Dear IRS

[hopkinsnhorns 533]

There was a long bit on NPR yesterday about the IRS's inability to actively pursue tax cheats, especially wealthy ones with the means to battle them with legal representation.  Basically, their budgets have been dropping year over year and a lot of their agents have been retiring with no new hires to fill their place.  As such, most of their audits have been targeting the poor who are suspected of abusing the EITC to receive larger tax "refunds" than they are entitled too.  Lots of rural counties across the south, down along the RGV, and Native American reservations.

https://www.marketplace.org/2019/04/15/economy/study-where-irs-audits-more-and-less

Long story short, they don't have the skilled labor necessary to do the more arduous audits of the wealthy.  Rejoice, Shaggy 1%.

[immortal13 4059]

5 figure check mailed yesterday...same shit every year. Fuck those greedy government motherfuckers

Edited April 16, 2019 by immortal13

[Nueces River Rat 5754]

1 hour ago, WBT said:

I have no idea why people opt into that scam

Most mortgage companies give you no choice but to have an escrow if you have a new loan or not enough equity built up in an existing loan.   Some who fall on the other side and could opt out probably don't know there are ways to get out of an escrow.    Really it's to your advantage if you can ASAP due to the fact the mortgage companies can require a buffer for increases in taxes and property insurance which in turn can raise the monthly payment and then they will give back to you when it's annual review time.   Almost the same scam as overwithholding on your paycheck.

[Izhmash 577]

I got way too much back this year.  I fucked up not paying attention to the new regs and paying too much on my quarterly estimates...thats on me.  The QBI deduction for small business caught me by surprise (20% of your QBI).  That really limited my tax exposure in a significant way...add in itemized deductions on top of that!  I had to double check the regs on that one, but it worked out.

I'm a huge fan of TaxAct.  I've used it for years and love the program.

[Nueces River Rat 5754]

1 hour ago, hopkinsnhorns said:

There was a long bit on NPR yesterday about the IRS's inability to actively pursue tax cheats, especially wealthy ones with the means to battle them with legal representation.  Basically, their budgets have been dropping year over year and a lot of their agents have been retiring with no new hires to fill their place.  As such, most of their audits have been targeting the poor who are suspected of abusing the EITC to receive larger tax "refunds" than they are entitled too.  Lots of rural counties across the south, down along the RGV, and Native American reservations.

https://www.marketplace.org/2019/04/15/economy/study-where-irs-audits-more-and-less

Long story short, they don't have the skilled labor necessary to do the more arduous audits of the wealthy.  Rejoice, Shaggy 1%.

 And many of those larger refunds are attributed to tax preparers who are preparing these returns for these low income folks.    Some have even had their own  legal issues when the IRS connected the dots and noticed a trend with a particular tax preparer.   In these poor communities it works out by word of mouth that Joe can get you a big refund and spreads like fire and then the taxpayer which in this case is low income person is left holding the ashes.    This is one area I wouldn't mind seeing the money spent with community organizations and volunteers  to prepare low income individuals forms.  Plus it will get them away from the fast refund loan sharks too.    Either that or the IRS should just contract with the nationally known tax prep firms which have store fronts everywhere like Jackson Hewitt or H&R Block and allow for an extremely low cost filing fee for folks who fall below a certain income level.  

[ChuckNorrisActionJeans 2692]

The new cap on deducting property taxes fucking murdered me. Otherwise, would not have owed even MOAR after paying out the ass. Thanks Trump. 

[BearSchlong 8233]

My marginal tax rate went up 3.5% under Trumps tax plan, so any MAGA who says but my taxes! can go eat a dick. . .

That said, Thanks to the epic fucking that Texas took in the ice storm, we now have another month's extention on income tax returns, June 15 now. Up from the May 17 that was recently announced.

But don't take my word for it. . 

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-announces-tax-relief-for-texas-severe-winter-storm-victims

Edited March 25, 2021 by BearSchlong

[Guest Lobo]

On 4/16/2019 at 4:06 PM, ChuckNorrisActionJeans said:

The new cap on deducting property taxes fucking murdered me. Otherwise, would not have owed even MOAR after paying out the ass. Thanks Trump. 

Yeah, this one is really starting to piss me off and not because I pay more than most people (fuck you progressive judgey types).  It's fucking capped at $10k.  You can't swing a dead cat in Austin and find anybody, no matter the low fixed income level, who pays less than $10k in property taxes.  Yet someone with a comparable income/net worth in a state with state income tax gets far, far more of a deduction off their federal income taxes.  How the fuck do Abbott and Patrick not raise hell about this in D.C.?  Or have our Texas congressional delegation + Cruz/Cornyn raise hell about this?  You guys wanna help with burdensome taxation from D.C., the median home owner in Austin (around $500k with homestead) pays $10k in property taxes already.  That's the 50%ile family, not the fucking McMansion asshole up the hill.  This is so fucked.  

[Wally Fairway 5664]

32 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Yeah, this one is really starting to piss me off and not because I pay more than most people (fuck you progressive judgey types).  It's fucking capped at $10k.  You can't swing a dead cat in Austin and find anybody, no matter the low fixed income level, who pays less than $10k in property taxes.  Yet someone with a comparable income/net worth in a state with state income tax gets far, far more of a deduction off their federal income taxes.  How the fuck do Abbott and Patrick not raise hell about this in D.C.?  Or have our Texas congressional delegation + Cruz/Cornyn raise hell about this?  You guys wanna help with burdensome taxation from D.C., the median home owner in Austin (around $500k with homestead) pays $10k in property taxes already.  That's the 50%ile family, not the fucking McMansion asshole up the hill.  This is so fucked.  

LOL - Like Ted Cruz (or almost any elected fuckwad) gives a flying fuck about anybody except themself and getting reelected 

[Anastasis 23702]

Property tax is fundamentally unamerican. 

[Sbbruin 22082]

2 hours ago, Lobo said:

Yeah, this one is really starting to piss me off and not because I pay more than most people (fuck you progressive judgey types).  It's fucking capped at $10k.  You can't swing a dead cat in Austin and find anybody, no matter the low fixed income level, who pays less than $10k in property taxes.  Yet someone with a comparable income/net worth in a state with state income tax gets far, far more of a deduction off their federal income taxes.  How the fuck do Abbott and Patrick not raise hell about this in D.C.?  Or have our Texas congressional delegation + Cruz/Cornyn raise hell about this?  You guys wanna help with burdensome taxation from D.C., the median home owner in Austin (around $500k with homestead) pays $10k in property taxes already.  That's the 50%ile family, not the fucking McMansion asshole up the hill.  This is so fucked.  

Unless you have protection from increases in prop taxes thanks to Prop 13. So my prop taxes are based on my home purchase almost 20 years ago. 😉

[Austinvines 318]

Property tax is fundamentally unamerican. 

I’m pretty sure the property tax existed before, during, and obviously after the birth of our nation. I don’t know if it is uniquely American, but it is certainly American.

[Anastasis 23702]

27 minutes ago, Austinvines said:

I’m pretty sure the property tax existed before, during, and obviously after the birth of our nation. I don’t know if it is uniquely American, but it is certainly American.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Living on a Treadmill.

[Guest Lobo]

I would like to discuss my property taxes with that woman's sublime buttocks.

[Brew 3049]

18 hours ago, Lobo said:

Yeah, this one is really starting to piss me off and not because I pay more than most people (fuck you progressive judgey types).  It's fucking capped at $10k.  You can't swing a dead cat in Austin and find anybody, no matter the low fixed income level, who pays less than $10k in property taxes.  Yet someone with a comparable income/net worth in a state with state income tax gets far, far more of a deduction off their federal income taxes.  How the fuck do Abbott and Patrick not raise hell about this in D.C.?  Or have our Texas congressional delegation + Cruz/Cornyn raise hell about this?  You guys wanna help with burdensome taxation from D.C., the median home owner in Austin (around $500k with homestead) pays $10k in property taxes already.  That's the 50%ile family, not the fucking McMansion asshole up the hill.  This is so fucked.  

You do realize State And Local Taxes includes state income taxes also, right? You are capped at $10k on all state and local taxes. 

[TwiceHorn 31994]

On the one hand, I am in favor of eliminating as many deductions, credits, etc. as possible so that we move to that aspect of a flat tax (not flat rates, but flat/income level).

On the other, the state/local tax deduction seems to be among the most fundamentally fair deductions that exists, in principle.  I realize that in operation it probably tends to favor the wealthy.

[Wally Fairway 5664]

16 hours ago, Anastasis said:

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Living on a Treadmill.

Blah, blah, blah.......yowza! nice ass

[Guest Lobo]

1 hour ago, Brew said:

You do realize State And Local Taxes includes state income taxes also, right? You are capped at $10k on all state and local taxes. 

Yeah I know that.  I was being in articulate, as usual.  My frustration was how much "easier" it is for a Texan to hit $10k in property taxes than a New York renter in Buffalo or Long Island to hit $10k in state income taxes.  If they were both making $100k, the cap is far more regressive to the Texan than to the New Yorker.  

[Brew 3049]

58 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Yeah I know that.  I was being in articulate, as usual.  My frustration was how much "easier" it is for a Texan to hit $10k in property taxes than a New York renter in Buffalo or Long Island to hit $10k in state income taxes.  If they were both making $100k, the cap is far more regressive to the Texan than to the New Yorker.  

The combined income tax for a NYC resident is variable, but anyone making $100k is going to be at a roughly 9% tax rate and probably 7% effective. That’s equivalent to what, paying property tax on a $500k house in Austin. That doesn’t even take into account the sales tax difference between the two.

[orangecat92 306]

I am on a hit list for the IRS.  All because of a couple of smart moves to relate: 

1. I found the MCC one year while doing my taxes living in an apartment.  The Mortgage Credit Certificate gave us a 40% per year tax credit.  That is 40% of the interest on the mortgage was a credit on the income taxes, up to a maximum of $2000 per year.  So, in 15 years, we benefited to the tune of about $30,000 in tax credits. 

2. I worked for the state of Texas years ago, from 86-92, pulled the ERS money out when I left, rolled into an IRA.  Made big bucks in the roaring 90s in the IRA, then watched it all crash down and build back up until about 2012, when I decided to buy back my time with IRA money.  Good decision, because the time will go with my time as a teacher to build up a pension.  I knew before I did this the IRS would have a problem, so I called them, made sure I was executing the buy correctly, asked the IRS agent's name and employee number, and sent myself an email with the info. Sure enough! About 8 months later, got a letter asking me to explain the purchase of service credit, I found the email, filled out the form in about 30 minutes or less, sent it off, bam! They waived the white flag.  

I get a letter from the IRS about once every other year. It's not always bad news.  Last year they wrote me to tell me they owed me interest on my refund because they took so long to process my return, thus more income for me.  This year, they wrote asking me to use E-file instead of my method, and asked me where I got that $250 deduction.-educational expenses.  Yes, they are concerned about a $250 deduction because a high percentage of teachers at my school received a letter from the IRS, presumably because of the same issue.  

I find it more entertaining than anything, that somebody is earning his/her brownie points with their boss by taking on Orangecat every other year. 

 

[52-80 19373]

taxes are a means of incentive and an expression of values.  america values ultra wealthy people and hates the working

[deadshank 24654]

I had an employee move on to browner pastures.  At the time of her move, she was vested in the profit sharing plan and I was obliged to fund her portion to her.   
 

The check payment was cut from the PSP investment account and sent to her.  I logged on to the EFTPS and paid the associated withholding taxes due the IRS. 

Lo and behoe, 2 years later the IRS comes calling saying they got stiffed. I log onto the EFTPS site, download the payment history and send it to the IRS.  They reply that they can’t read the printed out payment record. Huh?  It’s clear as day.  They request I send another legible copy or a copy of the check used to pay the taxes.  Uh, isn’t the purposes of the EFTPS to avoids checks and check float?  
 

Now I bust my banker’s balls by rousting him up from a card game in the men’s locker room down at the golf club and make him go to work.  Print me out all of the EFTPS payment history for that the tax ID associated with the PSP.  I want genuine bank records with the bank name plastered all over it.  As usual, he comes through and I send off a small binder-sized record of payments

IRS writes back that they will investigate and get back to me.  
 

That’s all I got.   
 

 

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

12 hours ago, orangecat92 said:

  Yes, they are concerned about a $250 deduction because a high percentage of teachers at my school received a letter

I for one an glad the irs is going after you dirty tax fraudsters .  They need to leave poor hedge funds, politicians and multinational corporations alone!!

[Nice Guy Eddie 13710]

On 3/27/2021 at 4:08 PM, Lobo said:

Yeah, this one is really starting to piss me off and not because I pay more than most people (fuck you progressive judgey types).  It's fucking capped at $10k.  You can't swing a dead cat in Austin and find anybody, no matter the low fixed income level, who pays less than $10k in property taxes.  Yet someone with a comparable income/net worth in a state with state income tax gets far, far more of a deduction off their federal income taxes.  How the fuck do Abbott and Patrick not raise hell about this in D.C.?  Or have our Texas congressional delegation + Cruz/Cornyn raise hell about this?  You guys wanna help with burdensome taxation from D.C., the median home owner in Austin (around $500k with homestead) pays $10k in property taxes already.  That's the 50%ile family, not the fucking McMansion asshole up the hill.  This is so fucked.  

I don't want to derail this into politics but it was odd at the time that our senators and reps knew this would impact many Texans but they didn't publicly say a word about it.

I recall that the media did highlight that higher income individuals in state income states like CA and NY would see the biggest impact by the cap. The stories mentioned that higher value homeowners in Texas and other property tax states would feel this pain as well. We can assume that Cruz and Cornyn couldn't publicly fight the "tax break" for all hard working Americans at the time. 

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

Am I poor if I’ve never in my life been able to deduct more than the standard deduction?  One year we had mortgage interest, property taxes, pmi, estimated sales tax, sales tax on a car, and several thousand in medical bills and even then were still like $50 under the standard deduction.  

[Nueces River Rat 5754]

44 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I don't want to derail this into politics but it was odd at the time that our senators and reps knew this would impact many Texans but they didn't publicly say a word about it.

I recall that the media did highlight that higher income individuals in state income states like CA and NY would see the biggest impact by the cap. The stories mentioned that higher value homeowners in Texas and other property tax states would feel this pain as well. We can assume that Cruz and Cornyn couldn't publicly fight the "tax break" for all hard working Americans at the time. 

I think many more Texans have now achieved this status since 2017 when the law was passed because of the insanity called the Texas real estate market, especially from 2019 to present (wait until next year's tax season for sure).   If it really is a pressing issue in Washington right now, CA and NY have their politicians in the majority to get this pushed through, even through tacking it on to  some sort of obscure amendment like a lot stuff gets done in Washington.  Of course that's if a large segment of their constituents are demanding a change back or a higher cap.

[Viper 12212]

On 3/27/2021 at 4:08 PM, Lobo said:

Yeah, this one is really starting to piss me off and not because I pay more than most people (fuck you progressive judgey types).  It's fucking capped at $10k.  You can't swing a dead cat in Austin and find anybody, no matter the low fixed income level, who pays less than $10k in property taxes.  Yet someone with a comparable income/net worth in a state with state income tax gets far, far more of a deduction off their federal income taxes.  How the fuck do Abbott and Patrick not raise hell about this in D.C.?  Or have our Texas congressional delegation + Cruz/Cornyn raise hell about this?  You guys wanna help with burdensome taxation from D.C., the median home owner in Austin (around $500k with homestead) pays $10k in property taxes already.  That's the 50%ile family, not the fucking McMansion asshole up the hill.  This is so fucked.  

 

1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I don't want to derail this into politics but it was odd at the time that our senators and reps knew this would impact many Texans but they didn't publicly say a word about it.

I recall that the media did highlight that higher income individuals in state income states like CA and NY would see the biggest impact by the cap. The stories mentioned that higher value homeowners in Texas and other property tax states would feel this pain as well. We can assume that Cruz and Cornyn couldn't publicly fight the "tax break" for all hard working Americans at the time. 

You're wondering why Republican federal politicians weren't concerned with the state and local tax burdens rich liberal Austinites would be hit with?

[Nice Guy Eddie 13710]

16 minutes ago, Viper said:

 

You're wondering why Republican federal politicians weren't concerned with the state and local tax burdens rich liberal Austinites would be hit with?

I understand your point, but this tax law impacts more Dallas and Houston residents with expensive property.

[orangecat92 306]

On 4/7/2021 at 6:40 AM, dingleberryswitzer said:

Am I poor if I’ve never in my life been able to deduct more than the standard deduction?  One year we had mortgage interest, property taxes, pmi, estimated sales tax, sales tax on a car, and several thousand in medical bills and even then were still like $50 under the standard deduction.  

I don't know, but here is a strategy I employed that helped my tax situation.  I did not escrow my property taxes.  I would choose a year in which I wanted to hit more than the standard deduction and that year I would pay property taxes in both January and December of the same calendar year.  Remember, even though the tax man says the property taxes are due Dec. 31, there is no late penalty until Feb. 1.  So, you simply double up paying property taxes every other year, and just like that you have plenty of deductions in that year.  

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

Yea I’ve heard of that.  I guess I’ll see how things change with the tax code.  Trump changed the standard deduction to like 24k.  

[gsoda3 3358]

with all of the deadlines moved out this year (especially for us in texas) does anyone know what the final deadline for extensions is?

[markstanco 12773]

On 3/27/2021 at 6:08 PM, Anastasis said:

Property tax is fundamentally unamerican. 

For those who think they "own" property, FAAFO by not paying taxes.  

You are leasing it. 

[orangecat92 306]

5 hours ago, markstanco said:

For those who think they "own" property, FAAFO by not paying taxes.  

You are leasing it. 

yes, but didn't the state pass a law that increased the homestead exemption to 30k?  When I look at realtor.com and see real estate below 30k, I expect to see $0 for their estimate of property taxes and I don't.  Maybe realtor.com assumes people who own that property are always investors? 

[Brew 3049]

10 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

with all of the deadlines moved out this year (especially for us in texas) does anyone know what the final deadline for extensions is?

They typically do not extend the extended deadline. I would think it’s still 10/15, but I have not looked.