Your daily outrage. IRS agents target single mother of two. Just infuriating.
All about Argentina’s piqueteros, essentially professional, federally-subsidized protesters who shut down the country’s highways. I saw some of this when I spent a month down there a couple years ago. It’s really odd.
If the IRS has nothing better to do, I could aim them at a couple of guys who might just be what they are looking for. Both of these guys pay about $60 per month in child support and then claim their kids for the EIC. Both work under the table to avoid paying more in child support and taxes. They should be around until Feb. That’s when they get their refund from H&R Block and leave for a month in Cancun.
I had more than my share of tax problems after my divorce. If felt like it was never going to stop. My heart goes out to anyone having to battle these assholes.
On the bright side, we need more struggling, single-mom libertarians to balance out the demographics, anyway.
The IRS agents were just following “standard departmental policy”.
The problem with the IRS auditors, as is the case with most law enforcement, is that there are no consequences for ineptitude and corruption. As with almost all government abuse of power, no one is really upset until it happens to them, so it never becomes a major issue. And, it’s not like one of the mainstream parties is going to take up the cause aside from maybe milking it at election time. Political parties are like sports teams. Their only concern is getting elected and, contrary to what people think, that provides no incentive to do good.
If the cops aren’t being thorough (and it sounds like they aren’t from the article), DJs need to start bringing 5-10 year old decoy laptops to their private gigs. It shouldn’t be that expensive to get a used one off craigslist.
The funny thing is, I suspect what set the IRS wolves on her was her use of H&R Block for her taxes. Seriously, she’s making $19k per year and yet dropping a couple hundred on that? Once she got flagged, of course the IRS agent then had to take her for everything she was worth, and upon finding out that wasn’t much, her parents too, because hey, IRS agents gotta make the quota.
I wonder if this’ll all replay next year when they try and do everything picture perfect with another tax preparer.
SFO DJs: one of the commenters had a great idea: put a lock on the laptop and give the key to a friend. If the cops want to cut the cable etc., it is clear 4th amendment territory.
Additional ideas:
1. videotape the entire event.
2. Have the laptop set up so that it records and transmits police conversations once you activate it. That would be very interesting, no?
Don’t be so hard on the cops. They’re underpaid civil-servant heroes. So what if they take property from potentially criminal scumbags. Besides, these low-lifes may have used the laptops to make music which could only lead to dancing and happiness. I say give ‘em a break. Cops’ kids deserve a good Christmas too.
Cop to DJ: “you wouldn’t happen to have the box that this came in, would ya? Manual and receipt would be nice too.”
1) this seems like somewhat typical political pandering to get kid-glove treatment by the government. But it’s also because Obama has shown he is willing ot be bought with such tactics. See Big PHARMA.
SJE: Amendment to your #1; install cameras that record remotely. Regular readers of this site will know that cops love taking portable video cameras, too.
#15 |
josephineMO6 |
December 7th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
I have no doubt as to why Comcast is supporting the one payer health care system. My hubby works for them and they just upped the amount we have to pay out of pocket 30%. It was that or take a major cut in our benefits. As soon as the one payer system is in we will be dumped off into it. And we wont even be able to afford to buy our own coverage because the health care bill will make that all but illegal and unaffordable..
#1 Mike Leatherwood December 7th, 2009 at 10:48 am
So someone please tell me again why a flat tax or consumption tax would harm the poor?
I don’t agree with a flat tax or consumption tax and I believe it harms the poor.
The reason I don’t like these taxes is because, as they are proposed, there are no decuctions, credits, or write-offs. These are essential to the lower classes, even if some higher income citizens take advantage of them. I understand the simplicity of these type of taxes, but I believe them to be less beneficial to the poor.
I spent 10 years enlisted in the Air Force. I know plenty of people who would’ve never been able to make ends meet were it not for the EITC and the Child Tax Credits they received. A newly-enlisted soldier is paid $1,400 a month ($16,800 a year), pre-tax. That is well below the poverty line for a family of 4 (a very common sight in the military). People who make minimum wage aren’t much better ($7.25/hour or $15,000 a year). I don’t know how those people are supposed to be able to afford to live and strive to improve their financial lives (like go to school or learn a new craft).
#18 |
Cynical in CA |
December 7th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Rachel Porcaro — more evidence of the auto-cannibalization of American society.
As real money becomes scarcer, the powers-that-be will target anyone and everyone (except themselves of course).
The ultimate realization will be that there may be tech bubbles, commodities bubbles and housing bubbles, but these are just symptoms. There’s only one foundational bubble — a bubble in people.
#17 Nando. Odds are that not too many newly enlisted soldiers have 2 kids and wife at home. When I was enlisted in the Navy, my base pay $353 a month. Plus three hots and a cot. According to my division chief, all I needed in life was whatever the US Navy issued in my seabag.
As real money becomes scarcer, the powers-that-be will target anyone and everyone (except themselves of course).
Amen. We ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
There are about a billion horrors that will happen before the state curbs spending.
I support the Flat Tax. Everyone pays about $3,000/year (and no guv debt allowed). THAT is a flat tax. Maybe, just maybe you’d see some prudent spending.
I don’t know how those people are supposed to be able to afford to live and strive to improve their financial lives
This guy has some ideas (http://tinyurl.com/yapjnkx
). Nothing new. I did most of the same things thru my 20s. Of course I also didn’t get married and pop out a couple kids when I was a cab driver.
You are not entitled to my earnings because you want a house of your own, kids, and a car before you can afford such.
You keep handing out free meal tickets and I’ll serve real financial advice. We’ll see who helps more.
The reason you need all sorts of benefits in the military is that the base pay is low. This is not an argument against flat tax. It is an argument for raising the basic level of pay and/or other services provided.
I was also a Navy puke for 6 years. I didn’t have kids, so I wasn’t eligible for any credit whatsoever.
The $1400 is accurate for an E-1, but few if any fellow sailors stayed at that rate for long. E-2 pay is $1568.70 which comes out to $18,816.
In Norfolk, VA, BAH (Off-base housing allowance) for a sailor with dependants is $1315 a month (tax-free), so that bumps up the total yearly total to $34,596. Now, if you live on-base, you get room & board for free. If the spouse works, then there is more income obviously.
We didn’t make much, for sure, but the modern sailor/soldier isn’t dirt broke either.
By eliminating the need to “give out” credit to those via a complicated matrix (and hassling those who try to get by living at their parent’s house), I only see a benefit. The consumption tax proposal I have seen allowed for certain amount of food items to be tax free.
#25 |
Michael Chaney |
December 7th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Note, too, that if you stick with that army job for 20 years, you get to retire at half salary for the rest of your life, in addition to other benefits. The whole “poverty line” spiel rests on the assumption that the wife can’t work.
I used my military experience because I remember quite a bit of my coworkers who were E3-E5s with familes of 4-6 (including themselves, obviously). Most of them lived on-base so their housing was paid for, but they still had to pay for food, car, gas, etc… Most of them were also on food stamps because it just wasn’t enough.
As for those who lived off-base, they ended up paying out-of-pocket for their housing, plus utilities.
I am by no means saying these are the only ones who benefit. I grew up in a poor household of 4. My mother worked before becoming disabled and my father did odd jobs here and there. My brother and I grew up in the “poor neighborhood” in town. If it weren’t for tax breaks/credits and government aid (food stamps), I don’t believe I would be where I am today (I’d probably be in jail for stealing or selling drugs). The government aid and tax benefits allowed my family to provide just enough for me. I took that and made a good life for myself. However, I still think about those poor people who try to get by on minimum wage and still feed/house their families.
Most people who post on this board, I’m willing to bet, grew up and live in the middle class. I don’t expect everyone to see where I’m coming from but I do want to express the reasons why I think that these tax breaks are not only beneficial, but necessary to the country.
What I could support, tho, is a flat tax system with deductions/credits for those individuals and families considered to be lower-middle class or below. For example, everyone would pay a flat tax but you would be exempt if you earn less than $20K a year for an individual or $40K for a family (adjusted each year for inflation).
#27 |
Chris Mallory |
December 7th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
#9
Really, using H&R isn’t that suspicious for a low income tax filer, especially one getting EIC. Those filer’s are the bread and butter for the tax prep companies. The last week of January and the first couple weeks of February are the busy times for those outfits. And it is all EIC returns. The typical EIC filer wants the money and wants it NOW, so they will pay the increased fees and high percentage rates for the rapid refund loans.
#28 |
Michael Chaney |
December 7th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
In other news – the trial for Stephanie Lazarus has started, and the judge knocked down the insulting motion filed by the defense to drop the case on grounds that her enablers had violated her due process rights by not properly investigating her 23 years ago.
And, Stoddard’s still in “jail”, with internet access. Who knew they had internet in the tents? Oh, wait, what’s that you say? They don’t? Hmm, maybe Joe’s keeping him in a nicer place.
The Iranian Break Dancers video is actually pretty encouraging. These guys are trying desperately to emulate Americans. It’s pretty lame looking now and good for a laugh, but there are serious positive signs here. This is a long way from the government staged “Death to America!” rallies. The first guy in the video is actually wearing what appears to be a home made jacket styled after something James Brown might wear.
Rock-a-Billy/Greaser hair styles, leather fringe, and break dancing: Freedom’s fertilization.
#27
Really, using H&R isn’t that suspicious for a low income tax filer, especially one getting EIC. Those filer’s are the bread and butter for the tax prep companies…
No shit? My initial statement was based entirely on intuition, so I don’t doubt you, but that seems pretty crazy. I always assumed tax preparers made their money off high-income people with genuinely hard taxes, and middle class people who can afford it, but are too lazy to sort through the documents, fill in the boxes, and do the addition.
I agree with Nando about government programs in general, but IMO he’s downplaying military pay. Sure E1-E4′s don’t make much, but they also don’t have much value in non-combat jobs. It doesn’t take too long to make E-5, and that’s plenty to support a family. It sucks that it’s hard to support 4 children with an entry-level job, but we’d probably all be clerks at music stores if it would support a middle-class lifestyle. Incentives matter.
I’m not an expert on the consumption tax plans, but it’s my understanding that most of the plans would send a ~$3500 check to everyone every year. That would be enough to keep all but the very lowest earners off welfare. Ideologically, I like the idea, and it has the added benefit of encourage saving — something this country needs.
On the IRS thing. She didn’t claim her tips. An honest discussion has to start there. I had lunch with a couple good friends who work for a state revenue service. They said her wages were too low to put up a big fight, but if they saw it, they’d make her claim the tips or pull a number off a chart if she didn’t. They also thought the additional audits were crazy.
So a message to those who work for tips: the days of pocketing tips are over. Claim at least some of them. You’re much less likely to show up on the radar if you just claim 25% of your tips.
The military is the perfect example of how socialism works. When they want more people, but don’t want to raise salaries to attract them, they just force people into the job under threat of prison (ie: the draft).
I know, it’s completely off topic, but someone mentioned military, so I thought I’d just inject that little insightful piece of wisdom, because the audacity of asking someone to risk their very existence for their country and then being too cheap to pay the market rate for it is beyond words.
Dave you’re a smart chap so it’s distressing to me to see you so completely wrong about socialism. The concept of socialism is that people are reward proportionally to how hard they work…
The concept of socialism is that people are reward proportionally to how hard they work…
You’re joking, right?
#38 |
Chris Mallory |
December 7th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Accountants might, but the big tax prep companies go for the EIC crowd. Sure you have some of the high income people and people who have to pay come in the first of April, but those 3 weeks the first of the season are where they make and break their entire year.
No, he’s actually pretty on the money, even if you go with the lowest understanding of socialism. Even in the lowest common denominator debates – moron socialists vs. moron capitalists (and that’s basically everything that’s said on the matter besides maybe discussions involving Kevin Carson and the few LVMI types willing to engage with what he actually says rather than attack silly strawmen) – the socialist is on the side of rewarding individuals for their “hard work” (it’s even right there, in that, y’know, Labor Theory of Value of theirs.. y’know, the one they’re always criticized for holding to) and the capitalist is on the side of rewarding… well, capital centralization in the hands of a class of Wise Managers (whether semi-market-selected or not; there are a lot of defenders of capitalism who aren’t libertarian, self-consciously or otherwise).
Welfare statism got incorporated into center-left politics for a number of reasons, but it doesn’t follow necessarily from socialism.
A friend of mine is on SS disability after a spinal cord injury. He lives on, and I shit you not, 539 dollars a month. I’ve taken care of his finances and paid his bills when he was sick-I know what he gets. No food stamps, no other income. Nothing. He obviously doesn’t have enough income to even file. He got audited. Had to spend all sorts of money he didn’t have on a tax accountant. Ended up costing him over a grand, which for him was a couple of months income. He’d have lost his house if I hadn’t paid his property taxes for him that year.
My point is that soldiers who are drafted are forced, under threat of prison, to work for a wage that they would not otherwise be willing to accept. In other words, the value of their labor is determined by someone other than themselves. In a market based system, the military would be required to raise wages until their recruiting goals were satisfied which, if you’re sending soldiers off to die by the thousands in some god forsaken foreign country, might be quite high.
Feel completely free to tell me I’m full of shit, but in my entire life on this planet, I have never had anyone argue that socialism is a system that insists on pricing labor according to a free market. Mostly socialism succeeds at attracting adherents by promising to take the wealth of others (ie: capital) and give it to labor (ie: “the masses”). While coveting the wealth of others is usually called greed, in socialism, it’s a noble virtue.
Now, you can claim all you want that socialism is not about welfare, but please don’t try to tell me that it recognizes and rewards hard work when, in fact, it’s entirely based on the premise of wholesale confiscation of the wealth created by the hard work of those who have been most successful and giving it to those most notable for their utter lack of unique accomplishment (which, by the way, is exactly what welfare does).
One always hates to be skeptical when the IRS is accused of being jerks, but I can imagine a fact set where an audit isn’t unreasonable. Let’s say someone is reporting income of 20K – 2000 hours at 10 an hour. The person is reporting much less in tip income than is normal in that profession, and is also collecting a large earned income credit. If that person is failing to report income while collecting EIC, they’re collecting money that should go to someone more needy.
The article doesn’t have enough of the facts to tell whether the IRS is legitimately investigating a case with red flags out the wazoo, or ineptly persecuting the downtrodden, or something in between. No one likes the IRS, but I’m not a fan of welfare cheats either – and if you’re chiseling on your taxes while collecting EIC, you’re a welfare cheat.
[...] Morning Links | The AgitatorYour daily outrage. IRS agents target single mother of two. Just infuriating. All about Argentina’s piqueteros, essentially professional … SFO DJs: one of the commenters had a great idea: put a lock on the laptop and give the key to a friend. If the cops want to cut the cable etc., it is clear 4th amendment territory. [...]
TheAgitator.com
So someone please tell me again why a flat tax or consumption tax would harm the poor?
If the IRS has nothing better to do, I could aim them at a couple of guys who might just be what they are looking for. Both of these guys pay about $60 per month in child support and then claim their kids for the EIC. Both work under the table to avoid paying more in child support and taxes. They should be around until Feb. That’s when they get their refund from H&R Block and leave for a month in Cancun.
I had more than my share of tax problems after my divorce. If felt like it was never going to stop. My heart goes out to anyone having to battle these assholes.
On the bright side, we need more struggling, single-mom libertarians to balance out the demographics, anyway.
The Iranian break dancers would’ve been great characters in a John Hughes movie, kinda like Donger!
Iranian break dancing makes me really understand the hardline fundamentalists’ hatred for the West.
The IRS agents were just following “standard departmental policy”.
The problem with the IRS auditors, as is the case with most law enforcement, is that there are no consequences for ineptitude and corruption. As with almost all government abuse of power, no one is really upset until it happens to them, so it never becomes a major issue. And, it’s not like one of the mainstream parties is going to take up the cause aside from maybe milking it at election time. Political parties are like sports teams. Their only concern is getting elected and, contrary to what people think, that provides no incentive to do good.
San Francisco police illegally seizing DJ laptops they find at underground parties.
Don’t be silly. If the cops did it, it’s legal.
Sheesh! If you paranoid criminal-coddling crusaders for liberty had your way, cops would be required to have evidence before they raid a place.
If the cops aren’t being thorough (and it sounds like they aren’t from the article), DJs need to start bringing 5-10 year old decoy laptops to their private gigs. It shouldn’t be that expensive to get a used one off craigslist.
The funny thing is, I suspect what set the IRS wolves on her was her use of H&R Block for her taxes. Seriously, she’s making $19k per year and yet dropping a couple hundred on that? Once she got flagged, of course the IRS agent then had to take her for everything she was worth, and upon finding out that wasn’t much, her parents too, because hey, IRS agents gotta make the quota.
I wonder if this’ll all replay next year when they try and do everything picture perfect with another tax preparer.
SFO DJs: one of the commenters had a great idea: put a lock on the laptop and give the key to a friend. If the cops want to cut the cable etc., it is clear 4th amendment territory.
Additional ideas:
1. videotape the entire event.
2. Have the laptop set up so that it records and transmits police conversations once you activate it. That would be very interesting, no?
Don’t be so hard on the cops. They’re underpaid civil-servant heroes. So what if they take property from potentially criminal scumbags. Besides, these low-lifes may have used the laptops to make music which could only lead to dancing and happiness. I say give ‘em a break. Cops’ kids deserve a good Christmas too.
Cop to DJ: “you wouldn’t happen to have the box that this came in, would ya? Manual and receipt would be nice too.”
Re: Comcast.
1) this seems like somewhat typical political pandering to get kid-glove treatment by the government. But it’s also because Obama has shown he is willing ot be bought with such tactics. See Big PHARMA.
Hahaha! Thanks for an uplifting moment on a Monday morning.
SJE: Amendment to your #1; install cameras that record remotely. Regular readers of this site will know that cops love taking portable video cameras, too.
I have no doubt as to why Comcast is supporting the one payer health care system. My hubby works for them and they just upped the amount we have to pay out of pocket 30%. It was that or take a major cut in our benefits. As soon as the one payer system is in we will be dumped off into it. And we wont even be able to afford to buy our own coverage because the health care bill will make that all but illegal and unaffordable..
#14: of course, that goes without saying.
I don’t agree with a flat tax or consumption tax and I believe it harms the poor.
The reason I don’t like these taxes is because, as they are proposed, there are no decuctions, credits, or write-offs. These are essential to the lower classes, even if some higher income citizens take advantage of them. I understand the simplicity of these type of taxes, but I believe them to be less beneficial to the poor.
I spent 10 years enlisted in the Air Force. I know plenty of people who would’ve never been able to make ends meet were it not for the EITC and the Child Tax Credits they received. A newly-enlisted soldier is paid $1,400 a month ($16,800 a year), pre-tax. That is well below the poverty line for a family of 4 (a very common sight in the military). People who make minimum wage aren’t much better ($7.25/hour or $15,000 a year). I don’t know how those people are supposed to be able to afford to live and strive to improve their financial lives (like go to school or learn a new craft).
Rachel Porcaro — more evidence of the auto-cannibalization of American society.
As real money becomes scarcer, the powers-that-be will target anyone and everyone (except themselves of course).
The ultimate realization will be that there may be tech bubbles, commodities bubbles and housing bubbles, but these are just symptoms. There’s only one foundational bubble — a bubble in people.
When the people bubble pops, watch out.
#17 Nando. Odds are that not too many newly enlisted soldiers have 2 kids and wife at home. When I was enlisted in the Navy, my base pay $353 a month. Plus three hots and a cot. According to my division chief, all I needed in life was whatever the US Navy issued in my seabag.
Amen. We ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
There are about a billion horrors that will happen before the state curbs spending.
I support the Flat Tax. Everyone pays about $3,000/year (and no guv debt allowed). THAT is a flat tax. Maybe, just maybe you’d see some prudent spending.
This guy has some ideas (http://tinyurl.com/yapjnkx
). Nothing new. I did most of the same things thru my 20s. Of course I also didn’t get married and pop out a couple kids when I was a cab driver.
You are not entitled to my earnings because you want a house of your own, kids, and a car before you can afford such.
You keep handing out free meal tickets and I’ll serve real financial advice. We’ll see who helps more.
The reason you need all sorts of benefits in the military is that the base pay is low. This is not an argument against flat tax. It is an argument for raising the basic level of pay and/or other services provided.
Another reason to hate comcast.
Nando -
I was also a Navy puke for 6 years. I didn’t have kids, so I wasn’t eligible for any credit whatsoever.
The $1400 is accurate for an E-1, but few if any fellow sailors stayed at that rate for long. E-2 pay is $1568.70 which comes out to $18,816.
In Norfolk, VA, BAH (Off-base housing allowance) for a sailor with dependants is $1315 a month (tax-free), so that bumps up the total yearly total to $34,596. Now, if you live on-base, you get room & board for free. If the spouse works, then there is more income obviously.
We didn’t make much, for sure, but the modern sailor/soldier isn’t dirt broke either.
By eliminating the need to “give out” credit to those via a complicated matrix (and hassling those who try to get by living at their parent’s house), I only see a benefit. The consumption tax proposal I have seen allowed for certain amount of food items to be tax free.
Note, too, that if you stick with that army job for 20 years, you get to retire at half salary for the rest of your life, in addition to other benefits. The whole “poverty line” spiel rests on the assumption that the wife can’t work.
Mike and SJE
I used my military experience because I remember quite a bit of my coworkers who were E3-E5s with familes of 4-6 (including themselves, obviously). Most of them lived on-base so their housing was paid for, but they still had to pay for food, car, gas, etc… Most of them were also on food stamps because it just wasn’t enough.
As for those who lived off-base, they ended up paying out-of-pocket for their housing, plus utilities.
I am by no means saying these are the only ones who benefit. I grew up in a poor household of 4. My mother worked before becoming disabled and my father did odd jobs here and there. My brother and I grew up in the “poor neighborhood” in town. If it weren’t for tax breaks/credits and government aid (food stamps), I don’t believe I would be where I am today (I’d probably be in jail for stealing or selling drugs). The government aid and tax benefits allowed my family to provide just enough for me. I took that and made a good life for myself. However, I still think about those poor people who try to get by on minimum wage and still feed/house their families.
Most people who post on this board, I’m willing to bet, grew up and live in the middle class. I don’t expect everyone to see where I’m coming from but I do want to express the reasons why I think that these tax breaks are not only beneficial, but necessary to the country.
What I could support, tho, is a flat tax system with deductions/credits for those individuals and families considered to be lower-middle class or below. For example, everyone would pay a flat tax but you would be exempt if you earn less than $20K a year for an individual or $40K for a family (adjusted each year for inflation).
#9
Really, using H&R isn’t that suspicious for a low income tax filer, especially one getting EIC. Those filer’s are the bread and butter for the tax prep companies. The last week of January and the first couple weeks of February are the busy times for those outfits. And it is all EIC returns. The typical EIC filer wants the money and wants it NOW, so they will pay the increased fees and high percentage rates for the rapid refund loans.
In other news – the trial for Stephanie Lazarus has started, and the judge knocked down the insulting motion filed by the defense to drop the case on grounds that her enablers had violated her due process rights by not properly investigating her 23 years ago.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/12/07/state/n123932S79.DTL&type=politics
And, Stoddard’s still in “jail”, with internet access. Who knew they had internet in the tents? Oh, wait, what’s that you say? They don’t? Hmm, maybe Joe’s keeping him in a nicer place.
The Goldwater Institute is all over this one:
http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/article/4197
Oh, and Judge Flores isn’t getting any inmates in her courtroom. Why? Well, Adam’s locked up, what’re they gonna do?
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2009/12/officers_detention_stalls_case.php
Oh, assign someone else to his position? That would make too much sense.
A flat tax with exemptions isn’t a flat tax, but a tiered system based on income, just like we have now.
The Iranian Break Dancers video is actually pretty encouraging. These guys are trying desperately to emulate Americans. It’s pretty lame looking now and good for a laugh, but there are serious positive signs here. This is a long way from the government staged “Death to America!” rallies. The first guy in the video is actually wearing what appears to be a home made jacket styled after something James Brown might wear.
Rock-a-Billy/Greaser hair styles, leather fringe, and break dancing: Freedom’s fertilization.
No shit? My initial statement was based entirely on intuition, so I don’t doubt you, but that seems pretty crazy. I always assumed tax preparers made their money off high-income people with genuinely hard taxes, and middle class people who can afford it, but are too lazy to sort through the documents, fill in the boxes, and do the addition.
I agree with Nando about government programs in general, but IMO he’s downplaying military pay. Sure E1-E4′s don’t make much, but they also don’t have much value in non-combat jobs. It doesn’t take too long to make E-5, and that’s plenty to support a family. It sucks that it’s hard to support 4 children with an entry-level job, but we’d probably all be clerks at music stores if it would support a middle-class lifestyle. Incentives matter.
I’m not an expert on the consumption tax plans, but it’s my understanding that most of the plans would send a ~$3500 check to everyone every year. That would be enough to keep all but the very lowest earners off welfare. Ideologically, I like the idea, and it has the added benefit of encourage saving — something this country needs.
On the IRS thing. She didn’t claim her tips. An honest discussion has to start there. I had lunch with a couple good friends who work for a state revenue service. They said her wages were too low to put up a big fight, but if they saw it, they’d make her claim the tips or pull a number off a chart if she didn’t. They also thought the additional audits were crazy.
So a message to those who work for tips: the days of pocketing tips are over. Claim at least some of them. You’re much less likely to show up on the radar if you just claim 25% of your tips.
The military is the perfect example of how socialism works. When they want more people, but don’t want to raise salaries to attract them, they just force people into the job under threat of prison (ie: the draft).
I know, it’s completely off topic, but someone mentioned military, so I thought I’d just inject that little insightful piece of wisdom, because the audacity of asking someone to risk their very existence for their country and then being too cheap to pay the market rate for it is beyond words.
How the fuck did we come to this anyway?
I’m so glad I no longer work for the IRS. Being sniper bait is not fun.
I would claim about 25% of my tips back in the day for that reason..
Dave you’re a smart chap so it’s distressing to me to see you so completely wrong about socialism. The concept of socialism is that people are reward proportionally to how hard they work…
You’re joking, right?
Accountants might, but the big tax prep companies go for the EIC crowd. Sure you have some of the high income people and people who have to pay come in the first of April, but those 3 weeks the first of the season are where they make and break their entire year.
#37,
No, he’s actually pretty on the money, even if you go with the lowest understanding of socialism. Even in the lowest common denominator debates – moron socialists vs. moron capitalists (and that’s basically everything that’s said on the matter besides maybe discussions involving Kevin Carson and the few LVMI types willing to engage with what he actually says rather than attack silly strawmen) – the socialist is on the side of rewarding individuals for their “hard work” (it’s even right there, in that, y’know, Labor Theory of Value of theirs.. y’know, the one they’re always criticized for holding to) and the capitalist is on the side of rewarding… well, capital centralization in the hands of a class of Wise Managers (whether semi-market-selected or not; there are a lot of defenders of capitalism who aren’t libertarian, self-consciously or otherwise).
Welfare statism got incorporated into center-left politics for a number of reasons, but it doesn’t follow necessarily from socialism.
A friend of mine is on SS disability after a spinal cord injury. He lives on, and I shit you not, 539 dollars a month. I’ve taken care of his finances and paid his bills when he was sick-I know what he gets. No food stamps, no other income. Nothing. He obviously doesn’t have enough income to even file. He got audited. Had to spend all sorts of money he didn’t have on a tax accountant. Ended up costing him over a grand, which for him was a couple of months income. He’d have lost his house if I hadn’t paid his property taxes for him that year.
Matt and JOR:
My point is that soldiers who are drafted are forced, under threat of prison, to work for a wage that they would not otherwise be willing to accept. In other words, the value of their labor is determined by someone other than themselves. In a market based system, the military would be required to raise wages until their recruiting goals were satisfied which, if you’re sending soldiers off to die by the thousands in some god forsaken foreign country, might be quite high.
Feel completely free to tell me I’m full of shit, but in my entire life on this planet, I have never had anyone argue that socialism is a system that insists on pricing labor according to a free market. Mostly socialism succeeds at attracting adherents by promising to take the wealth of others (ie: capital) and give it to labor (ie: “the masses”). While coveting the wealth of others is usually called greed, in socialism, it’s a noble virtue.
Now, you can claim all you want that socialism is not about welfare, but please don’t try to tell me that it recognizes and rewards hard work when, in fact, it’s entirely based on the premise of wholesale confiscation of the wealth created by the hard work of those who have been most successful and giving it to those most notable for their utter lack of unique accomplishment (which, by the way, is exactly what welfare does).
One always hates to be skeptical when the IRS is accused of being jerks, but I can imagine a fact set where an audit isn’t unreasonable. Let’s say someone is reporting income of 20K – 2000 hours at 10 an hour. The person is reporting much less in tip income than is normal in that profession, and is also collecting a large earned income credit. If that person is failing to report income while collecting EIC, they’re collecting money that should go to someone more needy.
The article doesn’t have enough of the facts to tell whether the IRS is legitimately investigating a case with red flags out the wazoo, or ineptly persecuting the downtrodden, or something in between. No one likes the IRS, but I’m not a fan of welfare cheats either – and if you’re chiseling on your taxes while collecting EIC, you’re a welfare cheat.
[...] Morning Links | The AgitatorYour daily outrage. IRS agents target single mother of two. Just infuriating. All about Argentina’s piqueteros, essentially professional … SFO DJs: one of the commenters had a great idea: put a lock on the laptop and give the key to a friend. If the cops want to cut the cable etc., it is clear 4th amendment territory. [...]