Tax Credit
So today I got my tax refund. I’m not going to deny it. I’m very glad to have that little extra in my bank account right now. It can pay some necessary bills… allow for a delayed and somewhat necessary upgrade to my glasses… and, I suppose, if I’m smart, the rest will go away until the spring/summer when I wish to travel.
Most of that is pretty savvy, right? I talked myself out of buying a new camera. Maybe not out of Robin Hood DVDs. But that’s… just a small amount. I’m being relatively smart with the extra pecuniary padding.
But doesn’t the government need our taxes? I mean… their debt is a little more strained than mine right now. Would I return it to the government? Now that I have it… well I really do need new glasses. But, honestly, if the government said I wasn’t going to get it because it meant an unemployed woman could get Cancer treatment or a cop in Oklahoma wasn’t going to lose his job and put his community at risk… not to mention his family at the edge… you know what? I could live without a pair of glasses until I figure out I don’t need as much coffee or glasses of wine this month.
I’m not going to give it back. So maybe I’m making myself a hypocrite here. Or maybe… well, I get this money back because the government decided to reward me for paying my school loans, for putting money into retirement… if I bought my car new, I would have gotten more money. Yeah, it was my money to begin with. But if I act like a responsible citizen, I get some of it back.
How many other places take your money and give it back if you do the right thing? I don’t see the oil companies rewarding me for being fiscally responsible. Never mind the banks. Seriously. The banks rip me off all the time and… okay, sure, they pretend to reward me by taking the ‘change’ of my electronic purchases and depositing into a savings account. But, um, that’s just a relocation. Maybe they might give me interest… but… I think they can cancel that out with hidden fees on my account. Really.
Maybe it isn’t for the government to be teaching us how to behave. After all, they are the big, bad, inhumane government. They need to be downsized so the monster doesn’t eat us. They shouldn’t be telling us to go buy a house or trade in our cars or pay back our college debt. That’s our choice. They shouldn’t hold our money hostage to make us do it, right?
Besides… they don’t give it all back. They keep it. They keep it to… pay all that frivolous government spending. They put money into silly extravagances like hiring a teacher or increasing a police force or repairing a train track. We need to stop that behemoth from spending all that money. From keeping all our pennies in their coffers and destroying the sacred philosophy of capitalism with all this money being thrown at people who don’t have a work ethic. I mean really… those that can do, do – those that can’t teach. So why on earth are we wasting our tax dollars on those useless parasites of the system?
It really blows my mind when I hear people bitch and complain about how high taxes are. And those self same people nickel and dime their returns, getting back every possible penny they can spin as a tax write-off. The government doesn’t keep it all. They give it back and in the process encourage us to become better… people. Maybe they shouldn’t have to do that. But in a country where we have to argue our entitlement over the job of a teacher, I think we need some moral guidance. Even if it is the bribery of a tax credit.
Comments
I do my own taxes vis TurboTax, and don't itemize - frankly, I don't have a complicated set-up. One W-2, the Health Care form for MA state taxes, and that's about it (no retirement accounts to deduct - which doesn't bode well for the future - no mortgage, etc.,). Now, in my case, the only reason I get money back from either Federal or State is because I have an extra $20 withheld for Federal taxes each week, so as a result, any amount under $1,040 (ironically enough) is money I didn't owe the Federal gov't in the first place (to date, I have yet to get a refund *over* 1040).
As for State, if it weren't for the fact that rent is factored-in in MA, I'd owe a couple of bucks instead of getting a couple (I suppose it compensates for not having a mortgage to deduct from Federal) - frankly, the State refund tends to pay for the TurboTax fees; so I'm in a position of not having to feel any regret for refunds since my full obligation is being met each time.
That said, if I knew for certain the money would go to something truly useful, I'd consider diverting some of it (yes, "some" not all - frankly, I'm in too great a need of it, and really want to avoid becoming the kind of person taxes go to help; I'd just end up being an additional strain on an overloading system).
I think it would be nice if we could have better management over the money we do send in for taxes - we should pass laws saying that, among other things, the costs for materials for projects paid for by taxes can't be more than 25% above standard retail, to allow for profit for those doing the work, but to minimize gouging (the old days of $20,000 hammers and $30,000 toilets at the Pentagon come to mind), and to have a full audit & paper trail so it can be clear what's being spent on what and where (and to whom) the money goes. That would go a long way to keeping costs down, which would mean the money being spent would accomplish more.
Will this happen? Probably not until we're faced with no other choice, sadly...
My MA tax refund is pretty pathetic, too. But you know... that's because we've cut taxes in the past few years. Not because the state gives us less rewards. But if that means a teacher doesn't lose her job, then the state can have my money.