Wheeeee!

Tax time!

Oh joy! Oh rapture!

Even better -- this year it’s double jeopardy! We get to do both US and Canadian taxes! What lucky duckies we are, eh?

Actually, we have a little while to file in both countries: the US deadline is the usual April 15th, but Canadians have until April 30th.

So far, we have to say that the Canadian tax system is more complicated. There’s nothing in Canada like the 1040EZ for single-job wage-earners with modest deductions. On the other hand, almost everyone in Canada files electronically, which is free if you’re poor (now there’s a logical concept we hope the US adopts someday!) and the refunds apparently come quicker (about 5-10 business days). So we’ll call that a draw.

But we have nearly all the paperwork we need for both returns (the paperwork is remarkably similar in both countries, happily) and we may be getting a refund from one or the other, so we’re actually reasonably cheerful about the process. If I can get myself officially declared a shiftless bum legal dependent, that might increase our chances of a refund. Cross your fingers!