March Break

Doing Taxes

Do you know one thing that can bring all writing progress to a complete and grinding halt? March Break. Specifically, a March Break featuring two children, including one exuberant four year old facing a whole week without kindergarten.

But I’m not complaining, much. The kids have had a good week, and I’m proud of that. And this is because the weather has helped out enormously. It has been absolutely beautiful here, with sun and blue skies, and no need to wear one’s heavy winter coat. Spring is here, although I say that with caution, since early spring in Ontario is notoriously fickle. Still, as much as I hate winter, weeks like this make it all worthwhile.

Whatever time hasn’t been spent out of doors playing with the neighbourhood kids has been spent indoors, doing taxes. Yes, I know the deadline is April 30th, but Erin and I are making use of an accounting firm that specializes in dealing with artists and writers, who really need all the help we can get. The fact that we’re both self-employed means a blanched-features-inducing bill come April 30th, or a mammoth task of collecting and cataloguing every single receipt that passes our hands throughout the previous years, or both. But these guys know their way through the byzantine corridors of Canadian tax law, and the result should be a manageable tax bill, a rock hard tax file, and a service worth its weight in gold.

You know, a couple of years ago, a bike courier won his case in the supreme court demanding that he be allowed to deduct the full cost of his daily meals as “fuel”. I wonder if we writers could deduct coffee as fuel? Just asking…

Doing Taxes 2

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