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Many plan to pay save, pay debt or invest with tax returns

Submitted by WWAY on Wed, 04/16/2008 - 4:31pm.READ MORE:

For most of us tax season is blissfully finished. So what are Americans thinking about when it comes to their refunds? Investment firm TD Ameritrade conducted a survey and found out that the majority of Americans who will get a check from Uncle Sam plan on paying down debt, saving the money or investing it this year. About 75 percent of taxpayers are anticipating a refund check. If you didn't file your taxes, be prepared to owe Uncle Sam. The deadline to file was Tuesday night at midnight, but some people didn't get their taxes done. The penalties are different if you didn't file on time versus not paying on time. Liberty Tax Monkey Junction Manager Robert Quesada said, "If you haven't filed on time the penalty is five percent per month for not filing on time for the first five months. Then that's for not filing on time. For not paying on time, it's a one percent penalty per month and then there's interest that they will charge on a quarterly basis." If you filed an extension on your taxes it is not an extension to pay, it's just an extension to file. The IRS is still going to charge you one percent per month interest. There is no penalty or interest for late filing if you don't owe money. The stimulus package recently passed by Congress can give up to a $600 rebate to those who qualify. But many in our area may not be cashing in. You have to file with the IRS this year, even if you don't have any income to declare. Tax aides say that's the case with many elderly or disabled citizens. Some of these people haven't filed tax returns in years and they might find all of this a bit overwhelming. AARP tax aide Mike Ferris said, "It's eight or nine pages. And to wade through that and determine whether you're eligible or not, and what needs to go on that form can be difficult for people." The good news is it's not too late. The deadline to submit the rebate forms is not until October. Tax aides will be at the Roark Library in Shallotte on Friday to help. You can also find help on the AARP web site.

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"Jeeze" Did this topic take

Submitted by Guest 2008 (not verified) on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 10:52pm.

"Jeeze" Did this topic take the pressure off reporting the war in Iraq or what? Iraq who????

I'm spending my rebate...

Submitted by lsmith (not verified) on Sun, 04/20/2008 - 4:03am.

To pay my taxes! After paying on the 15th, my net will the $2. That won't even buy a gallon of gas. Ever wonder why the money we pay in for Medicare and Soc. Sec. are never entered in any of the equations for "taxes withheld"? YOU NEVER GET ANY OF THAT MONEY BACK. Well maybe, if I live another 20 yrs and the funds will still be solvent then I can "collect" on my "investment". Yeah, right!!

I plan to use my rebate to

Submitted by dodgeguy (not verified) on Sat, 04/19/2008 - 7:09pm.

I plan to use my rebate to buy some guns or something to re-sell for a profit. Then, I can get back some of the tax money I get ripped off every year.

If you folks are having a hard time...

Submitted by Commonsensenotc... on Thu, 04/17/2008 - 5:31pm.

...why in the world are you getting a tax RETURN? Why are you paying in more than you have to? Couldn't you use that money throughout the year? Adjust your W-4 so that you're not paying in excess withholding tax. Don't be a sucker! No one in the world is going to give you an interest-free loan - why are you giving the government one?

Very True

Submitted by sunshine4187 (not verified) on Thu, 04/17/2008 - 11:11am.

I will be putting mine towards student loans.

rebates

Submitted by chacoptaco (not verified) on Thu, 04/17/2008 - 8:34am.

if you can afford to save or invest your rebate then thank God you can afford to do that. i think most middle class working folks will probably be using it to pay bills, buy food, gas and the basic necessities. the polititians in Washington living in a bubble think that this is somehow going to spur the economy by people going out and buying luxury items such as big screen tv's, down payments on cars etc. wrong. most folks will use this money to survive not splurge. the middle class is being taxed to death.

YOU'RE being taxed to death?

Submitted by Commonsensenotc... on Thu, 04/17/2008 - 5:25pm.

Try being in the upper 10% of income earners! Do you realize that according to the IRS and based upon CY 2005 tax year, the top 10% of earners pay 70.3% of all personal income taxes? Meanwhile, the bottom 50% of earners pay only 3% of personal income taxes.

Urban Legend

Submitted by middleclassandtaxedtodeath (not verified) on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 6:20am.

I think you fell for a politically motivated urban legend. According to the budget office: The top 1 percent of income earners paid about 36.7 percent of federal income taxes and 25.3 percent of all federal taxes in 2004. The top 20 percent of income earners paid 67.1 percent of all federal taxes, up from 66.1 percent in 2000. No where does a google search bring up an IRS site that describes the figures you provided.

Perhaps you need to look harder

Submitted by Commonsensenotc... on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 7:39pm.

Link (PDF)

Okay - let's use YOUR figures!

Submitted by Commonsensenotc... on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 12:26pm.

"The top 20 percent of income earners paid 67.1 percent of all federal taxes, up from 66.1 percent in 2000." That statement right there should make anyone who believes in equality and fairness physically ill. We are a nation founded upon the premise that all men are created equal. We have a Constitutional Amendment guaranteeing equal protection under law. Yet we tax Mister Jones and Mister Smith at two different percentages? BTW, here's some interesting reading: Link (PDF)

Daniel Plainview

Submitted by local (not verified) on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 6:19am.

I'm sure everyone loves to be reminded how rich you are. We are SOOO proud of you.

You don't have to be rich....

Submitted by Commonsensenotc... on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 12:37pm.

...to understand the Constitution and basic fairness. If this country will not adopt The Fair Tax, we need a flat tax that treats every single American the same, taxing them at the identical percentage.

Oh BooHoo!

Submitted by MiddleClassandTaxedToDeath (not verified) on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 11:01pm.

Gee Commonsensenottooc... I'm surprised to hear that coming from you! Fair? You need to check out Cole Brothers. Just ask how fair it is to those who have lost their jobs due to all of our wonderful corporations who have left America thumbing their nose on the way out. Remember, those corporations who WE and our forefathers provided a safe democracy for them to thrive in? Get a grip. It's attitudes like yours that are going to get us stuck with a Socialist for President! Oh yea, let's not forget the Hedge Fund managers who are claiming capital gains instead of income, legally (set up by the ultra rich). Is that fair? Just ask Bozo!

Do you understand the difference?

Submitted by Commonsensenotc... on Sun, 04/20/2008 - 10:23pm.

When partners in a venture use THEIR MONEY to build that venture, then go public and sell shares, that is, in the truest sense of ANY economic definition, a capital gain. They are selling an entity that they built with their money - no different than selling a house or another business. You can cry the blues over the global economy all you want to, but I'm willing to bet that YOU have benefitted from it as much as anyone. How much did your Japanese or Korean TV cost you? A lot less than it would have if it was made by IBEW workers in Illinois. What did you do with the extra money you saved? Sure, thousands of assembly line workers were laid off at American television factories.....but MILLIONS of Americans save hundreds of dollars every time they buy a TV or other electronic appliance. We have a consumer electronics industry that is based offshore, but providing us products of superior quality for LESS money! My previous, American-made microwave oven cost me over $600. I just bought a near-identical replacement for $144. That was a de facto savings of $456 to spend elsewhere, save, or invest. The bottom line is that no one is going to pay a unionized, Greensboro mill worker $15.00 an hour to make something that a Sri Lankan worker will do for $8.00 a day. Do you shop at Food Lion? It's owned by Belgians...and lots of American stockholders. Buy BP or Shell gasoline? Owned by Brits and the Dutch and again, many American shareholders. How about that Seimens MRI in the hospital? The Gamesa blades on those immense, multi-megawatt windmills? The Good Humor ice cream bar that is made by a Dutch mega-corporation, Unilever? The list is endless...you'll find many, MANY foreign companies conducting large operations here. Try listing the number of American corporations that have "moved overseas" as you mentioned. It will be a very short list. The bottom line is that the global economy is here. It's been here for thirty years, and expands every day. The single greatest reason that we are totally committed to that global economy is that we are no longer strong enough as a nation to stand on our own and survive as an economic superpower. We NEED the rest of the world. If we rolled the clock back fifty years, we'd be a third-rate power in twenty. So you can be a modern day Luddite, raging against the machines, or you can accept that the world that we knew has changed. Once you accept the latter, you can survive and indeed thrive in the global economy.

you forgot Citgo gas

Submitted by Guest Rick (not verified) on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 8:42pm.

Citgo is owned by Hugo Chavez and all the money in profits from there go towards repressing the people of his country.

Chi-Com Goods High Quality?

Submitted by Guest 34 (not verified) on Tue, 04/22/2008 - 5:58am.

I thought you were smarter than that!

Where did I even mention China?

Submitted by Commonsensenotc... on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 4:48pm.

Wake up call, Jethro! Japan and Korea aren't part of China. Nowhere did I mention China.

I'm Wide Awake

Submitted by Guest 34 (not verified) on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 5:46pm.

Find a TV made in Japan these days. Very few are made in Korea. Where have you been Mr. Know It All?

I have two

Submitted by Commonsensenotc... on Thu, 04/24/2008 - 7:24am.

Both made in Japan. One was made in 2006. Face it - you read what wasn't there, and jumped for no good reason.

Bologna!

Submitted by MiddleClassandTaxedToDeath (not verified) on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 8:17pm.

"Superior quality"??!!! That was a real stretch. Give me a BEEFY HAYNES tee any day. I'll pay! I know many others who know the communist and South of the border quality is not there. My Chinese over the stove microwave lasted 4 years. Nothing else was available (at Sears) at the time or I would have bought it. The open hole where it once was is still there. My Kenmore purchased in the mid 80's lasted over 15 years. With very few exceptions, the price for this communist junk is the same if not more. Sperry shoes is a classic example. Anyone notice their deck shoes wearing out a little sooner? Food Lion? Sure, when they are on every corner and not many other choices are available. We have to buy food. Most of the little guys can't compete against that kind of money. "No different than selling a house or another business"? Whew, that's a big one. With business deregulated and anti-trust laws circumvented for business, you can't compare the two, give me a break! As for your outer space viewpoint of labor, your eyes are looking back 30 years Having worked in 6 different manufacturing facilities in a span of over 30 years, this is what happened: The Carter administration started the "new South" movement that ensured the demise of the unions that you unknowingly think still control American labor. Northern cities started turning into slums. During the Reagan administration lots of manufacturing moved South (along with some of the work force) to non-union "right to work" territory. In some cases, paying less than half the union wages and benefits enjoyed by the North. Some crafty corporate types purposely bankrupt their companies and took the employees pension and waved bye-bye. A local crane manufacturer is my poster child for this type of legal corruption. Southern workers, in most ALL cases, consistently said no to the unions and remained non-union. I can remember many times saying a loud no to those waiting just outside company property. We rallied at buy American campaigns. Corporate America had a real friend in the South. Where are these powerful union facilities you speak of? A VERY few are still up North. I challenge you to at least qualify your statements much less prove them. Any company that would support a communist country rather than their own...IS JUST THAT, a communist supporter! We ain't gonna get a fair tax. You may. The working stiffs know that fair is just a circus. My issue with this? History proves that when the common man is messed with, something is gonna give sooner or later. Americans are not only the best workers in the world, they are a proud bunch too (I can qualify this if you wish). Some of us placed our lives on the line for this country (as did our Forefathers), to support a country that allowed corporations to grow and thrive. Now, they thumb their nose at us. What's going to happen when the common man breaks? God bless America and it's working class!

Yep! You figured us out!

Submitted by Commonsensenotc... on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 5:15pm.

It's all a big conspiracy to keep you down. There's so much "bitter blue collar" conspiratorial nonsense in your post I don't even know how to reply, but here's a couple of corrections: Hedge funds were never, ever regulated. Due to the limited scope of their endeavers, they hardly fall under the Sherman Antitrust Act. They're fairly new in the world of economics. Nowhere did I say that unions still control labor. The reason they don't is the same reason that so many manufacturing jobs went overseas. They shot themselves in the foot by demanding ridiculous compensation. But if you think labor is dead, you're very mistaken. I'd suggest you read the WSJ article from a few weeks ago regarding labor's big plans in 2008. Elect Clinton or Obama and they'll achieve most of them. Now, follow this line of thought carefully....corporate America didn't transfer light manufacturing jobs overseas to be mean to you. They did it to maximize profits, which is their sworn obligation toward shareholders. Got that? They have an obligation to shareholders - they have no obligation to give you a job. If they can manufacture an article in Lesotho and import it into the United States for less than it costs to manufacture it here in the States, it's a no-brainer. They ARE going to manufacture that item in Lesotho. Corporations are not social welfare agencies. They are not here to provide employment, they simply need employees to manufacture product. If they can obtain cheaper from a contractor (onshore or offshore) the need for employees is seriously reduced. You can stew in your anger and get nowhere or you can retrain and find a niche in the global economy. Here is the cold, hard fact of it: What WAS is no more, and America can (and will) NEVER return to the "good ol' days," where Acme Widget provided a lifelong career to you, and then to your son. There are far too many widget makers who will work for less than you. BTW, as someone who ALSO went to war, I can assure you that we were fighting for the right of everyone, INCLUDING CORPORATIONS, to have the freedom to control their own destiny. America was a free-market, Capitalist society when we went to war, and God help us if we ever abandon that economic system.

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