Life is fraught with inconveniences, injustices, & a lot of just plain bullshit! And few of those things can get to me like our Government. To be more specific, the IRS has the knack for not just infuriating me, but leaving me feeling powerless, insignificant, and mad as Mel Gibson being pulled over for DUI stop all at the same time. I can go from having an enjoyable game of Halo on the Xbox with my two boys on a lazy Saturday afternoon to suffering through a ruined day, all in the time it takes to open that big brown envelope they like to send. It is not that I am finding out that I have been chosen to be audited again for the 2nd time in as many years, as this is probably common for those of us who are self employed & doing everything they can just to get buy. I mean really, why would the IRS bother AIG, or Saks & Goldberg who probably short them millions, if not billions, of dollars annually, when they can try to squeeze an extra $3K out of a working class schmuck like myself? But to pinpoint exactly what it is that truly sends me into an emotional & mental meltdown is that they can take any deduction you claim decide that the 40 pages of documentation you send them to justify said deduction is not enough to prove that the cost was incurred during that tax year. For me the kick in the balls is that they have chosen one of the shittiest things I have to do every day & tell me I can not prove I did this every God Damn workday of the year, therefore I can’t claim the deduction. Those who know me know I hate driving long distances. I hate sitting in the car and dealing with the countless fuckheads who I share the roadways with. (Some of which I am sure work for the IRS) Regardless, 1&1/2 to 2 hrs every day are spent going to and from the job site. Normally that wear & tear can not be deducted unless you meet certain unattainable requirements set forth by the almighty IRS. But when you are self employed, like I, you have the right to keep track of your mileage & use that to calculate that expense as it impacts the profitability of the business. So that is what I do, every year I keep track of how many miles are spent wasted in transit. The log book is kept with the rest of my tax papers in case the IRS gets a bug up there ass and wants to see it. So when a few weeks ago the IRS asked me to provide documentation as to the mileage traveled, I sent them a copy of every page of the log book. I took care to explain that half way through the year I had to replace my vehicle, and that is why the drastic change in odometer readings. Nope that is not enough. Now they want proof that I incurred those miles in 2008. I have to have two forms of documentation that verifies the mileage was what I said it was at the start & end of the year. Who the hell goes and has their mileage verified on Jan 1 every year by a notary public.
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