Tax return is nearly $3000 LESS because I worked part-time last year!

[HHSTigerFan]

People from the Roman Empire said that too... we can't have 40% of the population paying ZERO income tax, its that simple..

 

[SaraJayne]

Are YOU reading the same thread? LOL....I've read that you can make close to 50K, qualify for the EIC and are still a NON PRODUCTIVE member of society.

To get the EIC you HAVE to work. Go take a peek at the chart that tells how much someone will get. It's on the IRS site. The person that said someone she knows works for a couple of a weeks a year to qualify for the EIC and gets thousands. That's pretty much hogwash. Doesn't work like that unless his/her hourly wage is astronomical for that 2 week period.

Yes, I agree (and I know you have to work to receive the EIC).

But the attitude by some posters seems to be that if you do qualify for the EIC, you are somehow "less" than them.

A question for those posters that seem to think those that qualify for the EIC are somehow less worthy than them ~ at what salary is someone worth your time? At what dollar amount do workers become "people" to you and not "poor peons"?

Like I said before, we don't qualify for the EIC. Not even close. But I don't begrudge or look down my nose at those that do.

Now this non-productive member of society is off to run errands.

 

[tinker&belle]

My mom was a single mother. She would have qualified for welfare, but she worked. She received EIC. Would it have been preferrable for us to be on welfare? We didn't vacation, or have many luxeries. There were weeks when the gallon of milk was gone that was it, we had to wait for payday.

I do remember tax refund time. I usually got one new outfit, shoes if I had outgrown my back to school pair, and one small treat ($10 or so.) Mom usually used the rest of the refund to pay for something that needed done badly like a car repair or to pay medical bills. There was no big screen tv or disney trip for us.

You don't want to live the life of a child whose family qualifies for EIC. As a child I never had what my friends had and life was a constant struggle for my mom who worked very hard. It is really depressing when I remember what things were like as a kid. I didn't know any different then.

I did grow up to graduate college and worked for a long time before I became a SAHM (and no we don't qualify for EIC, my husband has a great position.) So it is not always a generational thing.

 

[allison443]

It's done on a bell scale .look at one of the calculators. If you earn 43,000, and are a single parent with at least 3 children, your EIC credit would be less than 10.00

Oh I see! Thanks. As I said I'm not familiar with it, but reading this thread it kind of sounds like the EIC gives people thousands of dollars.

 

[sam_gordon]

People from the Roman Empire said that too... we can't have 40% of the population paying ZERO income tax, its that simple..

Great! Let's pay people more so they don't qualify for all these benefits.

 

[marie1203]

I agree there are people who abuse the system. But, let's be practical. Look at the sample family you posted about. What should the government be allowed to do? Tell them they're not allowed to have any more kids? Do you want to give that kind of power to the government? Tell them they won't get any more money if they have more children? So you potentially have children going hungry?

As you said, it's easy to say "if this, if that". So come up with a solution. I still say (can't remember if I said it in this thread or another one) go to a flat tax. For every $10K you make, you pay 1% in federal taxes. Cap it at 20%. So if someone is making $90,000, they pay 9% in taxes. Someone making $250K, pays 20%. No credits, no deductions. The IRS spent $11B in 2009 to bring in $2.3T. How much of that could be cut if you simplify the tax code?

I think we make things to easy. I think that to qualify for things like food stamps they should check there credit cards and debit cards and of they are spending money in things that are not necessities then they don't qualify. And I agree with you on the flat tax. If they knew they couldn't get government help that would force them to be more responsible with their finances. I would like to think that they will sacrifice buying cameras, TV's and new cars to feed their children.

 

[disneychrista]

The real questions are, "How do you make teenagers and young adults realize that they need to obtain enough education that they are qualified for high-wage jobs?"

Not everyone can get a college education, then there would be no one to work at McDonalds or Kohls.

 

[Acklander]

People from the Roman Empire said that too... we can't have 40% of the population paying ZERO income tax, its that simple..

Well, since unemployment rate is just under 10% of the population in the U.S. and the underemployment rate is holding steady at about 18% I think the solution is to create quality jobs with living wages. Maybe instead of knocking the people for getting tax credits for being low wage earners we should work on cutting the tax credits for those who ship the jobs overseas. Or would that be considered picking on the wealthy???

 

[HHSTigerFan]

My mom was a single mother. She would have qualified for welfare, but she worked. She received EIC. Would it have been preferrable for us to be on welfare? We didn't vacation, or have many luxeries. There were weeks when the gallon of milk was gone that was it, we had to wait for payday.

I do remember tax refund time. I usually got one new outfit, shoes if I had outgrown my back to school pair, and one small treat ($10 or so.) Mom usually used the rest of the refund to pay for something that needed done badly like a car repair or to pay medical bills. There was no big screen tv or disney trip for us.

You don't want to live the life of a child whose family qualifies for EIC. As a child I never had what my friends had and life was a constant struggle for my mom who worked very hard. It is really depressing when I remember what things were like as a kid. I didn't know any different then.

I did grow up to graduate college and worked for a long time before I became a SAHM (and no we don't qualify for EIC, my husband has a great position.) So it is not always a generational thing.

I think the flip side would be that instead of spending $50B on this entitlement program, the money would be better spent letting the American economy do what it does best and create jobs.. but we have moved to a more socialistic style, now we lose jobs and desire to achieve.

 

[Acklander]

Not everyone can get a college education, then there would be no one to work at McDonalds or Kohls.

If everyone got a college education, we'd have a lot of workers at McDonalds & Kohls who would have to figure out how to pay off those student loans while making minimum wage.

 

[Acklander]

but we have moved to a more socialistic style, now we lose jobs and desire to achieve.

No, the socialistic style is EVERYBODY works to the best of their ability. No one gets huge bonuses, no one lives in poverty, and everyone gets food, housing, education and health care. We're not even close.

 

[HHSTigerFan]

Well, since unemployment rate is just under 10% of the population in the U.S. and the underemployment rate is holding steady at about 18% I think the solution is to create quality jobs with living wages. Maybe instead of knocking the people for getting tax credits for being low wage earners we should work on cutting the tax credits for those who ship the jobs overseas. Or would that be considered picking on the wealthy???

You have a few examples of this?? Or did you hear about it on MSBNC?

 

[tinker&belle]

I think the flip side would be that instead of spending $50B on this entitlement program, the money would be better spent letting the American economy do what it does best and create jobs.. but we have moved to a more socialistic style, now we lose jobs and desire to achieve.

Although that is good rhetoric, it doesn't put milk in the fridge.

 

[HHSTigerFan]

No, the socialistic style is EVERYBODY works to the best of their ability. No one gets huge bonuses, no one lives in poverty, and everyone gets food, housing, education and health care. We're not even close.

Seems like the closer we get to it, the bigger govt gets, the worse off we are..

 

[Acklander]

I think that to qualify for things like food stamps they should check there credit cards and debit cards and of they are spending money in things that are not necessities then they don't qualify. And I agree with you on the flat tax. If they knew they couldn't get government help that would force them to be more responsible with their finances. I would like to think that they will sacrifice buying cameras, TV's and new cars to feed their children.

You really want the government checking to see how you spend your money??? OK, I'm game - maybe we should have checked the spending habits, and credit card bills of the banks and insurance companies we bailed out.

 

[HHSTigerFan]

Although that is good rhetoric, it doesn't put milk in the fridge.

I guess I have always been a big fan of "put your own milk in the fridge, don't ask your neighbor to do it for you"

 

[Acklander]

Seems like the closer we get to it, the bigger govt gets, the worse off we are..

who's worse off? The rich have been getting richer, the poor have been getting poorer and the government has spent the last 10 years putting everything on the credit card.

 

[Trixieplus2]

You really want the government checking to see how you spend your money??? OK, I'm game - maybe we should have checked the spending habits, and credit card bills of the banks and insurance companies we bailed out.

Are you being sarcastic? because that actually does sound like something they should have done to me.

 

[HHSTigerFan]

I think we make things to easy. I think that to qualify for things like food stamps they should check there credit cards and debit cards and of they are spending money in things that are not necessities then they don't qualify. And I agree with you on the flat tax. If they knew they couldn't get government help that would force them to be more responsible with their finances. I would like to think that they will sacrifice buying cameras, TV's and new cars to feed their children.

Or have regional food centers, cut out the practice of letting them buy a name brand item for $4 when they can get an off brand for $1.. Or maybe better yet, be like an insurance company, only allow a certain dollar amount for a product, maybe $3 per pound for meat, anything more and the person pays the difference with cash..

 

[Muushka]

Yes, I agree (and I know you have to work to receive the EIC).

But the attitude by some posters seems to be that if you do qualify for the EIC, you are somehow "less" than them.

A question for those posters that seem to think those that qualify for the EIC are somehow less worthy than them ~ at what salary is someone worth your time? At what dollar amount do workers become "people" to you and not "poor peons"?

Like I said before, we don't qualify for the EIC. Not even close. But I don't begrudge or look down my nose at those that do.

Now this non-productive member of society is off to run errands.

I am a non-productive member of society. I do not work. But I do not take from the government.

As for the bolded statement, I don't care what people earn. $10K or 500K, matters not to me. They are human beings. Someone who earns nothing is a human being.
Someone who continues to make poor choices and feels that those who earn more somehow owe them, that is the 'human' that I have a problem with.

My mom was a single mother. She would have qualified for welfare, but she worked. She received EIC. Would it have been preferrable for us to be on welfare? We didn't vacation, or have many luxeries. There were weeks when the gallon of milk was gone that was it, we had to wait for payday.

I do remember tax refund time. I usually got one new outfit, shoes if I had outgrown my back to school pair, and one small treat ($10 or so.) Mom usually used the rest of the refund to pay for something that needed done badly like a car repair or to pay medical bills. There was no big screen tv or disney trip for us.

You don't want to live the life of a child whose family qualifies for EIC. As a child I never had what my friends had and life was a constant struggle for my mom who worked very hard. It is really depressing when I remember what things were like as a kid. I didn't know any different then.

I did grow up to graduate college and worked for a long time before I became a SAHM (and no we don't qualify for EIC, my husband has a great position.) So it is not always a generational thing.

We did not have a car, so my father didn't have to worry about having it repaired. I wore the same skirt to school on M W and F and on T and TH I wore my other outfit. And we did not have a phone. I knew something was wrong. Food? Let's just say that I was not overweight.

I did not enjoy my childhood. Very sad. But it taught me some very valuable lessons.

And before anyone thinks that I am heartless, I am not. A good friend of mine, single mom with 3 girls were invited to live in my house with me. I helped her out financially as did our friends. The children didn't have the best of everything, but you can be certain that they didn't look at their benefactors with their hands out. They were always appreciative of what was give to them. My friend did not go on welfare (she worked full time, but probably would have qualified for something). This was many years ago, but those girls still remember the kindness that everyone showed them and I am certain that they will be kind to someone in need, as they were.

And we also have a few charities that we contribute to. And no, we don't get to itemize our taxes, so no deductions.

The government has made it very easy for people to become dependent on them (and assured a vote).