Sushi Money

With tax season here, many of us are pulling out the shoeboxes full of receipts and sorting through 1099’s this month. I don’t usually have all the necessary forms until mid-February or beyond, but getting a start now makes things a lot easier.

Once again it’s time for TurboTax… software I’ve been using for over 20 years. I almost dropped the program this year and switched to H&R Tax Cut when Intuit jacked up charges for extra returns and printing functions. Fortunately a loud outcry by TurboTax users convinced Intuit to reverse plans for increasing fees. 

Overall it’s decent software, and makes filing your taxes much easier.  I’m glad that I can import last year’s tax file to save a lot of typing, but filling out tax forms is never simple in itself- even with software.  It’s a tedious annual ritual that most of us faithfully perform.  Of course it would be nice to have a few of the perks of our vaunted leaders in Congress.

For example, a GOP Congressman from Texas has intoduced a bill that would eliminate IRS late fees. What a grand idea- it’s called the “Rangel Rule” after House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y:

Rangel, who writes the country’s tax policies, acknowledged last fall that he failed to pay thousands in real estate taxes for rental income he earned from a property in the Dominican Republic.

As of September 2008 the Harlem Democrat reportedly paid back more than $10,000 in taxes but that did not include any IRS penalties.

“Your citizens back home should have the same rights and benefits that come to you as a member of congress. You shouldn’t be treated any differently under the law than your citizens back home,” Congressman John Carter, R-Texas, said.

He added that citizens should receive the “same courtesy” that the IRS is allegedly granting Rangel and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who also recently acknowledged a failure to pay taxes.

Will the bill pass? Probably not, but maybe it will bring a little attention to issues like this. Carter, a former judge, said he is trying to focus in a what he believes is a double standard and add some levity to the debate.

“I am raising this issue not so much to just push the issue but to open the discussion. I don’t think it’s wrong for us to start having a free discussion in congress and with a certain amount of humor in it about how should people be treated in congress,” he said.

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Sounds like a good idea. I think when folks get into Congress they forget what it’s like for the average American.  And the average American has become quite upset at the recent nomination of high-profile people who haven’t figured out how to pay their taxes properly. 

“An overwhelming number of Americans are outraged by tax cheats, according to an Internal Revenue Service poll released after two top US administration nominees withdrew over tax scandals.”

“The 89 percent of Americans who find it “not at all acceptable” to cheat the agency was the highest recorded since the survey of taxpayer attitudes began in 2002, the IRS said.”

“The poll was released after President Barack Obama’s candidate to become Health Secretary, Tom Daschle, abruptly withdrew Tuesday after it was revealed he had paid more than 120,000 dollars in back taxes.” 

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Whatever your situation, the most important thing about tax season is to file your taxes! Everyone has fears about tax season, most of which are unfounded. But putting off filing taxes, or not responding to IRS notices just makes things worse. Here’s a quick look at 7 Tax Terrors and what you can do to overcome them, and TaxHelpOnline has a more thorough look at helping solve and figure out tax problems. The first line is a good one:

“General Accounting Office studies have shown that IRS correction notices are wrong half the time. The common correction notices include claims that made an error in your return, that you failed to file a return or underreported the income in your return. If you get a correct notice from the IRS that you do not understand, there is a good chance it was issued in error.”

You never know- but one thing is for sure: Avoiding responding to the IRS will not help you resolve the problem. I’m not using a CPA at present, but you can be sure that if my taxes become too complicated or I’m concerned about doing them correctly, that I’ll find one pretty quickly.

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Taxes aren’t the only issue where most Americans face challenges that our leaders in Congress don’t understand. Take the global warming debate for example- President Obama and his party want to pass a host of climate legislation that is quite a mess based on divergent geographic needs and interests. This could not only affect real jobs and manufacturing, but also impact the average American’s energy bills each month, and overall U.S. economic growth. Over time we may have to pay a lot higher prices for our energy needs in winter, especially for folks living in the midwest.

“By coincidence or design, most of the policy makers on Capitol Hill and in the administration charged with shaping legislation to address global warming come from California or the East Coast, regions that lead the country in environmental regulation and the push for renewable energy sources.”

“That is a problem, says a group of Democratic lawmakers from the Midwest and Plains States, which are heavily dependent on coal and manufacturing. The lawmakers have banded together to fight legislation they think might further damage their economies.”

I’m one of those midwesterners who depends upon a diverse mix of resources to supply our energy needs- and I can assure you our monthly bills are high enough. Personally we already do everything we can at present to lessen our use of energy in winter at home. There’s only so much more you can do- and at some point we’re just going to pay higher taxes and fees because someone has a grand plan to “lessen our dependence” on the need for certain resources.  That debate is just getting started…

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