I finally got my taxes done

Yesterday was my 64th birthday. Although our annual income tax in the United States was due on April 15, having applied for an extenson I had until today to complete my return. Having put off my taxes for as long as I could, I decided to to work on them yesterday evening. To complete my taxes, I used a free on-line tax preparation system that asked me a series of yes/no questions. Any yes respones gave me a new window so that I could enter the relevant information.

I had forgotten that the solar panels that I had put on my roof last year were tax deductable. When the system asked me about energy tax credits, I entered information about the solar panels. I am glad I did so because I will now be receiving my largest tax return ever. $8000 (£6,121).

Happy birthday to me! (Smile)

Since this is a UK based site, I was wondering if you Brits got tax refunds? In the United States, employees have a percentage of their paychecks withheld for taxes. Our tax returns then allow us to deduct the cost of interests paid on mortgages and car loans, tuition costs, medical expenses etc. If the total of our deductable expenses exceeds what was withheld for taxes, we get a refund which will be automatically deposited to my bank account. 

Aside from working on my tax return, I spent the rest of my day working on a fantasy novel. The novel is about an autistic paranormal investigator whose gift of inner sight has allowed him to see fantasy creatures who coexist in our world but cannot be seen by most people. The "paranormal hauntings" that are his metaphorical bread and butter aren't really paranormal. They're usually the result of annoyed fairies who have made their unhappiness with their mortal roommates known. The investigator earns his keep by calming the "spirits" or getting them to move on. His partner is a ghost who secretly loves him. She has the ability to make a full corporeal manifestation which she can hold for a time before disappearing to recharge her spitual energy in the ethereal plans. Since the local mob (mafia) think that he's scamming gullible marks, they have demanded a piece of the action. Accompanied by is sidekick and a 12 year old runaway, he was trying to elude the gangters when he and his companions wound up in an alternate timeline where Nazi Germany had won WWII with the help of modern weaponry and am army of orcs from Middle Earth. To set things right, the protagonist will have to correct the timeline. 

I've been working on this novel off and on for the better part of ten years. Having retired, I resumed work on this novel some 4 days ago. At the time that I resumed work on this manuscript, I had 50,000 total words. I now have 64,222 words and estimate that  the completed novel will be somewhere between 100,000 and 125,000 words.