MrsHobieJoe wrote: 

 rowdydaisy wrote: 
Tell!  Tell!  What did he do?

 steeler wrote: 
Good.  I think I'm still paying my 2005 taxes off...God Bless America!

Extensions filed.

The guy I used this year is an ex-IRA tax analyst. He saved me a bunch of money. I still had to pay but not as much as usual. I totally understand about not being able to pay quarteryly. I need to find another line of work.

 islander wrote: 
Actually, this is extremely comforting!  Thank you. 

 AliGator wrote: 
Even in France.  *sigh*

Better now??  I hope so. 

 rosedraws wrote: 
 
Welcome to my world in France. I know I've written here about how great the French health care system is, and it is, but what you described was our reality. Our health care was never in question, so that was never a worry (which is why I so love the French system), but everything you just wrote hits home. My ex and I were making what looked to be a liveable wage, but it was enough that we didn't get any of the "social safety net" breaks, it was barely enough to live on, AND we got slammed with taxes.

 rosedraws wrote: 




Sorry to hear about your dilemma. It’s odd how our society works, and not at all fair. I know it doesn’t feel like it, but it is better to owe than to get back. Look at it this way, when they send you a refund, that literally is ‘your money’. It’s money you overpaid, and that’s all that it is, no interest. On the other hand, if you are putting pen to check, you are paying back an interest free loan from your uncle Sam. You didn’t even have to apply for it, you just took it.

I know that’s a small consolation to you right now, but hang in there – there are opportunities for those who stick it out.

I did my taxes a month ago, but I didn't file because we owe a lot, and I was hoping I had done something wrong.

I've combed through it again, and tried lots of creative accounting, but I can not get that bottom line to change.  Time to set up a payment plan.

 

So here's the thing.  I do believe in the tenet, "I don't mind paying my taxes.  With them, I buy civility."

Except that, if I pay my taxes, I can't pay my BILLS.

We are on an extreme budget to try and scrape down our debt load and possibly maybe hopefully please stay in our little house. 

But I realize that I can't balance my little budget if I have this additional tax payment!  I don't know what's left to pare down.

In 2007 we went WAY in debt because of bad income.  And we got all our taxes back.  Yippee.

In 2008 we made enough money to not go further into debt... except that I now owe a pile of taxes.  ie, If I had paid my estimated taxes, I would simply have gone further into debt again. 

It's amazing how we continue to live in this noman's land of making what looks like a liveable wage, but it's enough to not get ANY breaks, and therefore really ends up not being enough to live on.  It's so immensely frustrating and it just feels so WRONG. 

I'm trying not to get depressed about it.  But my income has TANKED again, and I'm having a hard time keeping my head up. 

My mantra is this:
1) Let go of expectations. NO ONE promised that life would bring me enough money to get by.  Life has promised me one thing: I will experience things.  Good, bad, whatever... life doesn't care... life doesn't judge... it's just experiences.

2) I discovered that letting go of all expectations can deplete a person of their hope... so I am endeavoring to find positive input and good things to set my mind on.  It's not always easy.  I'm working on it. 

I heard on CNN that the average amount folks are getting back is $1200 or something like that.  WOW!!  And yesterday, I helped my daughter with her taxes, and found her an extra $300 (with brought her right up to average.  She was SOOOO happy!!!) 

So, I hope all of you are "average" in this way. 

 miamizsun wrote: 
Thanks for posting this, Zeff.

Of course, you and I both know they put people in jail anyway for violating a law that doesn't exist.

Taxes are a great source of pain for me and my clients. In fact so much so that I'm seriously looking into the viability of an aggressive tax practice.

A nice interactive tax illustration of where and how you tax dollars are spent/wasted.

A film/documentary on the IRS, you'll never look at them the same way again.

 kurtster wrote: 
No income tax, and no tax on food in this state for the moment.

 kurtster wrote: 
You mean there's a state where groceries aren't taxed???  Holy cow! 

Here in Illinois, groceries have been taxed for as long as I can remember.  It used to be that magazines weren't taxed for some reason.  Books were taxed, food was taxed, but the state wouldn't dream of taxing a porno mag down at the 7-11. 

Go figure...

 cc_rider wrote: 
I don't see any utility in blaming large groups without naming names.  All that does is pass the buck without solving any problems.

When it comes to robbing Peter to pay Paul, I see Presidents like George H. W. Bush, who said "read my lips: NO NEW TAXES" while his Resolution Trust Corporation was gobbling up taxpayer dollars to pay the debts of the wealthy, and his so-called "peace dividend" was giving massive windfall profits to the "defense" industry.  I see Senators Phil Gramm and Warren Rudman, and their ironically-named "balanced budget" act.  These are the same people who were the head cheerleaders for what GHW Bush infamously dubbed "voodoo economics" back when he was running against Reagan in the primaries.

Back before voodoo economics deregulation turned the "insurance" in the US into a license to steal, it was the insurance industry that was funding many of the most important medical breakthroughs.  That was a fair and equitable system.  Smokers paid higher insurance premiums than non-smokers.  Those in the private sector paid for the things that they had a vested interest in, and it worked quite well.  It still does in some cases, like the insurance industry tests that rate cars for safety.

Today, rising health care costs are the 800 lb. gorilla that President Obama must wrestle in order to keep the US government solvent.  The moral of the story is "if it ain't broke, don't 'fix' it".


Interesting that you should put it in those particular terms.    I don't remember who it was that called the deregulated stock market "a casino for idiots", but it seems equally apropos here too.

Here in Illinois, we used to have this governor named Rod Blagojevich who was the only public official in the entire state who did anything about making sure that state lottery profits made it to public schools, and nowhere else.  Now it's just a matter of time before the Madigan family wrecking crew loots my state's education fund as well.


What about sales tax?  Out-of-staters have to pay that too.  How is a bed tax that different?  Conversely, what about rich people like John McCain, who own homes in multiple states?

The way I understand it, although your permanent residence is in one state, you technically are part of the population of whatever state you happen to be in at any given time.  In practical terms, if you got robbed in New Jersey, you wouldn't call your local police department at home, you would call the police department that was local to where you were at the time.  Ergo, if a state, county and/or municipality in another state must spend money on public services for visitors and locals alike, wouldn't it be right and just to collect certain taxes that go to pay for those services?

Just thinking out loud...

I just don't want to talk about it...

 kurtster wrote: 
ow! that made my teeth hurt.

 katzendogs wrote: 

Like gummy bears wrapped in aluminum foil.

 kurtster wrote: 
What do those taste like?

Well, here in Ohio, the lottery money actually DOES go to the schools.  However, the State contributes less in matching funds keeping net school funding flat.

They are also trying to start taxing grocery items as well.  If it IS in Ohio, it's taxed.  At least our auto tags are reasonable, the max is like $44 per year.