Money Well Spent
 
Last night, I tried doing my tax return. I figured that since I was a pretty clever guy, I could manage the feat in a couple of hours. The first page was easy. I know my name, address and date of birth. Writing down what I made on some of the lines in the earnings section seemed easy enough. But, the number of lines! I never knew there were so many types of income.     
 
Then there was the deductions page. Geez…  From line XYZ subtract the base amount from box BB on your employee form. Multiply the result in line OXO by 15%. Put in line UPU. Enter $200 in line URL. Add line URL to the total taxes from box CC from the form. Enter that amount in line SOS. Add lines UPU to line SOS. Subtract the amount from the result in line HOPE in Schedule 2 of this return. Insert the last total to the amount of deductions calculated in Schedule 1. From line UGH, subtract your deductions.  From this you can determine if you owe the government more money or if you will be receiving a refund.   
 
sitting in a hard chair
I watch a tax consultant
take my money

* Mike Montreuil lives in Ottawa and is a regular IS&T contributor