Ugh…Taxes

A long time ago, I needed one class to finish my MBA. I had a few sales & marketing courses circled and in three months, I’d have a master’s degree. Sitting down my with my advisor, I showed him the classes.

“The first one is filled,” he said.

“No worries,” I told him. “What about the other two?”

With a few keystrokes, he entered the course numbers and then looked up: “Both are full.”

My first thought was Really? I’ve been at this for 2+ years. Throw me a bone here.

But there would be no bones.

In fact, the more we chatted, the more bleak this situation became. Just about any class that I had even a sliver of interest in was full (must’ve been my last name starting with a “W.”)

“So, what can I take?” I asked him.

And like that, I was signed up for International Taxation.

I knew it was going to be bad. But after class, I’d seemingly walk out of the door, wait for the L train in downtown Chicago, and think to myself, It really can’t get any worse.

I’d work all day, go to class in the evenings, and then spend any remaining time thinking about taxes. There was no fancy software to lighten the load, no CPA buddy that could make the pain go away.

When I finished my final exam, despite a goal of simply passing the class, I felt a resounding “there’s no way I didn’t just get an F on that test” type of feeling.

When grades were posted a few weeks later, I miraculously got a “C,” a grade that could only be attributed to my 100% attendance, random (probably dumb) questions in class, and the absurd amount of effort that I had put in. Maybe God had been looking down on me.

Fast forward, and I still get chills when talking about taxes. But talking is about as far as I go.

I was recently introduced to a company called Numeral. As I talked to these folks, I was incredibly impressed by their rigor. State registrations and automated filings were table stakes. They offered to do a complete nexus study and also talked about product categories that are exempt in certain states. Put simply, there was an immediate vote of confidence in what they were proposing.

Another thing that perked my interest: oftentimes (like historical marketing budgets), a company will have paid taxes that it didn’t owe. People have short memories, and the following year, even if you realized your mistake, you’ll often face a hefty resistance from the government. Numeral will take a look at historical liability to ensure what you’re paying moving forward is actually correct.

So, if you want to explore doing taxes better, I’d check em out. Does International Taxation still haunt me from time to time? Of course it does, but life is sure a lot easier when you can lean on people you trust to shore up your weaknesses.

Until next time…