07:49 – It’s that time again. Time to start thinking about doing tax returns. That means I’ll be in a bad mood for the next couple of weeks. I’ll accumulate forms and get the paperwork together this week and work on the taxes this coming weekend.
Work on the forensics book continues, as does work on assembling a new batch of chemistry kits.
Tax returns. In addition to my annual return, which is always as much fun as having a tooth drilled, I filled out no less than *six* additional tax returns this year. I am currently feeling even more love than usual for the US tax system.
I’ll tell the rest of the story in a few weeks…
Filed our tax return yesterday using efile and already got an email from TurboTax that the Feds accepted it. Maybe Cringley’s article is total bunk:
http://www.cringely.com/2012/03/the-30-billion-hack/
My wife takes care of most of our taxes and government-mandated business busy-work. She’s not particularly good at it and makes a lot of careless mistakes, but she’s not debilitated by the Red Curtain of Blood every time. And while I personally am not opposed to a rash of deaths among government paper-pushers, each more horrible than the last, we’re still in that awkward stage.
Filed my federal taxes the middle of February. Had the money in my account 10 days later. EFile is the way to go if you have money coming back. If you owe money use paper and send the check in the last possible day. I owe the state of TN $121.00 even though they have “no income tax”. However, they tax dividends and interest which primarily affects those on retirement. I will not send that check until April 17.
I always file for the longest extension possible. If I owe money, I make sure that is paid by the April deadline. I always find something deductible that I missed. I’ve never been audited.
Anybody been audited here? Personal or business.
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/04/02/paul-russell-choking-by-candlelight-during-earth-hour/
It’s a very sad tale of feel-good-ism. It’s a sad tale because the moron lived.
Income tax returns are due here on 31st October of each year. I loath doing them, even though I usually get around $600 back. I usually have to apply for an extension of time to lodge because I leave it till the last minute and then can’t find half the paperwork I need.
A British friend said in the early Nineties that she didn’t have to file a return, as she was just a wage slave and somehow it was all taken care of automatically. I envied her.
I remember that about working in the UK – I never filed a return. What was withheld from your salary was it, no return necessary. Where’s the fun for Congress, if they can’t make special rules and exceptions all over the place?
That’s what I dislike second-most about the US system – it’s just slightly different every year. Go read publication 29432, fill out the worksheet, then go read publication XYZ and fill out the next worksheet. You can’t reliably copy from last year, because some little detail somewhere will have changed.
What I dislike most is the fact that the US claims the right to tax me, even though I haven’t lived or worked there for 20 years or so, and even though I am fully taxed where I *do* live and work. No other developed country does this.
Anybody been audited here? Personal or business.
Yes, I have. Got into an argument with the tax agent about reporting dividends and how they should be reported. Appealed her decision to the next level and I was found to be correct. Got audited for the next three years but only by mail. Any small detail on the return that could be questioned was questioned and I was requested to provide supporting documentation. I personally think the agent was getting even with me because she was wrong and I was right.
That was pre Turbo Tax. Since using that program I have never had anything questioned.
In 1992 I got into a battle with the IRS and my mortgage company for a tax return in 1988. Mortgage company reported interest I paid them on a 1099 instead of a 1098. IRS said I owed some large some of money. Duh, I claimed a deduction instead of what the IRS thought was income which was not reported. A threat of a lawsuit finally got the mortgage company to create the situation. Even then the IRS stated “We will finally accept your return but we can revisit the return and change our findings.”.
Then in 2004 I get a notice from the IRS that I owe $11K in taxes for 2001. If I did not pay my house was being sold at auction in one week to satisfy the taxes. I had to hussle to the IRS office to stop the sale. The name and address was correct but the IRS had the wrong SSN. Took me an hour to convince the idiot at the local office they had the wrong person. I demanded a letter from the IRS that their notice was a mistake but never received such a letter.
Someone said I should have let the IRS sell the house. Then I would be able to go after the IRS for illegal property seizure and collect significant damages. Legally it might have been possible but I don’t think the misery would have been worth it.
Last year I got a notice from the IRS saying that I had too much FICA held from my paychecks. I questioned why they were saying that as I clearly did not. Demanded they provide documention to substantiate their claim. The IRS wrote back and said they had made a mistake.
So on three different occassions the IRS has made mistakes that could have proven costly. Their response has been oops, but we might still come after you. Odd they don’t get assessed penalties. The damn tax code is so complicated that no one really understands the entire code, not even the IRS.
mortgage company to correct the situation
Well, to be fair, the US should tax every other country in the world. We sure spend enough for their collective benefit. As just one fairly minor example, US citizens pay nearly the full cost of drug development for the whole planet. Even first-world countries like Canada and those of western Europe extort big pharma. Nearly all of the cost of clinical trials is paid for, directly and indirectly, by US citizens. Those other countries then insist that the drug companies sell them the newly-developed drugs at what amounts to production cost. The implicit (and sometimes explicit) threat is that if the drug companies don’t sell them drugs at cost, they’ll simply ignore the patents and produce the drugs themselves without paying royalties. Nearly all countries do this, including Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Sweden and the rest of western Europe, Australia and New Zealand, etc. Basically, any country that has socialized medicine. That’s why US citizens pay so much more for pharmaceuticals than citizens of other countries. Then there’s more than half a century of the US paying the defense costs of most of western Europe, South Korea, Japan, etc. etc. Let’s not even get started on that.
Aarrrgh! Computer advanced the time by one hour at some point over the weekend — even though it says it is on Eastern Daylight Time. In actual fact it was on EDT plus one hour. A forced manual reset with D4 said I was off by 5 seconds, but not by one hour and 5 seconds. I forced the hour back one hour by manual entry. We’ll see if it holds. Weekend past was not even the time change for Europe, so that could not be the reason.
This stuff is beyond frustrating, because it changes the time stamps on my podcasts, then when I compare them to what is on the iPod with Xplorer^2, it shows that nothing matches, and everything needs to be transferred. I just passed the point where I got enough weeks that I could quickly see what needed to be transferred without examining every file individually. Now I will have to do that all over again. Dirty ratsafrats.
My lawyer dad indicated to me long, long ago that one should never deal with the IRS directly. Either hire a CPA or lawyer to be the middle-man — it always goes much better. My dad was an accountant himself, and his first job out of college was as cost-accountant for Perfect Circle piston rings in nearby Hagerstown. He was always proud of his math skills, and did his own taxes. But when he later owned his own business, an out-of-control tax agent (they were rewarded by bonuses for collections back then) audited him and claimed he owed over $20,000 RIGHT NOW. Dad went straight to the state’s most respected CPA firm, who were able to get most, but not all the money back. CPA’s and lawyers get respect from the IRS that you and I cannot get, because judges very seldom side with the IRS over a CPA or lawyer, so the IRS does not waste time fighting them; they fight you and me. The other advantage of having third party representation and not attending the audits yourself, is that, if the IRS asks a tough question, your representative can honestly say that s/he will have to contact you to find out the answer. That gives plenty of time to address the situation and come up with a well-grounded answer.
I was audited once just after getting married. Went directly to the CPA noted above, and it was handled with no pain on my part (except the CPA fee) and I won. In fact, the so-called “problem” was not one that was supposed to even prompt an audit.
If you are into R&B or “soul” oldies, one of the Clear Channel stations in Philly has switched formats to that.
http://www.iheart.com/#/live/3405/?autoplay=true
They definitely do not do as good a job as the original R&B stations when those tunes were first popular, but there are very, very few stations with this format. This station is 100% canned, and the DJ’s who are voice-tracking the shows are particularly untalented. Occasional interesting music, though.
I had always heard that audits start out as voluntary and they really only force the issue when they think there’s big money to be made. A realtor friend of mine received an audit notice from the IRS and he told them to piss off. They said if he didn’t voluntarily submit to an audit that they could take it to court and force him to. He told them he’d see them in court. He never heard from them again. That was around 2001.
US citizens pay nearly the full cost of drug development for the whole planet. Even first-world countries like Canada and those of western Europe extort big pharma. Nearly all of the cost of clinical trials is paid for, directly and indirectly, by US citizens.
Come on, that is the stereotypical “US is the world” kind of viewpoint. Switzerland is the home to a couple of pharma companies, and they do piles of research and clinical trials here. US pharma companies spend around $67 billion on research. Swiss pharma companies spend around $25 billion on research. I couldn’t find any sort of worldwide overview, but if just the Swiss companies spend 40% of what American companies do on research, then the US is hardly subsidizing the world.
Re defense costs: yes, during the cold war, the US played a very important role. Once can discuss whether this was adequately compensated. That has been over for more than 20 years! It’s past time to close up the foreign bases and go home. Sure, the local towns will protest, but only the local towns living off the bases. Really, it is the US government that doesn’t want to bring the military home. Why? Presumably for the same reasons that the US attacked Iraq, Libya, and is now rattling sabres at Iran.
I don’t think Bob’s point was that the US does all the pharmaceutical invention. I think his point was the US is the market that every company sells to to recoup the costs of it’s investment in research and development.
No, it’s the country that doesn’t give a flying fuck about it’s own citizens, and allows Big Pharma to rape and plunder. Just check out the lobbying they do in DC.
Let them make their money off of Viagra and Cialis.
The United States of America, my country, is the greatest country on the planet. I read it on the internet.
And some of it is even true…
Well, I differentiate between the US and the US government. The government sucks, although not as much as many governments. The country itself is its people and its ethos, which hasn’t changed significantly despite all the superficial changes. It started with Tom Jefferson, and the US (the country, not the government) remains the great shining hope for humanity.
It is significant that many people who detest the US government and its actions like and admire most Americans that they meet.
That would describe me pretty well. I like the US part, just not the government part.
And it’s not just your government I hate. I hate mine, too! There are few I don’t hate. At best I am ambivalent about a few. Liechtenstein, for instance, but I’m willing to bet that is ignorance on my part. I just don’t know enough about Liechtenstein to hate them.
Last country in Europe to give women the right to vote.
I saw that on Jeopardy, so I know it’s true.
I also hate the Canadian government. But some of its citizens are alright (I have to say that as our children hold dual citizenship.)
What our host said about our country and our State holds true: I am pretty sure both of us would love to slice and dice this Leviathan down to absolute minimum ASAP. It wreaks havoc across the globe and treats its own citizens like serfs or kulaks, subject to its craziest whims and innovations and freedom-destroying novelties. But individual Americans, as Bob says, generally come across OK around the world and when furriners, like Canadians and Aussies, visit here. Maybe even Germans.
But unfortunately, most Americans have also subsumed the serf/kulak mentality and are as dumb as a bag of hammers when it comes to things that really matter, like their own liberty and what their State does in their name and with their money and with their children. They need to wake up, and soon.
Chuck wrote: “Last country in Europe to give women the right to vote.”
Don’t know if that’s a tipping point for me, in fact they may become the first country’s government I could like. IMHO far too many people get to vote.
RBT wrote:
“It is significant that many people who detest the US government and its actions like and admire most Americans that they meet.”
Apart from the beggars outside the Smithsonian Metro station in DC I didn’t meet an American I didn’t like while I was there. Well, there was one DC bus driver who was a bit rude, but overall I thought most Yanks were nearly as nice as Australians.
Nearly.
In many ways I detest the US government, but individual Americans are generally quite likeable, even though they’re under the misapprehension that theirs is the best country in the world. Many years ago a cow-orker said that “Americans are best in their own country.” That’s true but almost all of the Yanks I’ve met in Australia and third countries are quite nice too.
Bill wrote:
“IMHO far too many people get to vote.”
Yeah, I’m with Liechtenstein on this. Why do they need the vote at all?
My state was one of the first to give the fair sex the vote, in 1894, and the first in the world to let them become members of parliament. I know it’s true because I read it in Wikipedia… 🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Australia#Government
And here, perhaps shockingly, I agree with BGrigg; way too many people have the right to vote and way too many who don’t, should be voting. I would institute means/knowledge tests forthwith accordingly, and a giant middle finger to the inevitable accusations of racism, xenophobia, nativism, fascism, etc., etc. They can all piss up a rope. If a citizen (and that means more testing as far as I am concerned, and retroactive for millions here, too) can’t express the most basic understanding of American history and government, even after we offer classes and tutoring in it free of charge, then send them back they came from. And I fully realize that millions can’t even do that, tens of millions, in fact, and their citizenship ought to be reduced to a lesser status accordingly.
This USED to be the best country in the world, but things have gone rather downhill in my lifetime, and much of that experience is available in Patrick Buchanan’s latest book.
I have travelled quite a bit in my life (ready to stop that now), and found people everywhere to be decent and nice–even New Englanders. Troublemakers slip in everywhere, but usually people in the places I have been, are agreeable folk and want pretty much the same things out of life, the world over.
Cannot agree at all with this crap that the US is somehow magically blessed as the best place on the planet. Heard that all my life, but had close relatives from other places (including Canada), which gave me reason to question it at a very early age; and I can personally attest that life in the US is nowhere near as enjoyable as my life has been in other places. Now I never maintained that before I lived elsewhere, and I think anyone who maintains that ‘US is best’ without at least several years living somewhere else, is not qualified to draw a conclusion.
I agree with an old college friend, that it is MY generation that has made life miserable in the US. Our parents fought wars solely for the benevolent sake of other people, and afterwards, saw to it that we had an economy with a job and house for everyone, gave me an unsurpassed education, and created a climate where I could achieve in my chosen field. What did MY generation do? It dismantled company after company; purposely shipped abroad practically every manufacturing job that gave us occupation and homes, solely so big execs could be rewarded with more money than they could ever spend in a lifetime, while increasing unemployment and destroying the joy of working in good companies; TOTALLY and COMPLETELY screwed up the educational system; killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of young boys in wars for NO DAMNED GOOD REASON at all (certainly not for any benevolent reason); and have left us vulnerable on all fronts.
Afghanistan is the fourth poorest country in the world! What on EARTH are we doing there? (Besides setting up a situation that allows a soldier to kill and maim a dozen, including babies?) Al Queda is in Pakistan. Even Russia–who has FAR more reason to interfere with Afghanistan–got out decades ago.
Meanwhile, every Congress and every President is worse than the previous. Spread the suffering is the watchword.
Give me a little patch in the south of France or else along the northern border of Italy with Switzerland, where the climate is unbeatable with no tornadoes or ill weather, the food is heavenly, the wine is unsurpassable, the people are friendly, I don’t have to own an unaffordable car, and I will live in peace, safe in the knowledge that if anything significant happens there, the US will always be stupid enough to go there and rescue everyone with their crazy omnipotence complex. Then I will leave the rest of you to cope with no public transportation infrastructure, while energy prices skyrocket–as they have stood by doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for decades now–while NOBODY IN THE US does a damned thing about it, except let it happen.
The US is FAR from a desirable place today, and the people appear to be too greedy and irresponsible to do anything about it. Nice people that they are.
Actually Chuck, it was our parents generation and the one before that got us into these wars. Lyndon Johnson, born 1908, Al Dunlap, b 1937, etc. Yeah, our generation have been greedy and indolent, but we’re mainly responsible in that we let these old codgers get away with what they did.
Regarding northern Italy, I wasn’t greatly impressed. Went there in 1995 on a coach tour of (mainly) Switzerland and Austria, where everything looked and worked perfectly. The moment we crossed into far northern Italy the quality of the roads and buildings fell quite dramatically. The main railway station in the first largish town we entered was a decrepit looking building with a rusty galvanized iron roof. A friend with an Italian wife says they will spend oodles of money buying the latest fashion but don’t take care of their infrastructure. I’d like to live somewhere in coastal France, Spain or Portugal if I was to live in Europe.
I think it doesn’t make sense to keep a lot of the blue collar jobs that the US used to have. I mean, there’s no way people in the US or Australia can make shirts as well and cheaply as India, Indonesia, China or Fiji. It pays to let countries specialize in what they are good at. Sure, I loathe the people who outsource to overseas and then pay themselves fat bonuses, while leaving their former employees out in the cold. Some Western jobs should never go overseas but some of the low tech work can and should. That way they can earn enough foreign exchange to buy our stuff.
RBT: I differentiate between the US and the US government. The government sucks, although not as much as many governments. The country itself is its people and its ethos…
Yes, absolutely. I wish more people made this distinction. It has taken two centuries for successive generations of power-hungry nitwits to pervert the founding principles into the government we have today.
It’s a shame government doesn’t come supplied with a “reset” button…
“… and the people appear to be too greedy and irresponsible to do anything about it.”
True, that; a lot of people are exactly that way and Lord Mammon tends to rule more and more by the day here, at all levels. But many folks are also cowed, and fearful, and have been taught to be that way by our lords temporal and the whole cultural zeitgeist. If the shit ever really hits the fan hard in this country and we go back to a situation like the Great Depression or Germany between the wars, most people will be, maybe not overjoyed, but certainly OK with a totalitarian regime that maintains order, faced with the alternative.
But let us hope it never gets that bad here, as the general tendency of Americans when they remember themselves is to resist this kind of thing.
I concluded in 1999 that the US had begun a downward spiral that cannot be stopped. I see nothing happening to change that perspective. There may be enough brakes to slow it down from time to time, but there is no reverse gear to back out of it.
I completely disagree that it was okay to ship blue collar jobs out of the country. First of all, people were already trained in those jobs in the US and producing far higher quality goods than we have gotten from places like China–and those US-manufactured goods sold for reasonable prices. Foreign countries could NOT produce those goods better, and the only reason they produce them cheaper, is that the factories are sweatboxes often using child labor–as the Nike’s and Reboxes of the world so often show us, and then apologize insincerely while the top execs take their fortunes from stock options and laugh all the way to the bank. Even Intel admits that its foray into Malaysia was a disaster, until they moved practically an entire US staff there to shadow nearly every operation. And that is generally what every decent manufacturer doing business in China has said: you have to have your own QC people, from your own country, located in China to oversee operations, and even then there is terrific waste of materiel from having to discard so many deficient products.
And what, I ask, are those US workers, thrown to the unemployment roles doing now? Sucking off the American dole, of course.
As far as Vietnam, that was the CIA’s war, not Johnson’s, and the people at the CIA giving advice to the Prez and Congress were closer to my generation, not my parents’.
The CIA had blood on its hands at the end too. It and the ambassador, Graham Martin, told Washington (and in particular Kissinger) just what it wanted to hear, leading many Vietnamese who’d helped the Americans to the tender mercies of the North Vietnamese communists. They also left behind a significant amount of South Vietnamese gold. Decent Interval by former CIA operative Frank Snepp, has the gory details.
I didn’t have a high opinion of Christopher Hitchens’ later works but his 2001 book The Trial of Henry Kissinger was spot on. Kissinger should have got 200 years at Guantanamo Bay.