Almost forgot my taxes: I’m a one-person rarely-sells-much business (Note to self: try to be a better capitalist), but I have to file taxes with the State of Arizona and the City of Phoenix every month. When I haven’t sold anything, no problem, pop online, file with state, tick the “no business activity this month” box on the Phoenix form and put it in the mail. When I have sold something (sold a painting last month) it’s a different story.
First I pop online, file with the State, and make an electronic payment – all in less than 5 minutes, sometimes less than one. Then I manually fill out the Phoenix tax form and drive half an hour down to downtown phoenix to stand in line and pay with cash. This is because I don’t have a Business Checking Account, so I can’t write a check (this month it would be a check for $1.21) to mail, and because it is illegal (and silly) to send cash in the mail. Actually, with gas to get there and parking fees, paying my $1.21 in Phoenix taxes will cost me about $5 this month. On the other hand, that’s cheaper than the cheapest monthly fee for a Business Checking Account at my bank, and this is only the second month this year I’ve had sales to report.
It’s annoying. Why can’t I pay the City of Phoenix online, or – better still – pay at the same time I pay the state? This seems reasonable to me because when I file and pay state, I’m actually filing and paying both State and County taxes at once… Sigh.
