interest

Six Sentence Story — The Interest of Revenge

Fandango23 Comments

Written for the Sunday Six Sentence Story prompt from Girlie on the Edge, where the prompt word is “interest.”

Rain varnished the streets of San Francisco while Lou Braddock sat in his office pretending to take an interest in honest work.

The woman who walked in wore a black coat, tired eyes, and the kind of smile that charged interest on every bad decision a man could make.

She said her husband had disappeared with fifty grand and a suitcase full of secrets, but her trembling hands suggested she was more worried about who might collect the debt.

By midnight I’d found the husband floating face-down near the docks, pockets stuffed with betting slips and a receipt from a pawnshop on Geary Street near Union Square.

That’s when I realized the real interest in the case wasn’t money — it was revenge accruing quietly in the dark hearts of everyone involved.

When the cops finally arrived, the woman was gone, the cash was ash in a burn barrel, and I was left with nothing but a bottle of rye and another unpaid tab with fate.

Image conjured using ChatGPT.

WDP — Almost Nothing

Fandango13 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What brings you peace?
View all responses

If this had been yesterday’s WordPress Daily Prompt, my answer would have been a little different. I would have said sitting on my swing chair hanging from the pergola over our backyard deck looking at the scenery, watching the birds fly back and forth between the trees and the waterfall to drink and bathe, listing to the soothing sounds of the water cascading down the rocks, and enjoying the serenity of our backyard oasis.

But then late yesterday afternoon I received something in the U.S. mail that disrupted whatever peace in these very troubled times I might have been achieving. The logo in the envelope was troubling:

The letter started out by saying in bold letters:

Did you forget to include something on your tax return?

Oh fuck! Did I? But this was for our 2023 taxes. Wait, it’s the second half of 2025 and the IRS is just looking at my 2023 tax return? Well I’ll be damned.

Long story short, My wife had a bunch of savings bonds that her father gave her and she cashed out four of them at the beginning of 2023. The IRS alleges that it sent me a 1099-INT in 2023 for those cashed bonds that I didn’t include in my tax filing. I didn’t include it on my tax return for one of two reasons: (1) I never received a 1099-INT for those bonds, or (2) I received one and misplaced it. I’m going with number one because I am usually pretty organized when it comes to tax documents, so I think it’s unlikely that I misplaced it. My wife thinks I got it and lost it. But what does she know?

Either way, I owe taxes on those bonds that she cashed out. And not only do I owe the taxes on the interest earned but not included on my tax filing, I have been assessed a big fat penalty for having failed to report that interest on my 2023 tax return.

The letter says that I have until September 3, 2025 to comply with the demand to pay the owed taxes plus interest and penalty. If I do not comply by September 3, 2025, I can expect to be apprehended by ICE, taken into custody, and shipped to some undisclosed detention center while awaiting deportation to what Trump refers to as a shithole country.

Okay, that bit about ICE and being deported is a bit of an exaggeration, but I do have until September 3rd to comply. I am going to open up a GoFundMe page and I hope you will generous in your contributions so that I won’t end up living out the rest of my life in some shithole country.

Thank you.

I is for Income Taxes

Fandango28 Comments

My income tax forms have been completed and they are ready to be filed. There is good news and bad news. The bad news is that I owe money to the federal government. More money than I had expected. But the good news is that I’m going to get a refund on my California income taxes. But my California refund only amounts to a quarter of what I owe to Uncle Sam. So net-net, it’s costing me.

My wife is trying to persuade me to not pay my federal tax bill. As justification she is pointing out that the IRS is undergoing significant workforce reductions, with plans to cut up to 25% of its approximately 100,000 employees by mid-2025. She noted that some reports suggest that the goal may be even more drastic, targeting a 50% reduction by the end of the year.

Then she noted that nearly 70% of displaced employees were involved in collection and enforcement, which includes audits. This reduction will likely result in fewer audits, particularly for high-income individuals and large corporations, who historically face higher audit rates.

I told my wife that I am not a high income individual, but she countered that experts warn that weakened enforcement could lead to reduced compliance among taxpayers, as the deterrent effect of audits diminishes, thus causing delays in processing tax returns and initiating collection activities for outstanding tax liabilities.

“You know” I said to my wife, “if I don’t file and pay my taxes by April 15th, if I get caught, we’ll be paying significant interest and penalties.”

Her compromise solution: “Okay, file your tax forms. Just don’t send them a check.”

I’m so tempted to follow her suggestion. So tempted.

2025 A to Z posts: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

She’s Yesterday’s News

Fandango19 Comments

8C5DCAD1-0027-4114-92B6-48B61B67F21F“No!” Zachary said. “I’m the director and I’ve made up my mind.”

“Well I’m the producer, and it’s my call, dammit,” Gene said. “And I say Hermione is in.”

“Jesus, Gene,” Zachary objected. “She’s past her prime and she’s a diva. She does not take direction well and she has a tendency these days to ham it up. I simply will not have it.”

“Zachary,” Gene said, “you’re the one who’s acting like a diva. My interest is making money on this production of ‘Swan Lake,’ and Hermione is a world renowned ballerina. She’s going to be a huge draw at the box office.”

“You’re being shortsighted, Gene,” Zachary said. “What this production needs is new blood, young, exciting, up-and-coming talent. Hermione is yesterday’s news.”

“We’re going with Hermione and that’s final,” Gene said. “And if you don’t like it, I’ll find another director who appreciates her talents.”

“You’re sleeping with her, aren’t you, Gene?” Zachary said.

“That’s besides the point,” Gene said. “Hermione is in and you’re out.”

Written for Paula Light’s Three Things Challenge, where the three things are “ham,” “ballerina,” and “interest.”

Not Interested

Fandango7 Comments

not interested

I could have written a post today about the paltry interest rate my bank is paying on my savings account, especially compared to the much greater interest rate I’m paying my bank for my mortgage.

I could have written a witty, clever bit of flash fiction that some readers might have found of interest.

I could have come up with all kinds of ways for incorporating the word “interest” into a post.

But with everything that is going on in this country, I just don’t have the interest in writing a post in response to this prompt.

Just as our lawmakers seem to have no interest in doing anything about enacting more common sense gun legislation and the NRA’s only interest is to protect the gun manufactures and to pay off the members of Congress to ensure that gun control laws are not on the agenda.

Just as conservative pundits have no interest in discussing gun laws in the wake of the tragic Las Vegas mass shooting on Sunday night. They say this is “not the right time” to be discussing such things. We should, they say, just send our thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims.

Just as our president has no real interest in making America great again. His only interest is to do everything he can to enrich himself, his family. and his already wealthy friends.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll have more interest in posting to my blog. But today, I have no interest.

This post was written for today’s one-word prompt, “interest.”