I GOT IT! IT'S HERE! (w/pic)

[fragologist]

Famboozled yet again!!!

 

[OfTheDamned]

The Goverment loves you, giving them a 8k intrest free loan every year. and thats if you found every deduction.

Congratulations to everyone on their refund and for making an interest free loan to the government. Would anyone care to make an interest free loan to me?

Your tax refund isn't new money, it's simply the amount that you overpaid during the year. It's like handing the clerk a $20 bill for a $15 item and then getting excited when the clerk gives you your $5 in change back a year later.

There is wisdom in not overpaying in the first place.

On behalf of everyone I would like to thank the downer family for joining the discussion.

I calculate all of my deductions pretty well. I also happened to spend a little over $12k this year for school for my girl and myself. That is a $5k refund by itself. Along with kids, mortgage, cars, business expenses, medical, etc. deductions tend to add up.

I make it a point to never over pay or underpay.

 

[rick311]

Your tax refund isn't new money, it's simply the amount that you overpaid during the year. It's like handing the clerk a $20 bill for a $15 item and then getting excited when the clerk gives you your $5 in change back a year later.

There is wisdom in not overpaying in the first place.

its new money to me! i was going to end up paying, but i added an uncle of mine that lives in Mexico as a dependent. it shot up from having to pay 500 to gettin over 4K back!

 

[truelove79]

Have some kids and a $3200 tax return is chump change.
Sent from my Eris using Tapatalk

 

[bjanow]

i think you are missing the point. i was trying to get people all riled up bout 2.1, not my tax return

You know that won't work any longer because there would be 20 threads in the time it took you to think up this silliness. So the first thing our eyes do is a lightning fast scan of the topics, see nothing, and realize it's a goofball that forgot April 1 was 2 weeks ago. That being said....
You can put aside some of that well deserved money, I presume it's well deserved, and buy an Incredible edible and really do us a favor with a side by side comparison.

 

[bjanow]

So the government was correct, they are better with your money than you are. And who says communism doesn't work?

I'd say it was more socialist than communist. As opposed to the corporate fascist state we now live in, masquerading as capitalist. But I digress....

 

[Ted S]

On behalf of everyone I would like to thank the downer family for joining the discussion.

It's just reality. With economic issues people need to pull themselves out of the rhubarb and and look at the bigger picture because often what appears to be doing good, may actually be inflicting harm. Too many people don't understand that the tax refund isn't a gift from the government. It's returning money (property) to its rightful owner and some of us are disturbed that it was over-collected in the first place. It's just a different, and I think more accurate way of looking at the situation.

 

[mc48]

I'd say it was more socialist than communist. As opposed to the corporate fascist state we now live in, masquerading as capitalist. But I digress....

spot on.

 

[vapordub]

Have some kids and a $3200 tax return is chump change.

I do, and I live in Illinois. I didn't get near that back this year. Must be doing something wrong.

 

[SlickRick]

ur no SlickRick

 

[surgeon0214]

You do know that tax returns are just extra money that you sent to the government... you dont even get all of the extra you sent them so large tax returns are bad..

 

[OfTheDamned]

It's just reality. With economic issues people need to pull themselves out of the rhubarb and and look at the bigger picture because often what appears to be doing good, may actually be inflicting harm. Too many people don't understand that the tax refund isn't a gift from the government. It's returning money (property) to its rightful owner and some of us are disturbed that it was over-collected in the first place. It's just a different, and I think more accurate way of looking at the situation.

You also have to keep in mind that everyone on this forum is in a different situation. Kids, houses, school, property, businesses, etc. all play a part in how our taxes are collected and/or refunded to us. Much of mine came from things that had nothing to do with my income or that of my girlfriend. They came from credits that the fed "gives" back to us. I have the least amount of money humanly possible taken out of my check each week, but due to our living situation, the businesses that we own and other stuff, we end up getting back $3k or more every year. This year, with continued schooling for her and I as well as selling of a business vehicle we got a lot more back than we have in other years. While I see and understand your point, you make it sound as though everyone getting a refund is foolish with their money and that just isn't the case. I am sure that there are a lot of people that are, but I know I am not. On the other hand, I spent more on tax preparation than I got back from the state. Go figure.

You do know that tax returns are just extra money that you sent to the government... you dont even get all of the extra you sent them so large tax returns are bad..

I know I just posted after you and you didn't get to read mine. What you are saying can be true, but it all depends on who you are and why you are getting the refund.

 

[CampD]

And its not all overpayment either, we have 2 kids, a house, work, various deductions, etc

Then its time to redo you W2.
Personaly I'd rather have the buck fifty in my pocket every week. But if you'd rather let them handle your money, by all means go ahead, Like I said "The Goverment Loves you".

 

[Peter123]

It's just reality. With economic issues people need to pull themselves out of the rhubarb and and look at the bigger picture because often what appears to be doing good, may actually be inflicting harm. Too many people don't understand that the tax refund isn't a gift from the government. It's returning money (property) to its rightful owner and some of us are disturbed that it was over-collected in the first place. It's just a different, and I think more accurate way of looking at the situation.

I totally agree.
It makes sense neither overpay nor underpay during the year.
Nevertheless, people find it comforting to receive a large return even if it comes with a bit of interest paid by them. Why?
It a kind of self-deception. I do it myself ...
We all do things that are not always logical or does not make sense at alL,
for instence, posting infite threads about the 2.1 upgrade .....

PETER

 

[doogald]

I have to file an extension every year so any refund won't be here for many months. (We generally get the last of the paperwork in late September.) So, yeah, I try to make sure that the refund is minimal, but there is that stinky rule that even with an extension, your taxes must be paid by April 15th (well, because of flooding this year we actually get to May 11 )anyway, even if you don't know exactly what they will be.

Hey, don't know exactly what your taxes will be reminds me that we don't know exactly when the 2.1 upgrade is coming, so we circle back around ...

 

[SoCalSpecialist]

i got way more than that...

but then again i got 2 kids, a house, 2 cars and an unemployed wife

CA-CHING!

 

[Blue218]

 

[jps]

The federal government uses your tax dollars to support Social Security, health care,
national defense and social services such as food stamps and housing.

so if i pay taxes to the feds, im only giving them money to support some bum ass people that cant take care of themselves? i work to support myself and my family, why would they ever ask me to pay for someone elses shit. thats pretty sickening.

shaquanda has 6 kids and no job, so i have to pay for her food, health care, and housing? you can **** off shaquanda/feds.

 

[Peter123]

so if i pay taxes to the feds, im only giving them money to support some bum ass people that cant take care of themselves? i work to support myself and my family, why would they ever ask me to pay for someone elses shit. thats pretty sickening.

shaquanda has 6 kids and no job, so i have to pay for her food, health care, and housing? you can **** off shaquanda/feds.

That's pretty cold...here you go...as Vonnegut said: the typical American Enlightened Self-interest...

What TEA party did you come from?
Pete

 

[Ted S]

You also have to keep in mind that everyone on this forum is in a different situation.

Agreed.

... due to our living situation, the businesses that we own and other stuff, we end up getting back $3k or more every year.

Yes, people's lives and financial situations can be very complicated and just the federal tax laws themselves are tremendously complicated... and lengthy. I heard the figure of 130,000 pages recently.

While I see and understand your point, you make it sound as though everyone getting a refund is foolish with their money and that just isn't the case.

I didn't mean to imply that everyone getting a refund was foolish because as you stated there are just too many variables for many of us to be able to accurately forecast our financial situation and adjust our withholding perfectly.

On the other hand, I spent more on tax preparation than I got back from the state. Go figure.

OTD is making a great point here. The costs of simply complying with tax codes are huge especially for businesses and since businesses get their income from selling stuff, the cost of compliance is most often transferred to the customer. To keep this conversation somewhat Eris related, your Eris phone costs more as does your VZW plan because of all of the time and effort these two companies spend on tax compliance.

If that isn't disturbing enough there has been talk recently about the Obama administration implementing a European style Value Added Tax (VAT). A VAT is kinda like a sales tax but it is imposed at every step in the manufacturing process. It's a cash cow for government and it has the added benefit of being largely hidden from the public. If you're a pro government type of person, the VAT is great because it produces a river of cash to fund government programs and gives the illusion that evil corporations pay but everyday people don't. This is of course completely wrong but it takes the ability to see the larger picture which means the insidious nature of the VAT will go unnoticed by many Americans.

Back to the original topic; I don't think it is necessarily unwise to get a large refund but it is unwise to think of it as a gift.

 

[Peter123]

... On the other hand, I spent more on tax preparation than I got back from the state. Go figure.
....

.

Tell me about it! This year I helped my son-in-law with his taxes. We used TaxCut (H&R Block). I spent at least 20 hrs to do it and at the end I had to go to H&R Block for help. They were trying to figure out how to work the program and after 3 hrs they gave up.
The good news is that I ended up knowing more about taxes than most of the folks at H&R...
Peter

 

[heyjoojoo]

U

That's pretty cold...here you go...as Vonnegut said: the typical American Enlightened Self-interest...

What TEA party did you come from?
Pete

LOL. His comment has nothing to do with Tea Parties - quit letting TV media rule your thinking.

 

[OfTheDamned]

Tell me about it! This year I helped my son-in-law with his taxes. We used TaxCut (H&R Block). I spent at least 20 hrs to do it and at the end I had to go to H&R Block for help. They were trying to figure out how to work the program and after 3 hrs they gave up.
The good news is that I ended up knowing more about taxes than most of the folks at H&R...
Peter

I've used turbo tax for the last 5 years and it has made everything a brease. You can even get discounts for the software through a lot of banks. The tools they have for small business are great. The really nice thing is that the more you use it the easier they make it each year. I think my 6 yo could do my taxes with that software.

 

[Peter123]

I've used turbo tax for the last 5 years and it has made everything a brease. You can even get discounts for the software through a lot of banks. The tools they have for small business are great. The really nice thing is that the more you use it the easier they make it each year. I think my 6 yo could do my taxes with that software.

Thanks OTD for the suggestion. Next year I definitely will go wiht Turbotax. I had no problem with Taxcut with my own return - I could do it without a program easily. It became really pain in the ass when it came to a bit more complicated stuff, like svhedule A, C and home office...

Peter

 

[Peter123]

U

LOL. His comment has nothing to do with Tea Parties - quit letting TV media rule your thinking.

Heyjoojoo, I respectfully disagree. What I meant is the mentality is the same.
Peter