Earned Income Credit is a Great Idea. (Walgreen primitive)

[Kyle Ricky]

I know a lady with three kids that was paid back all she paid in plus another 5k in EIC. That is a nice check.

She also recieves SS benefits for her kids as their bio father was killed. I have no problem with that as the guy owed her thousands in back support and she was raising these kids on her own, he was a dead beat taking truck driving jobs for cash so his wages could not be garnished.

Now I have also heard of others that did not qualify for EIC letting other family memebers claim their children so they could get the refund!!! I overheard one girl say "my sister is going to let me claim one of her kids this year so I can try and buy a car."

I see that happening all the time as well. Some of them don't even tell the person they are claiming them. An old friend of mine and his wife have four kids (his wife's mother is raising two of them, so they hardly ever sees them). They get a check every month because all four are on SSDI for asthma and ADHD (note I said she does, her mother gets nothing for raising the two kids); they also get welfare and food stamps. His mother pays for his mortgage, his two brand new truck payments, and his utilities. Now this guy is 35 years old. He works maybe two weeks out of the year so they can claim an income tax. And come income tax time, they claim all four kids (She refuses to let her mom claim the two that she is raising), and get a couple of thousand back. Her words are she deserves claim them.

When they get the SSDI check, the first thing they buy is a couple of cases of beer and a couple of cartons of cigarettes. They don't buy new clothes, get free food, his mother is paying for practically all of his bills, but hey, they have the money to buy cigarettes and beer. What a life.  

[wasp69]

It rewards the worker?

Yeah, with free money from nanny government, duh!

 

[RobJohnson]

I would like to see EIC end.

[longview]

I would like to see EIC end.

I would, too.  And at one time I was eligible.  It was almost difficult to not get it, but I didn't take it by not claiming all my dependents.  The few I told thought I was nuts, and I got a letter from the IRS saying I'd made a mistake, but I ignored it when I saw what it was.

Now I pay what seems a lot, and resent those who take from me.

[Kyle Ricky]

I always claim '0' on my taxes. And always end up paying in more than I should. I find it is better to over-pay than to under-pay...

[Chris_]

I claim zero on my taxes and still have to send them money every year.

The rent is too damn high.

[Kyle Ricky]

I claim zero on my taxes and still have to send them money every year.

The rent is too damn high.

[wasp69]

What is that?  A Ballchinian?

[Lacarnut]

Next tax season do an experiment, ask your friends and coworkers how much they paid in taxes, and count how many say, "Nothing, I got a refund", and how many will say, "I paid in x and got back y". Bet you more will say they paid nothing.

 

I wish I knew the secret. Being retired, I wind up paying taxes on 85% of my social security. That really pisses me off.

[JohnnyReb]

What is that?  A Ballchinian?

I think you're right.

[DumbAss Tanker]

"Forced savings plan" right, it forces someone else to save the money and then steals it to give it to the EITC recipient. 

Tax REFUNDS are often treated like a forced savings plan by people a little farther up the scale, who leave their tax withholding unnecessarily large so they will never end up owing money and can count on a bump of some size when they do file, money managers advise against it but it's a personal preference.

[BlueStateSaint]

Yup--his name escapes me at the moment, but he ran for mayor of NYC, IIRC, and his party was named "'The Rent Is Too Damned High' Party."

[Kyle Ricky]

Yup--his name escapes me at the moment, but he ran for mayor of NYC, IIRC, and his party was named "'The Rent Is Too Damned High' Party."

Yep .....

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4o-TeMHys0&feature=related[/youtube]

[I_B_Perky]

I always claim '0' on my taxes. And always end up paying in more than I should. I find it is better to over-pay than to under-pay...

I do that too because I never know when my mutual funds are going to put out a large distribution. Haven't had to worry about that the last couple of years. 

One thing that does piss me off is you used to be able to not pay a damn thing throughout the year and pay at the end of the year. Save your withholding and get some interest. They cut that out .. can't remember when, been a fairly long time... and now if you underpay by some amount they penalize you. They got me on that back when they first started it.

Personally I think that tax day should be followed the next day by election day.

[Kyle Ricky]

I do that too because I never know when my mutual funds are going to put out a large distribution. Haven't had to worry about that the last couple of years. 

One thing that does piss me off is you used to be able to not pay a damn thing throughout the year and pay at the end of the year. Save your withholding and get some interest. They cut that out .. can't remember when, been a fairly long time... and now if you underpay by some amount they penalize you. They got me on that back when they first started it.

Personally I think that tax day should be followed the next day by election day.

Yeah, I started doing it when I started my day trading gig. I got slapped one year with having to pay in, since then, I don't claim anyone and write my computer and internet off as tax deductions. I haven't had to pay in since.

[obumazombie]

Day trading is a waltz through a minefield.

[Lacarnut]

Day trading is a waltz through a minefield.

Is that not the truth. Stocks and money markets used to be almost a sure thing prior to 2008. Now it is a crap shoot.

[I_B_Perky]

Is that not the truth. Stocks and money markets used to be almost a sure thing prior to 2008. Now it is a crap shoot.

Depends on whether you are looking at the long time frame or the short time frame. I remember one of my mutual funds, that had a NAV at around 25-30 per share, dropping to 12 per share back in like 2008 or whenever the market tanked. Well I was in it for the long haul, buy shares every month, so I ended up with some shares over that year. Now it is back up in the 25-30 range. Lowered my dollar average cost, so I made some money if I sold today. I think the key here is to buy shares on a regular basis long term and be diversified.

[Kyle Ricky]

Day trading is a waltz through a minefield.

Is that not the truth. Stocks and money markets used to be almost a sure thing prior to 2008. Now it is a crap shoot.

A lot of it is based on what you get into. I usually do short term bonds, options (to hedge) and simple stocks. And yes, diversifying is the way to go. Putting all your eggs in one basket will not work for you. I have had cases where I lost money in one stock but gained in another, so the spread was pretty good; actually to a point where I broke even or made a profit. I am not going to lie and say that I always make a profit. I do lose some money. But, I minimize the risk of loss by being aggressive with the stop loss strageties I use.

One of these days I will make a simple tutorial of what I do, as well some other things I am into (If people are interested), and how I do it. I have methods of minimizing my losses, and how to better your chances of gaining, or just breaking even. I been doing this for 15 years, and have loved every minute of it.

Right now, I am trying to come up with the funds to start a small private equity firm. I been talking to banks for loans, and investors in my area to see what they think. I am hoping to get the start up money here within the next year.

[I_B_Perky]

A lot of it is based on what you get into. I usually do short term bonds, options (to hedge) and simple stocks. And yes, diversifying is the way to go. Putting all your eggs in one basket will not work for you. I have had cases where I lost money in one stock but gained in another, so the spread was pretty good; actually to a point where I broke even or made a profit. I am not going to lie and say that I always make a profit. I do lose some money. But, I minimize the risk of loss by being aggressive with the stop loss strageties I use.

One of these days I will make a simple tutorial of what I do, as well some other things I am into (If people are interested), and how I do it. I have methods of minimizing my losses, and how to better your chances of gaining, or just breaking even. I been doing this for 15 years, and have loved every minute of it.

Right now, I am trying to come up with the funds to start a small private equity firm. I been talking to banks for loans, and investors in my area to see what they think. I am hoping to get the start up money here within the next year.

Well hell KR... I ain't that damn smart to do all that. I am interested in what you do though. Pa Perky always said to find what you good at and like, then do it and either be the best at it or work harder than everyone else.

I did that. Make good pay.

Then he said  whatever you ain't good at, find someone who is and make sure their the best, and learn from them. Even if they ain't the best, no such thing as too much info/knowledge.

Dad played the market all the time. Commodities, stocks, bonds, and a whole bunch of other shit I don't know about. He was really succesful in agri commodities cause he knew farming. Me? I'm too damn chicken to do that shit. That money comes too damn hard for me to take less than calculated risk chances on it.

Good luck on your venture.

[obumazombie]

The trader's market consists of smart money, and fools money, and almost infinite gradations in between. No matter how smart you are, or think you are, there are people smarter or more corrupt than you, that can take your money out of your account and into theirs. Maybe not all at once, but inexorably with few exceptions the flow is in their favor. When I think of corrupt, I think of the former lib/dem/socialist Governor New Jersey of John Corzine. He "lost" 5 billion of his investor's money. Not only will he get off scott free, he will not be fined, and be able to keep all of the compensation he was unfit, and totally unqualified to retain.

[diesel driver]

This mind-game of having income taxes deducted from the paycheck was deliberately invented by someone in the Roosevelt administration during the second world war.

Up until that time, people just did their income tax returns and pay the full tax, which was then due on March 15.

It wasn't that big of a deal, because income taxes at the time were pretty small.

But some New Deal genius figured that by having the income taxes deducted from paychecks little by little over the course of a year, there would be less public resistance if taxes went up.

Well, that's exactly what happened.  And the Democrats since 1942 have been taking advantage of it.

I think it's time we went back to the old way, no deductions over the year, everyone paying the total sum in March.

This would make people more aware of how much is stolen from them.

It's been my argument for years that the fastest, easiest way to bring reform to this government is to eliminate withholding.  Get your full paycheck, and a list of how much you need to send to the fed and state treasuries. 
Make the "worker" write the check for his own damned taxes!

Unfortunately, there aren't enough (if any) legislators with the balls to do it.

[GOBUCKS]

It's been my argument for years that the fastest, easiest way to bring reform to this government is to eliminate withholding.  Get your full paycheck, and a list of how much you need to send to the fed and state treasuries. 
Make the "worker" write the check for his own damned taxes!

Unfortunately, there aren't enough (if any) legislators with the balls to do it.

Nor enough courts to prosecute two-thirds of the population.

In tax threads, it's always amazing how not one DUmpmonkey knows the difference between deductions, exemptions, credits, returns, refunds, withholding, and tax paid. They use all those terms pretty much interchangeably.

Credits and deductions, which are legitimate means to legislate for the best interests of the country, are synonymous in DUmpspeak with "loopholes".