Inherent Goodness of People?

[eclark1894]

The couple of clips I saw the the scammer was saying that the person owed money as they had made an erroneous claim on their returns and they were about to send an officer out with a warrant for their arrest. The only way to prevent that happening was to pay up immediately. Even from the UK it seemed bogus but then if they got the right target I can see some being very scared about being arrested, they don't need anything close to a 100% success rate to make money

One thing people should remember is that the IRS doesn't need for you to send them money. If you have a bank account, and your bank will happily give it to them. They can just seize it all. They can and will also garnish your wages from your employer. They can also seize your house, car and real estate. Once they have all that, you'll usually go find them, so a warrant isn't really necessary either.

Telling people that is just scare tactics to intimidate people into acting rashly and quickly without really thinking it through. What the real IRS can and will do is a LOT more intimidating.

 

[Miss B]

Telling people that is just scare tactics to intimidate people into acting rashly and quickly without really thinking it through. What the real IRS can and will do is a LOT more intimidating.

Oh definitely. I'd never want to get on the wrong side of the IRS, that's for sure.

 

[Hornet3d]

One thing people should remember is that the IRS doesn't need for you to send them money. If you have a bank account, and your bank will happily give it to them. They can just seize it all. They can and will also garnish your wages from your employer. They can also seize your house, car and real estate. Once they have all that, you'll usually go find them, so a warrant isn't really necessary either.

Telling people that is just scare tactics to intimidate people into acting rashly and quickly without really thinking it through. What the real IRS can and will do is a LOT more intimidating.

WOW, I never realised they had those sort of powers. The Inland revenue over here can chase you and fine you but not to that degree, well unless you are a large corporation in which case they don't bother chasing and get you to settle by paying a few percent of what you really owe, which of course they do as they save billions that way.

 

[Satira Capriccio]

Oh yeah. Forget the monsters in the closet and under the bed. The IRS that is the scariest monster of all.

They take, and then you have to prove they are in the wrong.

One year we ended up owing a couple thousand dollars in taxes. I'm still not sure how that happened, because we had always paid more in taxes during the year than we owed. Needless to say, we didn't have that kind of money to pay. So, we requested an extension. Only to discover the extension was only for filing, we still had to pay the whole amount before April 15. If we didn't, we'd be hit with massive late fees.

So, we borrowed money against our credit cards ... and learned that was the absolute last thing you EVER wanted to do as the interest was absolutely deadly.

 

[Miss B]

YIKES!!! That couldn't have been fun.

 

[StudioMartillo]

Good grief!
See, that's why I absolutely refuse to make any money. Sounds crazy I know but a simple life is so beautiful.
How is this possible you may wonder?
Anarchy. The performing arts is anarchy.
You don't know what you might get and no one has any obligation to give you anything.
You make people happy or you starve.
But at least if you live in perpetual poverty the revenuers will have no interest in bothering you.
Well, I've survived over 60 years this way and my whole life has been great fun.
Except for a couple times when I crashed my motorcycle anyway.

 

[Hornet3d]

In the last few years I have been both semi and fully retired and I have two pensions. There has not been a year yet when they have got my taxes right (here in the UK if you are a low to moderate income you do not have to submit your taxes the Inland Revenue just issues your employer or pension provider with the relevant code). Luckily, in all but one year, there was an over payment so they owed me money. Mind you that does not help as you pay too much tax in a given year and then wait another four months or so to have it refunded. This is not helped my the fact I am on a reduced pension as the company went bust and it has so far taken eight years to resolve the mess in different courts and different countries. There are signs it may be finally resolved next year but I am not holding my breath.

 

[Hornet3d]

Oh yeah. Forget the monsters in the closet and under the bed. The IRS that is the scariest monster of all.

They take, and then you have to prove they are in the wrong.

One year we ended up owing a couple thousand dollars in taxes. I'm still not sure how that happened, because we had always paid more in taxes during the year than we owed. Needless to say, we didn't have that kind of money to pay. So, we requested an extension. Only to discover the extension was only for filing, we still had to pay the whole amount before April 15. If we didn't, we'd be hit with massive late fees.

So, we borrowed money against our credit cards ... and learned that was the absolute last thing you EVER wanted to do as the interest was absolutely deadly.

That seems both unfair and high handed, no wonder you pay more than you think you owed. Shame that your past good history did not seem to count for much.

 

[Miss B]

Mind you that does not help as you pay too much tax in a given year and then wait another four months or so to have it refunded.

YIKES, it only took about 10-12 days for me to get my Federal refund this year. The State/City refund I had to wait 6 weeks, but 4 months?? I think I'd kill if I had to wait that long for a tax refund.

 

[eclark1894]

Oh yeah. Forget the monsters in the closet and under the bed. The IRS that is the scariest monster of all.

They take, and then you have to prove they are in the wrong.

One year we ended up owing a couple thousand dollars in taxes. I'm still not sure how that happened, because we had always paid more in taxes during the year than we owed. Needless to say, we didn't have that kind of money to pay. So, we requested an extension. Only to discover the extension was only for filing, we still had to pay the whole amount before April 15. If we didn't, we'd be hit with massive late fees.

So, we borrowed money against our credit cards ... and learned that was the absolute last thing you EVER wanted to do as the interest was absolutely deadly.

They wouldn't let you make payment arrangements? For a measly couple thou? How many years had you been not paying?

 

[Satira Capriccio]

Nope. Payment in full by April 15.

We paid taxes every year. It's just we always had more tax withdrawn from paychecks during the year than what was required. Consequently, we had paid far more toward taxes than what we actually owed, and we always got a refund of the difference. Usually, we overpaid between $800 to $1,200 ... which was then refunded.

Except for that one year when enough tax had not been withdrawn from our paychecks during the year. Most likely, it was because of job changes (which also involved relocation). John's job probably put us in a higher tax bracket too.

 

[Deleted member 325]

One of the wierd things I am dealing with that even comes close is - in a certain Xbox Live game I very much enjoy, I have run across a character with My first name and Last innitial. I am trying to convince myself this is a coincidence. There have to be plenty of people whose last name starts with the Batman* symbol right?

In other games I have run into plenty of clones (names so similar to my rather unique gamer tag as to not be coincidence).

I don't do social media any more. Not extremely active in many forums either (too many battles with trolls that just wear you down after a while). Some of the worst behavior I ever saw was on the older Deviant Art forums though. It never stayed confined to just forums - always resulted in hostile and abusive posts on artwork, blogs, profile pages... so many there were so childish. I think my blocklist at one point reached their encoded limit. One of the arguments was over a response I made regarding spray sealers and preserving pencil artworks (the infamous why not to use hairspray debacle) - was seriously trying to be helpful and share years of first hand technical knowledge. -_-

*Actual last name letter omitted for security purposes.

 

[eclark1894]

Nope. Payment in full by April 15.

We paid taxes every year. It's just we always had more tax withdrawn from paychecks during the year than what was required. Consequently, we had paid far more toward taxes than what we actually owed, and we always got a refund of the difference. Usually, we overpaid between $800 to $1,200 ... which was then refunded.

Except for that one year when enough tax had not been withdrawn from our paychecks during the year. Most likely, it was because of job changes (which also involved relocation). John's job probably put us in a higher tax bracket too.

Satira, the reason I'm surprised is because a few years ago (2009-2013) I was unemployed. If I hadn't own my own home, I'd have been homeless, and I almost lost that. But I owed the IRS some money. They had decided that they had given me too much much back in a refund and they wanted it back. I called them and made payment arrangements for $50 a month on about $1500.

 

[Hornet3d]

Satira, the reason I'm surprised is because a few years ago (2009-2013) I was unemployed. If I hadn't own my own home, I'd have been homeless, and I almost lost that. But I owed the IRS some money. They had decided that they had given me too much much back in a refund and they wanted it back. I called them and made payment arrangements for $50 a month on about $1500.

That is the sort of response I would expect, why would you make life difficult for those that are willing to pay when so many are doing all they can not to pay at all.

 

[Satira Capriccio]

This was in the late 80s, and while the IRS now allows you to arrange payments (with penalties and interest), we weren't given that option. Maybe that was an option then too, but the person I spoke to didn't know or didn't care.

 

[Hornet3d]

This was in the late 80s, and while the IRS now allows you to arrange payments (with penalties and interest), we weren't given that option. Maybe that was an option then too, but the person I spoke to didn't know or didn't care.

I think the latter is very possible, often finding a resolution to something is a question on finding the right person which is usually not only the one who knows the rules but also wants to help.

 

[Bonnie2001]

This is not helped my the fact I am on a reduced pension as the company went bust and it has so far taken eight years to resolve the mess in different courts and different countries. There are signs it may be finally resolved next year but I am not holding my breath.

So, you might be rich next year?

 

[Hornet3d]

So, you might be rich next year?

Thanks but the reality is probably nearer to the fact that the pension will still be reduced but I should not have to worry each month that it is the last. Still could be a lot worse and knowing I have a reliable income does make planning a little easier, the last eight years have been a bit worrying at times.