Traffic for 2005 February 15 (entry 1)

(10) Tue Feb 15 2005 21:10 PST Mid-Semester Blues: Got some midterms back today. All above 90% so I can't complain. Since my last test ended Saturday, I haven't really done a thing. I hit the proverbial wall I suppose.

Voluteering in the tax lab has been quite the experience. Though most people have been amiable and grateful, there have been one or two interesting individuals. One guy wanted to deduct his $35K SUV for business purposes, even though he bought it in December and ceased his S-P in August. Hello! Did he honestly think it was legal? I think he did. hmm.

Then there are the others who enter legal information on their tax returns, but I can't help but think it is inherently wrong nonetheless. Yes, I am talking about EIC and other such credits. Some people are like 30, still in undergrad school, with three kids at home, and they get back like $5,000 that they never even put into the system. How can they honestly feel good about that? Oh well, I suppose I'll leave that one alone now before I get into trouble.

I went in early today and did our taxes. We owe about $1300 through no fault of our own. When Susie was unemployed, she had many jobs that withheld no tax and those added up. That and another job withheld about $500 too little, they have discovered. So through no fault of our own, the fuzz expects us to make timely quarterly pre-payments for the rest of our lives. Grr.

To get around this, we are going to get an IRA, so we can deduct it and get rid of these pre-payments. I don't mind paying the money at all; after all, we owe it and got to keep it for ourselves longer in interest-bearing accounts. But prepayments? We weren't committing tax evasion; heck, we weren't even trying tax avoidance. But substance over form proves otherwise. Oh well, we'll start a nest egg for a home down-payment that actually pays really good returns, so it's a blessing in disguise.

Comments:

Posted by Susie at Wed Feb 16 2005 07:16

When I was unemployed, I had many jobs? You had that job too.

Posted by Kristen at Wed Feb 16 2005 15:32

Just get pregnant and have the baby in Dec and you still claim the baby as a dependent and get your own EIC and you won't owe anything.

Posted by John at Wed Feb 16 2005 15:53

I think that, even with a baby, Susie and I made too much for the EIC. But the extra dependent would be nice.

What am I saying? People talk sometimes as if taxes are everything. Some guy told me that he is glad he has no scholarships because then he can deduct his tuition on his taxes. Hello! The deduction is nowhere near as big as the cash outflow for tuition, especially if you are a full-time student and didn't have a lot of money to be refunded anyway.

I hope you don't think that my comment had any reference to you and Aaron. You and Aaron both work part-time, and are not mindlessly mired in school because you can't choose a major, etc and are trying to make a career out of living in Wyview and going to school.

I was recently informed that married students in campus housing have a new scheme to make money for nothing. When the wife gets pregnant, the husband and wife both quit their jobs (assuming they were working in the first place) and go on Medicare to pay for the baby. I find such a scheme, though perfectly legal, to be despicable nonetheless, and it goes against everything I've been taught my whole life, and everything I currently stand for.

It rather tarnishes the industrious-ness of the so-called Beehive State.

Posted by Susie at Wed Feb 16 2005 15:59

Yay for industrious-ness! I wouldn't mind an extra dependent either!

Posted by Rachel at Wed Feb 16 2005 20:41

hee little buddle of joy extra dependant!

Posted by Rachel at Wed Feb 16 2005 20:42

boo the html didnt work. little bundle of joy was supposed to be crossed out.

Posted by John at Thu Feb 17 2005 07:07

When we do finally decide to have kids, Auntie Rachel will be our #1 babysitter, right?

Posted by Kristen at Fri Feb 18 2005 15:52

I wasn't offended. Yeah, we got free money, but right now I don't really feel bad for using any assistance b/c we qualify and the programs are meant for people like me, otherwise we wouldn't qualify. Also, I do believe that Aaron will be making six figures within 10 yrs (not trying to brag) and that we will be paying our fair share in taxes. Much more than the assistance that we are using right now. So I don't mind using the system to get us to where we will be funding the system. A means to an end. A lot of it has been a lifesaver, and this is cliché, but I don't know where we would be without it.

Posted by John at Sat Feb 19 2005 10:58

Will it really take him 10 years to make six figures? Six years as a dentist to get there? Hmm, I always thought a dentist made six figures right out of dental school, depending on the practice he bought into. I'll make it there in 5, but that's only if I can stand being in public accounting that long!

Posted by Kristen at Sun Feb 20 2005 15:18

Well, we joined the Air Force so we will owe one year residency and then 4 yrs as a dentist getting captain's pay. So that it 9 yrs until he gets to his private practice, and then I am pretty sure he will make six figures. Not all people make that much out of dental school though b/c they have to be business savvy as well as fast at dentistry. You have to have a client base, and for some people that can take years to aquire. Plus with student loans, you don't really take home too much in the first years. Thank goodness Aaron will not have any student loans, other than the ones we have now, and he will be able to polish his speed and technique in the Air Force with good pay.