Posted on 10/28/2013 3:22:38 PM PDT by Kaslin
EGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Last week, ladies and gentlemen, I shared with you a little tidbit that was leaked to me, if you will, by an accountant. And what I pointed out was -- and, by the way, at RushLimbaugh.com we linked to a similar story at PowerLine, which had apparently found the same thing. There was a little paragraph from the joint taxation committee or some such thing, and it pointed out -- and I made a big hullabaloo about this last week -- that the Obamacare law specifically says that the IRS cannot attach liens or garnish wages in order to collect money from you or anybody else in the form of a tax or a fine for not having Obamacare. That they must get that money from your tax refund, and if you don't have a tax refund then there is nothing mandating that you buy Obamacare insurance, and there is nothing mandating that you pay a fine.
So, in other words, according to Obamacare itself, there is no mandate. The Obamacare law itself specifies that you cannot have a lien placed or garnishes on your income, bank account, wages, what have you, to pay the fine or tax for not having an insurance plan under Obamacare. And if that's the case, there's no mandate. Well, there were several Drive-By news media sites that ridiculed me, as usual, and made fun and said that I was launching into something and I didn't know what I was talking about.
Lo and behold, The Politico, "Rush Limbaugh's Guide to Dodging Obamacare Tax Penalty." And they say that I'm right. "Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh says he’s discovered a sure-fire way to skirt Obamacare’s penalties for failing to obtain health coverage next year -- but you’d have to give up a fat tax refund. ... What Mr. Limbaugh said hinges entirely on people doing their taxes so they don't get a refund, which is the way to go, even apart from beating the Obamacare tax."
It really is, but I know most people are gonna continue to arrange themselves so they get a refund because they like that big lump sum of money every spring. But from a strictly economic financial standpoint, it's not the wisest thing you could do, because that's just your money anyway that you have paid. It's money that you do not owe, that you've paid via withholding over the year, and when you file your return, the overpayment is calculated and here comes your refund, but without any interest, without any penalties. So you've given your money away for a year for the government to use, and then they theoretically give it back to you.
I remember when I worked for the Kansas City Royals, everybody there seemed to get these massive refunds every year. And they'd run around, "Oh, yeah, boy, really, my accountant is so damn good." They'd brag about how they're shafting the government. I didn't know any better. So I called my dad's secretary and said, "What are you doing wrong here? I mean, everybody around me is getting these huge refunds and I'm not getting anything." So I sent every credit card receipt. She said, "I'm sorry, you're not getting a refund because we're withholding on you properly." I still didn't understand.
I didn't understand this until much later, that what they were doing was overpaying out the wazoo. They were limiting their take-home pay. They were maximizing their deductions all in exchange for getting a big refund every year, in some cases these people got $4,000 refunds. And of course that's nice to get a $4,000 lump sum. Whoever has that at one time? So it's a tough thing to tell people to structure their withholding so that they don't ever get a refund 'cause most people like it, but if you have a refund, then the IRS can come grab whatever they want from it in the form of a penalty or fine or whatever the law says they can get.
But if you don't get a refund, then they can't touch you. If you don't get a refund, there's no mandate. The mandate falls apart here. This is where the Drive-Bys thought that I was off my rocker again and had no idea what I was talking about and lying to you good people, and now The Politico has found out. They went out, talked to experts, and here's the paragraph: "Experts say Limbaugh is correct on one point: The IRS lacks teeth in enforcing the individual mandate." Bingo. There is no mandate if they lack the teeth to enforce it.
I don't know when the last time The Politico ever admitted that I was right about anything. But even at that they have to claim I was only half right because they have an anonymous source which said the IRS does intend to collect interest on any unpaid penalties. But the interest rate now is 1%. I think people will risk it, frankly. So I just wanted to pass this on to you, too, folks. You get the truth on this program, and you get the facts on this program. I don't make it up just for the purposes of advancing my agenda. The other side does that.
END TRANSCRIPT
I think you will find this interesting
If you don't pay it, it will just accrue penalties and interest.
It's only a matter of time before Soetoro unilaterally decides The IRS can attach your wages.
Time to update those W4’s.
Rush is probably wrong on the level of accrued penalty. I doubt the IRS interest rate on uncollected taxes is 1%. I just googled “irs rate on overdue tax” and found that, in addition to any late penalties, the interest itself is “3% over the short-term Federal rate”, whatever that is taken to be by law.
Thanks- it is indeed!
Low income people that get earned income credit and child credits get a bigger return than just what they have paid. So they end up not paying any income tax. I guess if they have the penalty taken out it’s ok, it was just free money anyway.
Wrong, they can not tax you for it. The only thing they can do is, if you have a refund coming deduct it either from your refund or keep your refund and if you don’t get a refund they can not take money from you
This is a “good thing”. The feedback loop on this behavior will be that more people will up their withholding.
Starve the beast.
I agree. People who get refunds are idiots.
One single mom I know was bummed out because the IRS was grabbing her "refund" to pay back the student loans she defaulted on. My response was "look at it as having your loans paid off for free". She didn't really groove on that concept.
You need to reed the link in the first paragraph
Sorry, make that the second paragraph
I met my wife this way. She came up to me at work to tell me I can’t claim 13 dependents. I told her that I knew it and when the IRS sends me a letter I’ll correct my dependents.
I worked as a contract designer and didn’t work the entire year, but they were withholding as if I did.
Yes, 3% over the Fed. short term rate, but compounded daily...:^)
Don’t you mean they will reduce their withholding by claiming more exemptions? You still have to be careful and do it just right because you can pay a penalty if your withholding has been too low when you file.
As I said on another thread, VAT here we come.
What I find interesting is that in effect the Government is using your money for a year for free.
Now: If everyone corrects their W-4 that is money the Government does not have to spend, and they will have to borrow more for that year increasing the debt.
I am sure the Government does not keep that money in a lockbox but spends it.
Of course I also expect them to go against the law and find a way to make us pay penalties .
Correct. These are the rules “for now” Obama has proven he has no problem rewriting the rules.
I also bet the IRS will change the rules so that all payments made to them will be applied to the obamacare fine/tax first, then your tax payment.
All to make it “fair” ya know.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.