Posted on 03/06/2010 10:35:33 AM PST by cajuncow
This year, more Americans and businesses may be asking: Where's my tax refund?
That's because cash-strapped states such as North Carolina, Alabama and Hawaii have been forced to slow down issuing income tax refunds to individuals and businesses because of a lack of funds in their budget.
Kansas has hinted that a delay might be possible, and processing paper refunds in Iowa has slowed because the state doesn't haven't enough employees to get them processed faster.
Another state, New York, is still considering whether they'll follow the likes of Hawaii and delay refund payments.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
If the government employees would actually work, that just might make a difference.
Interest free? You mean like the .6% crappy interest the banks are paying?
Or the lousy 1% interest or so that CD's and Savings bonds are paying?
If you could get more than a dollar interest on savings accounts in one year, it might be something to worry about.
Some people actually use the income tax and large refund as a savings plan. I know it's not the best method, but it forces people to live within their means who might not necessarily save it if they brought it home.
If it works for them, that's their business.
South Dakota’s looking pretty good now, too! No income tax, and sales tax is only 4%. Of course, you always have to be on the lookout for dangerous herds of jackalopes...
Interesting article. We e-filed on January 15 and had our California state refund and federal refund in the bank before the end of January.
All the money being stolen at the state and federal level would more than cover the tax-paying public’s delayed tax refunds.
Next year at this time, it will be the Federal Government...
That's the key. e-File early. Like any good Ponzi scheme, the governments will pay off the first people to withdraw money, to keep the scam afloat for as long as possible. You don't want to be in the back half of that herd, though...
Don’t you love it when we gals are right? ;-)
RE: “In a perfect world overpaying would not be an issue. Problem is many self employed people overpaid this past year.Their incomes dropped and they were making quarterly payments reflecting the previous years tax liability.”
*************
If these self-employed persons with dropping incomes were paying attention, they’d know they needed to refigure their estimateds. My accountant and I are in touch a couple of times a year for just that purpose. Yeah, it’s too bad all of this is happening, but more than ever we have to look out for ourselves.
I got both my state anf federal refunds.
But then I filed as soon as I got the forms through the mail.
This is why I have my withholding set so low that I always have to pay up in April.
This year I ‘owed’ $1600. But at least I had the use of all my money for the year... and the government was left wanting.
Eh, just bribe the local property tax assessor to state that your property is only worth one dollar.
It’s the Obamanation way...
Or they could invest the money into the stock market. I jumped in as soon as the stock market hit bottom. It was nice having the extra cash to do so... thanks partly to the fact that our government wasn’t confiscating it. And they weren’t because I’ve always kept my withholding to the absolute minimum.
Of course, I’ve got to actually cut a check to Uncle Sam every year in back taxes... but at least I’ve got the use of more of my money every year.
People who use the income-tax refund as a savings plan are earning a 0% interest on their money. Even a cr@ppy 1% interest CD is better than *THAT*.
And you argue the benefits of a 0% interest savings plan? Why?!?
Hmmmm, I think I’d a gone back thru the itemization’s and found some more deductions and wiped that out.
Only if they wouldn’t have saved that money at all any other way.
Sure, if they had invested it, they could have earned that crappy 1% or less, but some people don’t have the self-control to do that and so find it easier to have it held out in the form of taxes and get a refund later that they’ll invest. A bigger amount is harder to blow that having that extra few dollars a week that will get spent.
Again, if that’s the way they want to do it, what’s it to anyone else? You may think it’s foolish and you wouldn’t do it, but it is their choice.
We received ours two weeks ago, so of course the truck broke down this week. Told my husband, yes we have to use the refund, no we don’t get to keep it long, but at least it’s there to use.
That’s happened for the 28 years of our marriage. LOL
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