RTP-area local music and culture

[rws6 <rws6 AT duke.edu>]

i think you're (intentionally) missing his point.  he's arguing that the 
change in witholding rules is deceptive.  it leads taxpayers who have not 
received any sort of tax break to believe that their taxes are lower.  low-
income taxpayer "a" hears about a several billion dollar tax-break, notices 
that his or her witholding has been reduced and concludes (falsely) that he 
or 
she is paying less in taxes.  it's a scam, says mr. hepler, and, if true, 
he's 
right.  

maybe james and i have no excuse for not noticing that our witholdings and 
our 
tax no longer gel.  after all, we have the luxury of looking up bizarre shit 
on the internet all day.  perhaps we could have spent some of that time 
checking on the new tax regulations.  other low-income taxpayers do not have 
that luxury.

and it's not like this scam is brand new or limited to the federal 
government.  a few years ago i worked at a popular restaurant in durham.  the 
kitchen employees (who were dramatically underpaid) had been making noise 
about quitting en masse unless their pay was increase.  management promised 
for several weeks that they would be seeing larger paychecks.  they did.  but 
when april 15 rolled around, every single kitchen employee learned that they 
had been duped.  their witholdings had been reduced so that they received a 
modest increase in each paycheck.  but, that money wasn't theirs in the first 
place.  they each had to pay several hundred dollars to the irs.  and you 
know 
what?  every single one of them works overtime and only one or two had 
internet service at home.  

r.



Quoting grady AT ibiblio.org:

> Um, not to stand in the way of righteous indignation, but if your 
> withholding was lowered, doesn't that mean you already *had* the money, 
> and spent it? Are you actually angry at the government for letting you 
> invest your own money and collect interest, rather than letting them 
> invest it and keep the interest for themselves?
> 
> And when you noticed your withholding had been lowered, did you call 
> payroll and say "hey, can you bump that back a notch, I don't want an 
> April Surprise?"
> 
> Ross "written a check every april since I started paying taxes" Grady
> 
> James Hepler wrote:
> 
> > Anyone out there owe to the IRS for the first time?
> > Maybe owe more than usual?
> > 
> > The money I was hoping to get from the IRS this year
> > was supposed to go towards my incredible vet bills,
> > instead I owe $900.  And I can trace the problem back
> > to its source.  
> > 
> > H.R. 2, the tax cut bill passed by both house and
> > senate on May 23 2003.  They lowered mine and Ann's
> > withholding to the point where we owe money for the
> > first time since we started filing jointly. 
> > 
> > NOTHING has changed since past years except my
> > withholding.  Everything else is accounted for.  
> > 
> > Am I the only one who got hit with this?  The reason I
> > ask is that I'm taking action the only way I know how.
> >  COMPLAINING ON THE INTERNET.  If anyone has madd
> > webskills and wants to help me, please let me know.  I
> > plan to create a website which puts faces to all the
> > names of our representatives who chose for me to owe
> > money under the guise of tax relief.  Considering some
> > of those names, I need to really try to make this
> > stick.
> > 
> > Jones, Burr, Coble, Hayes, Myrick, Ballenger, and
> > Taylor are on notice, and I will not have forgotten by
> > 2006 when Dole's head is on the block.
> > 
> > Yaaaaarrrrrrrrgh,
> > 
> > Hep
> > 
> > 
> >     
> >             
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