[TrappedInLiberalHell]

This document seems to imply that the advance payment should not be claimed as a rate reduction credit, which I didn't (so I filled out my form correctly). If it was indeed an advance refund, I feel like I was misled. I'm wondering exactly what the true tax reduction was (in other words, if I had filed the exact same return last year, how much less money would I get than I did this year, including the $300?).

My brain hurts. I hope someone can say definitively if I got screwed by the IRS or not.

[Jerry_M]

"My brain hurts. I hope someone can say definitively if I got screwed by the IRS or not."

I can definitively say that you, as well as every other citizen of the United States, gets screwed by the IRS. Every day, every way.

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

Update: I called the IRS refund number, and the automated voice said I made a mistake on my return. I go look at the tax tables, and sure enough, $300 higher. I have the tax table I used at home, not here at work. I didn't pull that number out of my *ss, so I'm thinking I must have had an earlier version of the 2001 tax table. Maybe the government released it early, then reprinted it when Congress passed the tax relief act? I'll check when I get home and post here. I suppose I have no recourse if this is the case, even though I was using an official government publication. They'll probably say I should have made sure beyond all doubt that I received a tax table with the ink still wet from recent printing. In other words, tough sh*t, maggot. I'll give an update here when I discover what happened.

[poet]

And they didn't even kiss you?