Taking Some Time Off

Are you getting a little a crazy right about now? Are you hoping that you won't totally bite off someone's head as you get nearer to April 15^th? Don't you just wish you could take off for a while?  Perhaps sit on a beach and stare? Maybe even visit a museum to relax a bit and pick up some culture?

Sound ridiculous? Well, did I mention the visit was going to be online? Let me offer two possibilities, although the second one you might consider to be a bus person's holiday.

The first museum you might visit online is the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City at http://www.metmuseum.org/home.asp. You can view some of the 3,500 works of art in its online collection or check out its latest exhibition, "Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting," which examines the impact of Spanish painting on 19th-century French artists.

Okay you are already feeling guilty about not focusing on taxes, so let me tell about the second museum, the Tax History Museum, at http://taxhistory.tax.org/. It has seven online wings finished, and provides a review of the history of American taxation going way back to 1660. Accountants should be captivated by the discussion of the Revenue Act of 1673, which imposed a "plantation duty" on certain American exports and closed loopholes that colonists had employed to export tobacco and other products directly to European markets.

Other items of interest you will find there are some really delightful cartoons, including one commenting on the Supreme Court decision that overturned the 1894 income tax law. You will also come across copies of tax returns of a number of U.S. presidents. My favorites are those of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Upon reconsideration, why break with tradition? Maybe you should go back and work on those1040s and wait until after April 16^th to make these virtual trips.