$14.5 B Tax Refunds Issued By "error"

That reminds me, I haven't been on in over a month, I guess I should fire up my VMs and give them some updates.

I should feel bad about spending so much on a game I barely play, but as I don't really spend much on myself outside of food, "meh."

lol

If it'll force good drops I'll call it SeeksMithranWhorehouse.

note: not a mithra.

Onnn topic:

Working retail and fast food DOES blow, it blows so hard one might think they're in the middle of an F-5 raging tornado topped off with a hurricane. That's an entirely different subject, though, and I'll leave that there for the moment.

Someone has to do it. It isn't just high school kids. Sometimes that's what you have to settle for to live... and when you're in that hamster wheel of work-sleep-work-sleep you have precious little time to do anything else that may help you get out of said wheel.

If Running into hurricanes paid minimum wage and required no degree I think more people would prefer that Job.

Yeah, it would be more interesting to chase hurricanes for minimum wage, even if I had to go into one.

I've survived one already, bring it.

"Once there was a time Man could die a glorious death, now he wimpers softly, his last breath, as his aged fingers lose their grip on this life."

Fat, stupid, old, weak.
Buy this lard meal.
Buy this pill to combat the lard meal.
Buy this and that to combat the depression caused by the pills.

All going according to plan.

From that coffee you're drinking in the morn to the pill you pop at night.

Death and Taxes, but hey at least Death is a bit more fair.

you can't find a permanent solution, economy isn't static

in europe they have the idea of giving 5k€ to everyone..... this will help many people..... people could get rid of their debts...... homeless people could pay the risk money for getting a home..... people could stop searching trash cans for food, some human dignity being restored.... and many many other things.....

i'm certain that throwing money at people can solve a couple problems, even if it's just temporary.... throwing money at people periodically might be a permanent solution.

Strippers would beg to differ !

As would countless celebs who have settled cases before they ever went to trial.

If someone would pay me to take my clothes off I would gladly oblige.

Don't want to offend any strippers or soon to be strippers out there.

I prefer to stuff money rather than throw. I find throwing money at naked women to be borderline objectifying them.

shut up and get back on XI, give me a reason to hop on.

oh, you're still playing :D
and no, i don't comeback, sadly.

I would also... but doubt anyone could handle all this. Lol

Nothing wrong with one of the oldest proffesion in history. Also Tips are hard to tax if received via dollar showers, make it rain!

Here and there, I usually do a few months of hardcore-mediocre playing, then take a hiatus for a few then rinse and repeat.

My last break was much longer than usual, then came back and finished my Mjollnir, and now I'm being lazy about farming the rest of the gil I need for Umbrals as the group I went with stopped fighting ADL.

For EITC/ACTC, there is a permanent solution in place when it was first drafted. Even when it was amended in 1986, it was updated to reflect the current situation.

It didn't need to be changed from the 1986 version at all, it wasn't a big problem at the time. Now that they changed it from a larger and more broad non-refundable credit to a much smaller and "restrictive" refundable credit, it created a whole new slew of problems, mainly from the ability to defraud the federal government easily.

For what purpose did it honestly serve to change it in 2009? Maybe you should ask yourself who was controlling the House, Senate, and White House at the time, and you will get your underlying answer...

Good for them. It won't solve anything, but good for EU for doing that.

Unless, of course, you want to tell us how an incredibly short-term solution is supposed to fix the long-term issue. Please do, we could always go for a good laugh.

No, what that would do is create a system where the public will trade away their freedom and voice for a few scraps of food and/or a very small amount of cash. That is paramount to (sorry Ramyrez) selling your soul to the devil for $1.

It does absolutely nothing to the economy as a whole, and forces the general public to be at the mercy of the government (federal or otherwise).

From reading that, now I wondered why they sent me an audit for 2012. On another note, I enjoyed reading this thread in the morning.

I personally think it boils down to whether these 'frauds' are people who are poor and turn into criminal or they just get caught more often compare to the one with actual $$$ to hire accountants and lawyers to hide it for them?

Some FFXI Mithra in Bastok told me that it's hard to break into rich houses because of the security but the poor houses have nothing to steal. I guess it's kinda hard to tax the rich dudes with their army of accountants and lawyers while the poor people actually need those 'frauds' or returns or support (whatever you call it) to survive and not turn into real criminals.

This is a common misconception that only the blatantly ignorant likes to use as an argument.

Explain to us how people hire me to hide income from the government as to avoid paying income taxes, and I will show you how stupid your "idea" really is.

Tax evasion is a pretty serious charge. Consider that of all the illegal things Al Capone did, that is the one that landed him in jail. Admittedly, there was an "evidence" issue on more heinous crimes, but still. People like to poopoo the fact that "all" the government could get him on was tax evasion, but it was still enough all on its own to put him in Alcatraz.

Accountants don't stay in business by engaging in shadowy business practices and hiding income. They're not hiding a damn thing. They're working within the framework that the government has provided.

The onus is upon lawmakers to close loopholes and adjust tax policies that allow for corporations (and individuals with huge net worth, for that matter) to skirt paying their fair share to the American public that supports them.

Now, while KN and I may disagree on whether or not that last part is appropriate or necessary, the bottom line is that the government gives people plenty of wiggle room within the existing law, and it's right there on the books for anyone to find out if they've the sufficient brainpower and impetus to wrap their heads around it.

Why break the law when you can achieve the same effect quite legally?

You'll always have some that cook the books, and some of them do get caught. Now the "evidence" of that being the "norm" ? is probably all in hollywood.

Well yeah. But that's like saying some people drive without car insurance and some get caught.

But most of us are insured.

And to speak to that analogy, the percentage of drivers on the road without insurance is probably significantly higher than the number of big businesses/moneyholders who are actually cheating on their taxes.

probably

how about a tl;dr

it exists, nowhere near in the realm of what's asserted, but it does happen.

happy?

Only the poor have to resort to crime in order to "steal" money. Plenty of legal ways to milk money from the government, and pay insignificant amounts of tax on the money made.

Eh. You say only the poor, I say "only the poor and/or stupid".

I'm sure there are people out there making lots of money and running the risk of cooking the books instead of just getting a good accountant and making the system work for them.

But that's still the point; there aren't nearly as many of them breaking the law as much as playing it for all it's worth.

ftfy

If you fix something it is usually improved not damaged.

Greed has nothing to do with it, this is not a moral commentary. It is the facts, people who are poor if they want to take money away from the government/ others via "unfair" means would 99% of the time have to resort to crime.

A rich person has the resources to do the same without breaking any laws. Hell even insider trading is not necessary.

I make minimum wage and don't get full time and I still somehow survive without stealing. Being "poor" has nothing to do with what you said. "Poor" people are not more prone to stealing, infact the biggest thieves out there are already filthy rich. Our country is not in the state it is in because of poor people stealing money.

Sorry King but the official Republican line is that you can solve every problem by throwing more money at the wealthy.

That's not what he's saying at all.

What he's saying is that if you want to somehow pay fewer taxes and you're poor, your only real option is to cheat on your taxes and hope you don't get caught because you don't have all the workarounds, deductions, special funds, overseas accounts, etc. to which the rich have access.

He's not saying all poor people steal, or that being poor makes you prone to stealing; he's saying that if you're poor and inclined to get dodgy, your options are few and far between, and most of them are illegal.

This just sums up my point actually. Accountants and lawyers help you find the loopholes and 'wiggle' rooms that average Joes didn't even know existed. Poor sobs have to use the illegal ways to get their cuts while the rich folks get their accountants to find the 'legal' way to reduce their tax right?

You can argue until the next decade and the result would be the same. It is far easier for people with power, money and resources to get what then want (in this case less taxes) than people without any of those.

Laws (esp tax laws) and policies are not influenced by the public but rather the one with the most influence to the policy/law makers (lobbyists, professors, analysts, PR speakers...etc). Oh they might not get everything but they can certainly get close to what they want.

'Poor' doesn't mean you're always the criminal but you are more likely go to be one because of your situation. Families have a better chance (statistically speaking) of breaking under poverty. A lot of people did not want to become criminals but they have to because that's what they think is their only option. It takes skills, educations, opportunities and resources to be able to wiggle out of that.

Also, you are more likely getting caught or make mistakes when you are not equipped or as well advised as the rich folks. You are also more likely not to be able to defend yourself in the court of law. I can go on and on but the bottom line is that the same results or even activity might be illegal to a poor person but to a rich person, it's a matter of presentation.