I miscalculated our taxes. The kids’ father claimed them as dependents for 2005, and looking at the facts, he’s got at least as good a case as we do for claiming them.
So instead of getting $1,099 back, we owe over $1800. That’s on top of local taxes, which I expect to come to close to $1000.
Every time, every time things start looking up and we start getting ahead, something happens. I was looking forward to getting most of our debts paid off this year; now I’m figuring out how to make ends meet.
I’m sick of this. Five years ago I had a disposable income and twenty grand in investments. For the last five years I’ve been living from paycheck to paycheck and trying to keep the debt from growing without bound. Looking forward to the day when things would turn around. Looking forward to being able to buy new clothes and furniture and a new computer without guilt. Looking forward to being able to afford to go back to school. And every year that day is pushed back.
Yes, we’ll be fine. It’s not a matter of survival. We’re better off than others I know who make do on far less.
But I’m not happy living this way. As far as I’m concerned, living such an insecure existence is only justified in the pursuit of some greater goal. And I’m not an artist, struggling to express myself. I’m not a a saint, living for holiness. My life is not defined by some great mission beside which paltry material concerns pale. My goal is simply to live, and to live well. There is only so long I’m willing to put up with being foiled in that.
*hug*
I have no words of advice, no suggestions, no ideas. Just know that someone out there is sending you warm thoughts, and take comfort from that.
*hug*
Bummer
I’m not an artist, struggling to express myself.
From what I can tell, you ARE and artist.
You have an amazingly ability for clarity of expression. That is an artform.
To be able to observe the world and describe it the way that you do is art!
Thank you, it’s apperciated.
My point wasn’t that I have no capacity for art; it was that I don’t define myself by my art. Some people are happy as long as they can paint, or sing, or play. For me, art plays a secondary role in my life.
well some artists are miserable even when they are doing art.
Happiness I think comes from inside regardless what you are doing. Being able to find that is the biggest challenge for all of us.
Damnable stupid IRS…
You’d think with divorce rate being 50% or so and most kids growing up in broken families they would divide the claims.
And if I recall, there are two children. You all should work out to be able to claim one each. (Will remedy problem till they graduate college)
such things..
are usually determined in divorce decrees… if they aren’t.. then you have just as much right to claim them as the other person…
Re: such things..
We’re going to check the custody agreement, but if it’s not specified in there, then the IRS uses the “who had them more than 6 months” rule… which, for 2004, would come out in his favor… something I should have realized long ago, but simply hadn’t thought about and factored into my plans.
Re: such things..
Good luck… such things are not specifically specified in my partner’s divorce agreement.. but the ex-husband–who has primary placement (although both have joint custody) gets to claim all three kids every year–even though we have the kids aboutt 40% of the time… (and pay at least 40% of the costs, etc etc…)
So I feel for you..
Re: such things..
Um….realize…that NOT all children in broken homes came from divorced homes. Many if not most are born out of wedlock.
Which is why my point, someone needs to walk straight into the head of the IRS with a shotgun, tell him to use his brain or lose it. If he refuses. …blow him away….go to the next in line, repeat “for new head == stupid”
Re: such things..
um… realize.. that I was referencing this specific situation where we are talking about kids from a divorce.. (at least, that’s what I’ve always assumed happened with)…
and as for kids out of wedlock.. I’d be willing to bet that this also follows the custody agreement… if the father has no custody of the children.. then he wouldn’t get to claim them…
I don’t think the rules are that complicated… are they really fair… I bet not.. but this also has to do with the fact that tax rules about marriage and not-married and kids are fairly damn old-fashioned… and they are not being helped by conservatives who keep pushing 1950’s ideals of married with 2 kids as the only possible family situation…
Re: such things..
“custody agreements” seldom exist in most situations. And not court set-in-stone agreements for sure.
“then he wouldn’t get to claim them… “
[[[still happens often, and you know what…when it happens people get screwed over. I mean, imagine you’re going to school. You’ve got financial aid. Then you get called in and told your financial aid is being rescinded because of your tax return. You were rejected as taking care of a dependent because stated dependent was already claimed.
Oh by the way, you now owe us $12,000 in tuition payments before you can register for next semester.
Yup…and the IRS beaucracy ensures it will take several months to resolve.
]]]
Actually, most conservatives tend to push for the disbanning of the IRS, a flat tax, or simple tax curve, etc.
IRS is just a behemoth…
a fre quick responses..
1. As for custody agreements existing… they need not formally exist/be specified, because I’m sure there are default laws in each state that specify who has custody… and not knowing these laws–if you are going to be a parent–is no one’s fault but your own… i.e. if you are going to take on the responsibility of having a child–then you can also take on the responsibility of finding out what the legal ramifications there are.. it’s just good parenting..
2. As for it still happening–yes.. this is true.. but you are then blaming someone else for the misdeeds of another.. Instead of arguing for reforming the IRS to make sure that it has a better ability to then go nail the father/mother that is not correctly claiming the child.. you just want to abolish the irs as it is… which would lead to the conclusion that the evil parent’s misdeeds would go unpunished…
3. As for your financial aid example–is this from personal experience/do you know someone that this happened to personally? If so, that sucks.. .but I ask because 90%+ of financial aid comes from states and schools–and not from the fed. gov’t.. so it isn’t very likely that the federal IRS is going to screw people’s financial aid up…
4. As for the general complaints about the complexity of the tax code–blaming the irs for this is somewhat missing the point–because they are not the people who write the law–but only the ones who carry it out… It would be like being pissed that there are drug laws and blaming the police for enforcing them, even though it is there job to do so…
Thus.. instead of being angry at the IRS–an easy target–get mad at your legislators and executive branch who–despite all PR to the contrary–whether they are Republicans or Democrats–seem to take great glee in making the tax code and the federal budget more and more complex every year… (This has happened continously over time–no matter who was in power… )
5. As for the IRS Bureaucracy.. yes.. it is huge.. and any huge bureaucracy sucks…at least in the US–in Germany, where bureaucracy is even bigger–it is actually more efficient in a lot of areas–of course, there bureaucrats are more highly trained … but getting back to the point.. all large bureaucracies suck–whether public or private… I’ve seen private bureaucracy–let’s call them middle management–first hand–and they do exactly the same thing as the gov’t.. they stall, they siphon off unnecessary resources, they compete with other bureaucracies, and they will never ever solve any problem that might make them unnecessary…
however.. there is also the problem that trying to simple solutions on complex problems often doesn’t work.. and can cause even greater suffering than that under such bureaucracies… but that is, I admit, something that needs to be evaluated on a case by case basis.. sometimes simple solutions do work perfectly fine…
Re: a fre quick responses..
1. You must realize, that regardless of even if they “legal” court-ordered custody agreements. Few single moms have the means, the money, etc. to pursue such.
“it’s just good parenting.”
[[[Yup, and if the birth control or precautions fail and you wind up being one of those statistics…]]]
2. Instead of arguing for reforming the IRS to make sure that it has a better ability to then go nail the father/mother that is not correctly claiming the child.. you just want to abolish the irs as it is… which would lead to the conclusion that the evil parent’s misdeeds would go unpunished…
[[[ a. I want to abolish the IRS for totally different reasons, it deserves to be abolished. It is exceedingly complex, and engineered to allow billionaires like Theresa Heinz-Kerry to pay only 12% tax and the common worker much higher.
b. I am arguing for some simple intelligence and relevance to our current society.
]]]
3.As for your financial aid example–is this from personal experience/do you know someone that this happened to personally?
[[[I know someone personally….. ]]]
“I ask because 90%+ of financial aid comes from states and schools–and not from the fed. gov’t.. so it isn’t very likely that the federal IRS is going to screw people’s financial aid up…”
[[[Although most of the money may go thru state outlets,…regardless of whether the money is federal, state or even private endowments. Nearly a 100% of schools base their financial aid allotments on such things as FAFSA and assesments that base allotment on total adjusted income. Which is 100% related to IRS. So yes, it has nearly a 100% effect on your financial aid in nearly 100% of schools.]]]
4. “As for the general complaints about the complexity of the tax code–blaming the irs for this is somewhat missing the point–because they are not the people who write the law–but only the ones who carry it out”
[[[Yes…, Congress writes the law….and as such IRS is the implementation. I see them together. Hence, my desire to “desolve” the IRS and go to a simpler system. Yes, this would take a congressional act. The IRS is the specific agency. I don’t distinguish between Congress and the IRS. I see Congress as part of the IRS and vice-versa. ]]]
5. yes…tell me something I don’t know. And most areas that have tried the flat tax, curved flat tax, or consumption taxes have shown great improvement.
“There is only so long I’m willing to put up with being foiled in that.”
Ok… if you stopped putting up with that, what would the alternatives be?
I’m not really sure.
Really the only alternatives involve making life-changes which, while they may have been on the table in the past, would now be incredibly painful and might well not be worth the loss.