On Main Avenue, patriotic millennials agreed that since entering adulthood, the blessing of American citizenship had been somewhat marred by a financial indignity new to many people in their early 20s: paying taxes.
On Monday, with IRS deadline looming, Chad McClanahan, a 22-year-old who went to culinary school in New York and now works at Chimayo, said he was not “super-stoked” to pay taxes.
“Fourteen and 15-year-olds don’t have to worry about it,” he said.
Thankfully, his parents in Phoenix still handle the paperwork through their accountant.
“But I don’t like paying taxes. I don’t think anyone does. I do like services, though,” he said, before singling out prompt road repairs as government expertise he especially appreciated.
Sam Kelly, 23, said paying taxes was a belated aspect of adulthood.
“Last year was definitely the first time my dad made me do it,” he said.
On the whole, the experience was easier than he expected, though he suspects that as a Gardenswartz employee and musician, there are write-offs he is not taking advantage of because they are too complicated to request.
“I don’t really nitpick it. I just keep it simple,” he said.
He said new taxpayers should be wary, saying he was in the midst of sending the IRS an amended return because he had forgotten to mention one bank account.
Malind Nikulski, 23, said she had been paying her own taxes for years. She works at Silk Sparrow.
She said, at first, the process was confusing. But, she said, help from the “1040 EZ” tax form and Colorado Tax Help had made the yearly endeavor less intimidating.
She warned first-time taxpayers to “double-check every detail,” saying because she let her information go out of date, the IRS charged her $600 to correct errors in one filing.
Nikulski was philosophical about the $600, paraphrasing Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, who said, “I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization.”
She said she was proud and delighted to help fund government services, like public education.
But, she said, she wished the IRS would send her a receipt itemizing how the federal government used her contribution.
If her money went to the drone program, she said, “Hell no: I would definitely not be cool with that at all.”
cmcallister@durangoherald.com
