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poohbear_nc · 12-17-2013, 07:08 PM

I work for that employer!

My day you ask?

Well, NC, in its infinite quest to extract more taxes faster from more people decided to change the state withholding rules for paychecks -
1. Married people can no longer claim their spouse as an allowance.
2. Parents can only claim children under 17 as dependents for tax allowances.
3. Parents making over $40,000 a year with more than 1 child under 17 can only claim one less than their total number of children.

Fairly straightforward rules you say? There's even little charts to help you subtract 1 from your total number of children. (I'm not joking about this.)

Well, we passed them out today to my company. Pandemonium ensued - with of course me being blamed for inflicting these needlessly draconian rules on the already suffering workforce.
Leading the charge to my office? Why, my boss of course - who hadn't even bothered to read the paper - demanding to know why I was handing these out to everyone - and just how he was supposed to fill it in since he couldn't understand the questions?

Well, since all of his kids are married now, I replied: "Put a zero on line 1, sign it and hand it back to me."
My boss: "How do I know that's the correct answer for that question? I don't want to sign anything that's incorrect."
Me: "All of your kids are over 17. Put a zero on line 1 and sign it."
My boss: "Can you fax or email this to our tax accountants to check my answer?" [They bill at $350/hour minimum]
Me: "We don't need to send it to the accountants. Put a zero on line 1 and sign it."
My boss: "I want to study it a bit more before I sign it."
Me: "Hey look, the catered Christmas lunch is here!"
My boss: "Here, I signed it - YOU fill it in."

Any guesses how long the actual 'conversation' ran? If the lunch hadn't arrived, I'd probably be still saying "Put a zero on line 1."
Later that day, our accounting firm did call me about year end financial preparations and I shared the conversation. We shared a good laugh, and she agreed that she fully expected my boss to call anyway "just to check on my instructions."

12-17-2013, 07:08 PM	#23337
poohbear_nc Bah! Humbug! Posts: 63,841 Karma: 135242149 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Durham, NC Device: Every Kindle Ever Made & To Be Made!	I work for that employer! My day you ask? Well, NC, in its infinite quest to extract more taxes faster from more people decided to change the state withholding rules for paychecks - 1. Married people can no longer claim their spouse as an allowance. 2. Parents can only claim children under 17 as dependents for tax allowances. 3. Parents making over $40,000 a year with more than 1 child under 17 can only claim one less than their total number of children. Fairly straightforward rules you say? There's even little charts to help you subtract 1 from your total number of children. (I'm not joking about this.) Well, we passed them out today to my company. Pandemonium ensued - with of course me being blamed for inflicting these needlessly draconian rules on the already suffering workforce. Leading the charge to my office? Why, my boss of course - who hadn't even bothered to read the paper - demanding to know why I was handing these out to everyone - and just how he was supposed to fill it in since he couldn't understand the questions? Well, since all of his kids are married now, I replied: "Put a zero on line 1, sign it and hand it back to me." My boss: "How do I know that's the correct answer for that question? I don't want to sign anything that's incorrect." Me: "All of your kids are over 17. Put a zero on line 1 and sign it." My boss: "Can you fax or email this to our tax accountants to check my answer?" [They bill at $350/hour minimum] Me: "We don't need to send it to the accountants. Put a zero on line 1 and sign it." My boss: "I want to study it a bit more before I sign it." Me: "Hey look, the catered Christmas lunch is here!" My boss: "Here, I signed it - YOU fill it in." Any guesses how long the actual 'conversation' ran? If the lunch hadn't arrived, I'd probably be still saying "Put a zero on line 1." Later that day, our accounting firm did call me about year end financial preparations and I shared the conversation. We shared a good laugh, and she agreed that she fully expected my boss to call anyway "just to check on my instructions."