It's tax time!

Benjamin Franklin, in a 1789 letter to French scientist Jean Baptiste Leroy said, there are only two certainties in life --death and taxes. And if I may add an observation, between the two, taxes make you feel like a thousand deaths. It is April once again and tax season is here. For most people, having to prepare taxes is one of the most uncomfortable, if not nerve-wracking experience one must go through every year. What makes tax preparation more challenging is that tax laws are ever evolving and that unless it is your line of work, it is so hard to catch up on the latest changes. But it is a necessary inconvenience. As much as it is our civic duty, it is also our moral and legal obligation as a member of the general community. Taxes are the lifeblood of the nation and for it to survive, it is imperative that the citizenry must be able to contribute.

This year, the Internal Revenue Service has extended the deadline for filing individual federal tax returns to May 17. This new date is to provide some time for filers, tax preparers and the IRS to process returns as the pandemic continues to disrupt our lives. For the immigrant communities, this is a welcome development. The past year has been particularly brutal on all of us in all aspects. In addition, the stimulus bills passed have tax consequences that need to be understood and accommodated as taxes are filed. This is where we need professional help from tax preparers. Keep in mind that there are COVID restrictions in place which may slow down the process. So make your appointments now.

Also for US citizens who are living in other countries, you are required to file a federal tax return and pay US taxes. It does not matter where you live or how you earn your income, you are still subject to the same tax laws as those living in the US.

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We are now more than one year into this COVID-19 pandemic and here we are still fighting against this microscopic evil. Like most of you, I know several friends and clients who have succumbed to this disease and it is still very hard to accept that they are gone. Though we are smarter now on how to manage this plague, it seems that as we take a hopeful turn, another challenge comes our way. Variants have been appearing, double mutants have now popped up and lockdowns have been re-imposed. The virus can always find a way to outsmart us by targeting our vulnerabilities. And it will continue to do so if we let our guard down.

My only wish for now is for Cebu to have a more robust COVID action plan that really shows results and not just lip service. As of this time, vaccination efforts are perceived to be very slow and so reliant on the national government. While I understand the government bureaucracy underlying such dependence, isn't a global pandemic enough of a justification that a local government could take an independent action to strengthen its response?