If I put zero in the box then it drops and I get it as a credit of $1200 and would be $1047, don’t need a CPA, just file and call the IRS to make scheduled payments if possible.

Oh, yes, I've heard that if you haven't got the stimulus that is due to you, then you can take it as a credit on your tax return. Since you got your's, no such credit is available.

 

Oh, yes, I've heard that if you haven't got the stimulus that is due to you, then you can take it as a credit on your tax return. Since you got your's, no such credit is available.

This is not a stimulus, it’s a loan for 3 months, if I include the 2020 stimulus around Mar of last year in the amount of $2400 it doesn’t effect the total its the same $1047, because my pension was never taxed, However if I zero 2020 April - Nov. Now I get the full $3600 credit but, it adds additional $200 = $1247, So, lol clear as mud.

kv

 

Taxes prepared, filed electronically and paid electronically.
Accountant's Bill for the service was $400.00
About what I expected, and about half what it was when I had my own business.

 

As a European,
I am fascinated by these posts.


You have Government and state taxes ?
Do you pay tax on your earnings directly as you earn ?
Do you pay "tax" on your house / property as well ?

Thus tax return ?
I remember hearing of it on the Apollo 13 film,
do all people over a set age or something have to fill in a tax return each year ?

 

You have Government and state taxes ?

Yes, there are federal, state and local taxes. The state and local taxes vary and don't exist everywhere. I'm referring mostly to income taxes but there are also sales taxes, toll roads and other ways to raise money.

Do you pay tax on your earnings directly as you earn ?

Most wage earners have a portion of their salary withheld by their employer and paid to the respective governments on their behalf. If you make money in other ways (investments, self-employed, etc.), you're expected to pay your estimated taxes on a quarterly basis. Underpayment leads to an interest charge and possibly a penalty.

Do you pay "tax" on your house / property as well ?

Yup, it's called a property tax and is unusual in that it is, to some degree, a wealth tax. It's typically used mostly to pay for the local school system. Tying it to your property value makes some sense because the value of your property depends partly on the quality of the local schools, parks, library and so on.

Thus tax return ?

Most working schlubs will have too much withheld throughout the year. The government sets this up by default to have zero-interest money on hand. Taxpayers seem mostly happy to get "unexpected" cash back instead of having to pay, so it works out. The annual tax filing to reconcile the records may have come to be called a "return" because so many get their cash returned to them. I'm no etymologist, that's just a guess.

do all people over a set age or something have to fill in a tax return each year ?

It's not age-related. There are a handful of rules about who has to file and who does not, but roughly if you made more than $600 in a year, you have to file. Many more people have to file than have to pay.

 

I dunno if exchanging the income tax for the VAT is a good deal or a bad deal. I'm just glad we don't have to pay an asset tax. The value of my Municipal Bond portfolio would plummet. N.B. There is no federal tax on Municipal Bond income.

 

I dunno if exchanging the income tax for the VAT is a good deal or a bad deal. I'm just glad we don't have to pay an asset tax. The value of my Municipal Bond portfolio would plummet. N.B. There is no federal tax on Municipal Bond income.

There's an awful lot going on beyond raising money.

Whatever you tax, you tend to get less of. Taxing income is one way to prevent class movement by making it harder to accumulate wealth. The one way you have to move up in class is something you get punished for. Of course you tax wage earners for the same reason you rob banks: That's where the money is.

A federal sales or VAT has been talked about but it's a tax on economic activity. By design it has a cooling effect on an economy based on consumer spending. It'd probably be best in the longer run but the transition could be a decade-long recession. Not a popular idea.

It's worth asking why we bother with taxes at all. Most of our spending is money printed out of thin air anyway. Why not just forget about taxes and the huge waste of productivity they cause? Our debt would be a bit higher, but that spreads the pain to nearly everyone instead of just wage-earners. Maybe having money deleted from your paycheck is a useful reminder that all those freebies from government aren't really free. That lesson is learned only by wage-earners, sadly. There aren't enough of them.

 

There's an awful lot going on beyond raising money.

Whatever you tax, you tend to get less of. Taxing income is one way to prevent class movement by making it harder to accumulate wealth. The one way you have to move up in class is something you get punished for. Of course you tax wage earners for the same reason you rob banks: That's where the money is.

A federal sales or VAT has been talked about but it's a tax on economic activity. By design it has a cooling effect on an economy based on consumer spending. It'd probably be best in the longer run but the transition could be a decade-long recession. Not a popular idea.

It's worth asking why we bother with taxes at all. Most of our spending is money printed out of thin air anyway. Why not just forget about taxes and the huge waste of productivity they cause? Our debt would be a bit higher, but that spreads the pain to nearly everyone instead of just wage-earners. Maybe having money deleted from your paycheck is a useful reminder that all those freebies from government aren't really free. That lesson is learned only by wage-earners, sadly. There aren't enough of them.

As the population bubble of people born from 1945 to 1964 moves further into retirement there is a projected shortage of workers coming that may enhance the living standards of those with jobs, but overall economic activity will decrease. Hang on.