I thought I’d take a moment to celebrate with you now that my taxes are done. Finished. Completed. And boy was it an ordeal. I had my W-2 forms and all my paperwork in order. I was ready to get going.

Except for one little thing. As of Monday, I still hadn’t figured out how to report my advance on my book. I was waiting for a 1099 form or something from my publisher. So I waited and I waited. And it didn’t come and it didn’t come. So I finally called the Harlequin (yes, my publisher is a division of Harlequin) offices and spoke with a very nice lady in the accounts payable department. She kindly explained to me that because they are headquartered in Toronto, they don’t send out and US tax forms.

Oops. I hadn’t considered that.

So I proceeded to call the IRS helpline to figure out the best way to report my advance (however, small it was). No problem. Right?

Wrong. I explained my situation to everyone that I spoke with and each person told me I was speaking with the wrong department. I spoke with 5 people in 5 departments and still couldn’t get an answer. It’s foreign income. No it’s not. It’s this. No, it’s that. Was I ever going to find the right person? And then IRS helpperson number 6 came to my rescue. She talked me through my options of reporting it. Was I self-employed? Was I out to make a profit? Was I running a business or trade?

Who knew selling a book could be such a stress more than 6 months after the contract was signed?

We talked through these questions. And I filed my taxes, and I’m done! I got an e-mail from my tax prep website, and my filings have been approved. I’m home free!

Until next year. Hmmm … I think I better find a good CPA for next year’s taxes.  Still very thankful for IRS helpperson #6 this year until next time … -LJ