Exactly one week from now...

...is April 15th. For my fellow Americans, that means the dreaded tax day is quickly approaching.

Of course most of you have probably already spent your returns. For those of us who end up paying every year (present company included) April 15th just downright sucks. I know I won't be mailing out that check until the very. last. minute. It's my/our hard earned money and I want to collect as much interest on it before I have to hand it over to my favorite governmental agency {cough}.

So while perusing MSNBC today, I discovered this interesting article... Six Deductions You've Never Heard Of

Some of those tax breaks are just weird - a whaling deduction?

This one is just sad - make sure your kid is abducted by a stranger and not a family member in order to claim them as dependents after they've been kidnapped.

And this is just not fair - foreign nationals don't have to pay taxes on gambling winnings?! That would be good news for my Canadian relatives however. Come on down! We've got 2 casinos right in this state. And I want to know how many drug dealers are paying taxes on their income!

You can take a medical deduction if your kid plays the clarinet? Apparently that instrument may help correct an overbite. Mom/Dad, where were you when THAT tax law came out? I could have saved you some money. Not to mention a hefty orthodontic bill!

Writers that sell their copyrighted work have to pay income taxes on that profit. Yeah, yeah. I'll worry about this if my novel ever gets published.

A tax deduction for the makers of fishing tackle boxes? So a question for sj, my favorite fisherlady. What have you - a Plano tackle box or a sewing kit? The strange thing is, I can picture you storing your fishing gear in either of those!