Doing Taxes

ALTHOUGH FEW AMERICANS know it, anyone who makes less than sixty nine thousand dollars a year, which most of us do, is entitled by law to have state and local income taxes done for free, at government, expense, with government assistance. Itis a service not much publicized, and seldom utilized by those qualified. There was a time when a taxpayer could get free help at the local library, among other places, but in recent years the I.R.S. has experienced budget cuts. Bush forty three tried tosimplify matters by installing a system in which the government simply told people how much they owe, or were owed, but vigorous tax accountant lobbying intervened. Doing taxes for other people, at great expense, is a lucrative business, and tax preparers are not required to inform customers about their right to free tax preparation, I've never made as much as sixty nine thousand dollars in one year, and because I'm too lazy and incompetent to prepare my own tax returns, I always pay good money for a professional to do them for me. Only recently did I learn that I have spent untold thousands of dollars needlessly, hiring others to do what I could and should have had done free of charge. I ca n recal having had several interesting conversations with a lady who did my taxes several years in a row; she assured me that she intended to start taking social security when she reached the minimum age to receive it, because she could see no way that it would remain solvent long, and she thought she had better get it while the getting was good. I followed her advice, but, as of now, the system seems intact, and destined to carry on, somehow. Another one of her stories involved her doing taxes for someone because the Lord jesus Christ had led the customer to her, and she , inspired by her love of Christ, had completed teh tax return with particular enthusiasm and efficiency.  can't recall whether it involved creative deductions and write offs.Looking back, I rather wish that Christ had moved within her to tell me that it was not necessary for me to pay anyone to do my taxes,, but, alas, the Lord works in mysterious ways, and, evidently, even Jesus Christ sets limits on how much help he is willing to render to us moderns, and unto whom he shall render it. I distinctly recall his having said, however, that we should all render unto Caesar, by which he surely meant Uncle Sam.