Taxed to the Max

I started doing my taxes this week and was surprised to find that I may have to pay Uncle Sam almost six hundred dollars. It was a combination of things that led to this unfortunate situation. First, I received 4 weeks of unemployment for which no tax had been taken out. Then I paid off my house, so now I don't have any interest to deduct. And finally, there was interest from taxable investments. I tried to add to my IRA earlier in the year, but the bank said that I couldn't add to my existing IRA and that I would need to open a new one. I said boo to that. I should have probably sold one of my loser stocks. I always seem to have a few of those every year. I still might be able to deduct the money I spent on classes I took in 2005. But I'm not sure how much that is going to help. I think I was figuring that I would be in a lower tax bracket this year and that a tax refund was almost guaranteed. No dice my fellow American. Now hurry up and pay the man!