My Least Favorite Season

I love winter. We’re still in the throws of it. The ground is still white. Last week had 3 days of school cancellations due to snow. We’re getting more snow tomorrow afternoon and night. I enjoy making snowmen and igloos and going sledding and pelting the kids with snowballs. I love skiing, though I haven’t done that since my university days a few hundred years ago.

I love Spring, too. The snow finally melts and the grass turns green. Flowers emerge and color our world with something other than white. The trees bud. Birds come back to our feeder and sing their praises. We can put away the cumbersome winter jackets. Baseball season gets underway (my favorite).

I love summer. Hikes through the woods and visits to waterfalls. Beach days and lazy days kayaking up the river. The continuation of baseball season. Jumping on the trampoline. No school. Late nights and bonfires. Running barefoot through the yard. Listening to DW freak out when she hears June Bugs.

I love autumn, too. Warm days and cool nights. Hoodies by the bonfires. The best weather for running. Mother nature wearing her brightest colors. The World Series. Pumpkins and trick-or-treating. Bouquets of newly sharpened pencils.

Do you know which season I hate the most?

Tax season.

Once upon a time we used to get a refund. Not any more. I know the government needs their share to keep the country running and money in the politicians pockets. Do they really need so much? To make matters worse and thanks to the US government, I still have file taxes in the US even though we don’t live there any more. Usually it works to our advantage. We get money in return for letting the US government know how much we made in Canada.

Six years or so ago we opened an RESP (Registered Education Savings Account) for the boys. We put a bit of money into it and government puts a little money into it and over the years it adds up and then when it comes time the boys can withdraw it to use for University.

Turns out the US wants us to pay tax on it because they think it’s a foreign trust fund. The little bit of tax the US would collect off it probably wouldn’t be that big of a deal. However, the forms that need to be completed and filed with IRS will cost us at least $1,000. Every. Single. Year. Here we were being all responsible, planning for our children’s future and instead we get robbed because of taxes. And not even Canadian taxes.

So now we’ll close those accounts, take the penalty for closing them early, pay the bit of back tax on it and then find another way to save for the future.

For now, I’ll get back to enjoying the strong hold Old Man Winter has on Nova Scotia and curl up under a blanket in my pyjamas and watch The Voice with DW.

Advertisement