know that the smart thing to do is to set up my taxes so that at the end of the year the state or the feds owe me very little or nothing. This was I get my money throughout the year. Nice. But it is not the way I do it. Part of the reason is that I take those rather large refunds and do something practical with it -- like pay down my credit card. And second is that I am still using the adoption tax credit from adopting Ladybug. And since she has been home or 4 years now that gives you some idea as to how pathetic my income really is.

So since I am due a refund, I am one of those people who gleefully waits for the tax information and then excitedly completes the forms. I absolutely would never dream of missing the April 15th deadline. April 15th??? I try to get them done in February. And then wait for the money to roll in. So this year I submitted my taxes, both federal and state, on March 1st. A little late by my standards but still in good shape. On April 1st, and no it wasn't a joke, my federal refund was deposited into my checking account. Happy Happy Joy Joy. On April 2nd I wrote a big ole whopping check to one of my credit card companies and paid off about 2/3 of the balance.

On May 1st I began to wonder where my state refund is. I checked the website. It said that they had received it but that they had not processed. Yes, I saw the notice from the state saying that they may be delayed in paying any refunds. On June 1st I checked again. Received but not yet processed. POO!!!! How can the federal IRS do my taxes in a month and the state can't get to it in 3 months. But what can you do?

So today I check. June 22nd. And a message pops up that says that they need additional information before they can process my taxes. Additional information? Really? Well then why didn't you say so? Why didn't you contact me? Oh because you hoped to put it off some more. You hoped I wouldn't check the site. But I did. So I call the number. Which apparently is a 9-5 phone number. So now I have to wait until tomorrow. What more could they want from me? Of course this is the same state department of revenue who received my 2005 tax return and refused to process it because I had not filed in 2004. I didn't live in this state in 2004. Could I prove that? Prove it? Well I filed as a full time resident in 2005 but nothing in 2004. When did I actually move to this state? January 1, 2005. Full time 2005 and nothing 2004!! Give me my money. They did. Now what do they want?

I want my money. I need my money. I have my first car payment due on July 6th and no way to pay for it. I have moving expenses. I still have the ridiculously high day care costs through the summer. I need MY money. If I paid them late you better bet they would be charging me interest. Can I collect interest from them? Probably not.

And to top it all off --- I am moving! Will they forward DOR checks -- yes, this state still only does checks?

List for tomorrow:
CALL DOR - freak out if they say anything stupid
call internet to switch to new place - tell them not to kill it here too soon
call cable to have installed in new place
call electricity to have disconnected here and installed there - do not turn off too soon here and not be able to finish cleaning (like I did last time I moved)
try not to get fired - I need an income

Mean Mama