So, recently, I asked myself the question: what would be the outcome if I failed to complete Blogging A to Z in April of 2026, but I successfully paid my taxes and filed for an extension in a timely fashion?
The answer: I'd have to pay less of a penalty for NOT getting my taxes done on time.
Having worked in a startup, at a large company, as a contractor, and between me and my wife owning five small businesses, our taxes are ... complicated. Add to that many of the people we interact with not getting us forms until I've already left to attend the Game Developers Conference, I get them done late every year.
Every year, even though I have a formalized system for collecting receipts, and a structured spreadsheet for collating information, there's SOME damn thing that requires me to spend hours extracting information from one program or website and reformatting it into tax-friendly data in an another.
I thought I'd be done three weeks ago. Then last week. Then this weekend, where I set aside all of Sunday to "finish up". At 3AM or something, I gave up, deciding to scan the last forms in the morning.
BUT, this time I was right. There were only three or four things left to scan, the scanner worked, and the data was successfully uploaded to our accountant. We'd expanded our spreadsheet last year to enable me to compute what we owe - paying your tax is a prerequisite for filing an extension.
We paid the tax. Our accountants filed the exception. And then I went out to an impromptu dinner with friends, where we talked about writing.
It was a pretty good day.
-Anthony
Pictured: A custom cocktail at Select restaurant - a mezcal Old Fashioned, I believe.
Postscript: I forgot to say, Blogging A to Z will resume TOMORROW, after I'm caught up on other stuff.