A subject that has been preying on my mind for some time now....

I was going to blog about something fun like music (I've downloaded a lot of new music recently and am loving it!) But this just got in the way...

Taxation. It's a fact of life and cannot be escaped. Lots of eminent people have said lots of very profound things about taxation. Have a look at www.quotegarden.com/taxes.html if you don't believe me.

Benjamin Franklin said "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes". We all know that one. Almost right, Mr Franklin - I could add a couple of other things (chocolate, for example, and the fact that men will always leave the toilet seat up) - but death and taxes are indeed 100% certain. No doubt about it. If you want to avoid death - you can't. If you want to avoid paying your taxes - well, I suppose you could go and camp out in the jungle somewhere in deepest, darkest Papua New Guinea or the Amazon rainforest, but the Revenue would catch up with you sooner or later. Or you'd succumb to a fatal tropical disease or insect bite, effectively proving Mr Franklin right.

Moving on....

Alfred E. Neumann said "Today, it takes more brains and effort to make out the income tax form than it does to make the income."  Now, this one I can identify with. This one strikes a chord with me at the moment. Hence my blog today. My tax situation has been worrying me for the last few weeks and it all came to a head last night, when I tried to fill in my forms. To cut a long story short, I thought I had been doing it right for the last 4 years but it turns out I have been getting it all wrong, very wrong. The good news is that I am likely to be due a big tax rebate from the UK. The bad news is that, to get it, I have to fill in the mother of all complicated forms about my residence status - twice - and submit said forms, plus my tax return for 2009-2010, by October 31. And the other big bit of bad news is too scary to post up on the public Internet (this is Singapore, you know).

ARGH!

The UK tax return itself isn't that complicated. Or at least, when I thought I was doing it right, it wasn't that complicated. Now, it has suddenly increased in complexity simply due to the fact that I am not resident in the UK. Or am I? What is the definition of resident? Or ordinarily resident? Or domiciled? There is a difference between all these three, apparently, and you can be one or more at the same time, or at different times, and status can change. There are Notes pages, of course, for all of these forms, which are supposed to explain each question and clarify each box to be ticked. But after reading through the Notes and various of the documents that they reference, I am more confused than ever.

The temptation to quietly lower my head and go back to what I was doing before is immense. But taxes, and the tax system, are a funny thing. I feel duty-bound to Get It Right. I know that many people do spend their lives trying to avoid paying their taxes, but most of us are law-abiding people and as much as we moan and whinge about taxation, we recognise that it is a necessity in today's world and we trust that it is fairly applied in the country where we are supposed to pay it (whether or not we can work out where that might be). And we pay up - if not enthusiastically, then at least willingly, or with a degree of resignation.

Well, I'll get it sorted out. A friend pointed out to me last night, when I was in tears over filling in these forms, that the morning would bring perspective. Yes, I needed to hear that - I needed to put it in perspective. There are worse things than getting your tax returns wrong.  I think that, as long as I am honest about it, and demonstrate that I am doing my best to get it right and comply with whatever tax laws are in force, in both countries, and that I am willing to pay up as required, nobody is going to boot me out of the country, extradite me to the UK for tax evasion (hardly - I've overpaid over there!) or sling me into Changi (I hope not, anyway).  In the meantime, I've got far more important things to occupy my mind. 

I'll finish with another couple of quotes - a different outlook and perhaps a more positive one....

"A person doesn't know how much he has to be thankful for until he has to pay taxes on it." - Author unknown.

"I am thankful for the taxes I pay because it means I'm employed." - Nancie J Carmody.

I particularly like that last one.  I love my job, I really do love it. We as a family need it, and I need it to keep me sane. I am so thankful that I have it and that I am good at it (even though I say so myself). I don't want to give it up. So I'll be thankful, and pay my taxes!