Posted on 02/24/2015 1:50:02 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
Customers are paying back an average of $530, which has caused a 17 percent drop in the average return so far this spring, according to the analysis by the tax services giant.
H&R Block has predicted that “most filers” would owe some of their subsidies back to the federal government because they were relying on 2012 income.
The new data, which was released Tuesday, only represents about six weeks of tax filings. Still, it could pose a significant challenge for the administration as it faces an already tough tax season.
“It’s costing taxpayers a large percentage of their refund – a refund many of them count on to pay household expenses,” Mark Ciaramitaro, vice president of H&R Block health care and tax services, wrote in a statement.
Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services asked 800,000 people to delay their tax filings because the agency sent out the wrong forms. The average refund so far this year is about $3,000, according to H&R Block.
Officials said last week that less than 10 percent of people had filed their taxes.
Why would someone lock up so much money all year long? Shaking my head....
Interesting. I will be anxious to see how this all plays out, when statistics for the majority of tax returns are available.
I have a pet peeve: use of “income tax return” or shortened versions thereof, when what is meant is, “income tax refund”.
ha ha!
probably cutting into EIC
Different things. You need to file an income tax return to get an income tax refund (or in my case, figure out how much extra to pay).
Almost all of the people getting multi thousand dollar “refunds” at H&R Block had zero federal income tax withheld on their wages. They are collect Earned Income Tax Credits paid for by you and me. H&R Block Inc. loves those democrats.
They are not locking up their money, they are getting EITC- in other words, tax refunds of money they never paid in the first place.
From what I have heard, if you have one illegitimate kid, you get “back” $5,000 in income tax “returns”. With zero care, looks like that’s been cut down to $3,000.
Ain’t America great!
A gal I used to work with said it was the only way she would save.
I never understood it eiither.
.
One thing that seems to be getting overlooked here is the effect on the economy with smaller tax refunds. A lot of discretionary spending results from tax refunds.
In the private sector, this is what is commonly known as a “bait and switch” con.
And how many of them are blinder than a rat’s ass Democrat Party voters and voted to reelect him in 2012?
You SUCKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I share your pet peeve. The people in the news media get all of the basic terminology wrong. You don’t file taxes. You file a tax return. Some people who file tax returns pay taxes. If you get money back from the IRS you are getting a tax refund, not a tax return. What bothers me the most is news media stories about illegal aliens filing tax returns so that they can pay taxes. Pure BS. If they had to pay a dime the illegals would not file anything with the IRS.
There should be no federal income tax withholding. Everyone should be forced to write a check to the IRS every 3 months like those of us who are self employed. That would quickly result in universal calls for tax cuts.
Instead, the majority of the sheeple have been trained to look forward to filing their income tax returns so they can get a big check from the government. Free money, hot damn!
They would rather do that than risk owing taxes. Remember, many people aren’t accountants. They live in fear of making a mistake.
People like that are stupid. They could have a direct deposit amount put in a locked savings account (Xmas club).
Explain this to them and they come up with other excuses. I think some people think getting a “refund” is lowering their tax liablities.
And some of the TV commercial ads, encouraging people to come in and spend their “tax returns”.... to buy new cars or furniture or appliances...
This same stunt was played with the ‘stimulus’ checks early in Obama’s administration.
You are given an advance against your tax refund. That is all.
I never understood it either.
Possibly because once you give it to Uncle Sam, no matter how badly you need it back, you can’t get it ‘til tax time but with a savings account you can.
The only time we ever got a huge refund was in 2011 when we adopted two children. That was in May of that year and I never gave the tax implications a thought, until income tax filing time. Adding two dependents made a huge difference and we got (if I remember correctly) around $6500 back (No E.I.T.C. involved).
I’ve since adjusted withholding accordingly.
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