You know what they say...

...About the only two things to count on in life, death and TAXES

I spent this morning trying to prepare my first set of Australian taxes for the 6 weeks I was getting paid locally.  Let me tell you, that did not go well.

I should preface this by saying I do my US taxes by using Turbo Tax.  And I make sure I get the discount coupon from Costco before buying it.  I love it, it's simple.  Plug your numbers and go.

Not so much down here.  There no central place to get the information you need.  I had to search for the equivalent of my W-2 and couldn't figure out if I was paid interest on any bank accounts down here during those six weeks.  Then I didn't know what to qualify as income.  And then it got to the section on Foreign Investments.  Now, I was under the assumption that any income I made in the US during my time down here would be taxed by good 'ole Uncle Sam and not good 'ole Uncle Macquarie (I don't know who he was, but his name is on everything down here so I assume he was pretty important).  But, I guess I was wrong.  Apparently, all my rental income from the states is going to be taxed down here without all the "benefits" of having a mortgage, and there's a pretty good chance I'm going to get dinged by Uncle Same come April 2011.  Damn you double taxation.

By the way, did I mention that they're due on Sunday?  That's right, the 31st of October, Halloween (which people don't openly celebrate down here - along with Cinco de Mayo, but I won't go there).  So, I was in a bit of a panic because I quickly learned what I thought would be a simple process is turning into a lengthy ordeal.  Of which I don't have time.  Seeing as though there will probably be drinks after work tonight and then I have my first set of visitors landing tomorrow AM and heading up to the Great Barrier Reef on Saturday.

I searched everywhere for information on how to file an extension and came across a phone number.  After being transferred a few times I came across a nice person who let me plea my case and then nicely asked when I "thought" I could have them done by.  That's right, I got to pick my own date.  So I've gone from Halloween to the 23rd of December. 

And again, not to switch topics, stores have had Christmas decorations up for three weeks now.  Since the beginning of SEPTEMBER.  Now I get they don't have Thanksgiving to use as a buffer and don't really celebrate Halloween, but a Christmas as a season for 4 months is a little ridiculous.

But back to taxes.  So yeah, bottom line, there's no Turbo Tax for the Australian markets that takes into account foreign income.  Looks like I'll be looking for an accountant in the next two weeks.