How Did You Do Your Taxes This Year?

Intuit, the makers of TurboTax reports that they have two massive tax crunches from people hitting their servers hard filing their taxes. The first wave comes when W-2 forms are released. The second comes at the tax deadline. They say, both are very intense. Where do you fall? Apparently the early rush was particularly strong this year with people who want their $600 stimulus checks.

Seriously? The extra $600 is NOT going to stimulate the economy. It's one week's gas money for most folks. The administation is hard-pressed to find real long-term solutions because they don't really care about average Americans.

Isn't it $300/individual and $600/couple? For under $75k/single, 150k/couple. Don't want to get everyone excited about more money than actually avail.

This post has been edited by techvbjoe on Apr 17 2008, 05:46 AM

Wow, if that is the case, it's deja vu all over again. Didn't we get a paltry $300 back in 2001? Gee, thanks, W. That is REALLY going to help us get through the next 24 hours! I'm beginning to regret not having voted for you TWICE!!

In case you're wondering, it cost taxpayers $42 million just to send out letters notifying people of the upcoming tax refund. It'll probably cost more than that to process the refunds. Don't you think there are plenty of better ways to spend the money that will make more of an impact?

Dear Taxpayer: This letter cost you $42 million
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8492959?source=most_viewed

This post has been edited by mobyfan on Apr 16 2008, 03:06 PM

This article from yesterday says single taxpayers get up to $600. It will cost the U.S. Treasury more than $110 billion.

Married taxpayers earning $150,000 or less will get up to $1200 while single taxpayers earning $75,000 will receive up to $600.

Rebates might be too little, too late
Economists question whether $110 billion in tax rebates will provide stimulus needed to hold-off recession and restart growth.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/28/news/econo...ssion/index.htm

Here's the Rebate Schedule, courtesy of the Mercury News. I believe I get screwed since I had to pay this year (unless the IRS keeps my bank account information on file from previous years) and miss out on the direct deposit. I won't get my check til the very end of the cycle.

REBATE SCHEDULE

The last two numbers of your Social Security number determine when you'll get your economic stimulus payment. If you elected direct deposit for a tax refund, the rebate will also be deposited in that account; otherwise, you'll get a paper check.

Direct deposit

NUMBER DATE

00-20 May 2
21-75 May 9
76-99 May 16

Check mailed

NUMBER DATE

00-09 May 16
10-18 May 23
19-25 May 30
26-38 June 6
39-51 June 13
52-63 June 20
64-75 June 27
76-87 July 4
88-99 July 11

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9191118

I guess I shouldn't complain though since some people may not get refunds at all. In an effort to keep illegal immigrants from getting checks, "lawmakers inadvertently penalized at least a million legal U.S. residents - and tens of thousands of U.S. troops stationed overseas - simply because their spouses lack a Social Security number." I find this horrible and unfair since these people are serving our country. Many other taxpayers are being unfairly penalized as well. They include "legal residents whose spouses are still overseas because of long immigration queues and hundreds of thousands of H-1B work visa holders in Silicon Valley and elsewhere." Ridiculous.

For some U.S. troops, economic stimulus check is not in mail
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9191044?IADI...mercurynews.com