Bush training women

[ScottA]

Anyone know a good way to train women to use a bush? Our water has been out since the flood on thursday and carrying water from the lake to flush with is wearing me out.

[John_C]

Do you have cast iron cookware?   If so keep carrying the water

[MountainDon]

Everybody carries their own water. 

[glenn kangiser]

Maybe you could build her a little bottomless chair

[BiggKidd]

With two daughters and a wife I've been down this road. Dig a shallow hole four to six inches deep. Cut the bottom out of a five gal. bucket leaving a one inch lip. Set the bucket in the hole place a cheap plastic seat on top. At the end of the day remove the bucket & fill the hole. This worked for my 2 & 7 year old girls and the wife.

Larry 

[glenn kangiser]

There you go.  That's a stroke of genius, Larry.

[ScottA]

I knew you guys would have the answer.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

    I have to laugh because when I read the title of this thread, I thought it was something that was going to be political ("Bush training women..."     )   

My suggestion is to send her on vacation to rural India for a few weeks....  you'll either come home with a good education on the topic or a really bad kidney infection.

[glenn kangiser]

I thought the same thing, Homegrown.  I was about to jump up on the soap box.

[peternap]

I thought the same thing, Homegrown.  I was about to jump up on the soap box.

Yep, me too! I paid my taxes today and was just itching for a good rant

[MountainDon]

I paid my taxes today ...

I don't feel quite so bad about completing the task last night.
If we owe I wait till next to the last minute, too.

[glenn kangiser]

Early filers always have the most chance of audit.  It is recommended to get an extension.  I don't bother to file the extension --I just  can't believe they read and automatically OK something they won't bother to respond to.   I used to but never got so much as a "Good Boy", pat...pat...pat from them.  I wait a year or so.  I always file - We always have money coming back from Sassy's job...

I know --- You are all going --- Stupid....You are letting them use your money for free.

Well --- it's just the principle of the thing.  I can't make me do it on time.  Some kind of weird satisfaction...  hmm

I make them ask first...

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I have never been audited, but we always file early just to get 'er done.  I hate waiting until the last minute, whether I have to pay in or whether I'm getting money back.  My little cousin and his wife got audited this year, though, after filing early.  They had a newborn who was only a week or so old when they had to bring all their stuff for the audit (about a three/four hour drive for them WITH a newborn, and they both had to be there.)  His wife told me that she hoped that the baby got cranky and hungry through the whole thing, just because they insisted on the whole family being there.  My cousin ran a lawn mowing, tree-trimming business through the last year or two, and with all the ice last winter, he did really well.  Guess they didn't believe someone could earn that kind of money doing what he's been doing.

[MountainDon]

  ...I don't bother to file the extension --I just  can't believe they read and automatically OK something they won't bother to respond to.   

You've had luck. I had an extension to file a few years ago. I was late in filing the extension. The actual return was filed about 30 gays later. They caught the fact that the extension was postmarked late and that in validated it. We paid a penalty, don't remember how much, for filing late. The penalty was subtracted from the refund amount.

So if you want to play with fire....

[glenn kangiser]

So they actually do read them -- the miracle of modern computers.

[MountainDon]

And they (IRS) not always acts draconian. Example, we, the business, remit the fed withholding, FICA and Medicare payroll deductions monthly and file a report quarterly. There's a deadline for both. A few months we missed making a payment on time, by a few days. A month or so later we received a letter stating that they noticed the payment was late, but because of the good prior record of on time remittances, they did not charge us the late payment fee or any interest. Somewhere somehow there is some humanity and common sense.

[peternap]

  And they (IRS) not always acts draconian. Somewhere somehow there is some humanity and common sense.

[Redoverfarm]

Heard on the news that audit in 2006 were like 60% and dropped in 2008 to 25%. Yeah I am tired of you too.

[MountainDon]

Peter. Hey, I only report what happened to me. It was better than receiving the expected letter with a penalty and interest assessment. I thought it was very nice, kept it in the file.

Oh, I did just receive one of those (penalty and interest assessment letters) this week from the State Tax & Revenue Dept. They credited one of our checks to some other business. Took 15 minutes on the phone to get that fixed. 

[glenn kangiser]

Nice letter, Don.    Better frame that one.   That would be the exception rather than the rule.

I was late in the crash of 82 in fact filed -- admitted I owed it but while we were geared for doing over $1,000,000 per year business, it dropped off to nothing.  We couldn't make equipment payments or anything.  I know --- not their problem.

They sent wreckers out to tow away my work trucks -- I offered to let them auction my dump truck- they did  -- bought a bit of time -- owed them something like 12 to 20thousand -- they took $40000.

They illegally opened my mail in the post office box-- must have used a criminal to break in to my box as the Post Office people claimed they didn't know anything about it.  They opened my mail -- wrote - opened by mistake - IRS -- wrote - recorded - IRS on checks and correspondence.  It was years later before I found out it was totally illegal.  I believed they had the power to do that.

So -- a few years ago I refused an audit -- took them about a year and a half until we came to an agreement after I agreed to reproduce my invoices and hired an enrolled agent to stand in.   They wrote accepted as filed on it. 

I don't suggest that others hassle them unless they prepare themselves, but I view it as a hobby and enjoy it. 

IRS agent lady who collected from me at that time said I took longer than anyone she had ever collected from to pay up.  I take a bit of pride in that.  She told me to operate my business in the future in such a manner that I would not have any obligation to the IRS.  I do just that and do consider her a friend.  A friend -- whom I had bought the above dump truck from, clued me in on the laws and how to deal with them.  One point he said was no matter what, always talk to them if they want to talk.

[glenn kangiser]

...and I refuse to collect taxes for them, that they haven't proved to me is owed by an employee -- so I no longer have employees -- co-owners on a separate license so we don't file partnership papers either for business help - or contract with temp agencies.

The humanity facade is only at the first level, Don. 

[MountainDon]

But the first level saved us some fees that we could have been liable for. That's the way I see it. 

As for employees and collecting taxes if we want to operate a business where work is done by others for us collecting taxes must be done. There is no way around it. We couldn't possibly do all the work ourselves. We couldn't hire people and call them contract employees as we then could not set the hours they need to work.

I don't have a problem with passing the money along. If the employee worked someplace else they'd still have the money deducted. If the employee doesn't like taxes being deducted they are free to become self employed and figure it all out on their own.

[glenn kangiser]

That's the system. 

[Redoverfarm]

Hey, I only report what happened to me.

Hey Don I wasn't referring to you I was meaning the Infernal Revenue that I was tired of. Hope you didn't get the wrong impression.

[MountainDon]

No no. I was referring to peter rolling all over the floor.