Friday, March 13, 2015

Does the IRS owe you money?

Does the IRS owe you money?
The IRS has $1 billion in unclaimed refunds for the 2011 tax year that will soon become the property of the U.S. government if taxpayers don't come forward to claim them. Roughly 1 million households that didn't file a 2011 tax return are owed that money. You can check your refund from this year at https://sa.www4.irs.gov/irfof/lang/en/irfofgetstatus.jsp. To check if IRS owes from previous years, find copy of your IRS (return) transcript: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript. If you did not file to get your federal tax withholding back, file with an IRS-approved preparer: http://www.freetaxusa.com/file_2011_income_tax_return.jsp
If you owe money and don’t file: What happens when you don’t file


Are you going to jail for perjury on your tax return?
Perjury mistake on signed return? 5 years jail time for you; for banks, a tax-deduction!
The U.S. Trustee struck a $50 million deal over charges JPMorganChase ‘robo-signed’ mortgage documents to numerous bankruptcy courts. The bank must pay more than 25,000 homeowners in the remedial deal. As a result, there appears to be no restriction on the bank’s ability to write off the entire amount on its taxes. The robo-signing in question involved bank employees who affixed electronic signatures–under penalties of perjury–without reviewing the accuracy of the notices.
corporations are people my friend” except when they do bad things. Then they use the Nuremberg Defense and have us pay part of their fine.

Combatants pay no tax
IRS excludes military pay from gross federal income tax for the period members are deployed in a combat zone. Members can contribute tax-free combat pay to either a Roth IRA or a thrift savings plan. Roth IRA gains are forever Tax-FREE. Military personnel do not have to include nontaxable pay to earn EITC—a refundable credit—so this entitles them to a larger credit. Exclude any gain on sale of home no matter length of residence. Other benefits in detail: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Military

TurboTax gives buyers a pain in the turbo
TurboTax Deluxe, the top selling desktop tax preparation software program, gives a surprise. Turbo has stripped the program of key functionality to easily report income from investments, self-employment, and rents. You must “upgrade” to more expensive versions. Turbo has halted state filings due to security problems also. Less well-known products may be a better value. Try IRS-approved programs:  http://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/jsp/index.jsp?ck. I have used FreeTaxUSA for 4 years: http://www.freetaxusa.com/freefile/supported_forms.jsp


Warren Buffett’s latest investment ($72 B) advice for us
Active trading, attempts to “time” market movements, inadequate diversification, the payment of high and unnecessary fees to managers and advisors, and the use of borrowed money can destroy the decent returns that a lifelong owner of equities would otherwise enjoy. Indeed, borrowed money has no place in the investor’s tool kit: Anything can happen anytime in markets. And no advisor, economist or TV commentator — and definitely not Charlie nor I — can tell you when chaos will occur. Market forecasters will fill your ear but will never fill your wallet.”

Tax refund to savings or investments?
54.9% of millennials expecting a tax refund this year plan to deposit the refunds into their savings accounts, according to the National Retail Federation. The average refund is over $3,000. If you buy a stock market fund with $3,000 every year, compounding can make you a millionaire. Patience and time is all it takes.
Don’t give up anything except old-age poverty

GOP best crazies of last 200 years
Half the Senators give aid and comfort to the country we are negotiating nuclear war with. Iran says the move showed "disintegration" in U.S. Our Constitution is clear—II, --the President “shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur.” In a democracy, if you don’t like the law, change it, don’t destroy the structure. When Reagan sold arms to Iran to get money for Contras, did Dems torpedo agreement on arms?
Can GOP change Constitution? Are they just anarchists?  

GOP crazies
Here is how the future GOP president will solve problems: Tricks, payoffs, lies, legal double talk, obfuscation, and all the other things politicians do. Lower tax for the rich and sock it to the middle: Ranking No 1 worst property tax states, New Jersey, with average-priced home tax bill of $16,000, defaulted on liabilities, low job growth, likes the perks.

Wisconsin becomes the 25th right-to-work state following the GOP plan.
Gov Walker promised improved job rate and dismissed lower-wages criticism. The GOP experiment in KS has not gone well. Gov Brownback’s cuts to a number of state taxes in 2012 failed to boost the economy like he had hoped, triggering a backlash when the huge budget shortfall that resulted forced major decreases in government services. His state’s credit rating was lowered, and Brownback nearly lost his job in the November elections.

GOP counting on voter suppression in 2016—soon only white landowners?
More states are following the GOP success in PA in 2012. GOP chair Gleason says he cut Obama’s vote by 5% there. States may be returning to the time of white landowner only laws using clever techniques of exclusion like requiring a US passport or paid property tax bill. The Supremes have gutted the voting rights provisions and there may be more. Meanwhile not one states attorney has found a voter fraud pattern in their state—31 in 1 billion ballots nationwide!

Just say NO when your broker/advisor says RE-BALANCE
New research from Duke’s Harvey says sell/buy every quarter may hurt your long-term prospects for retirement. In an up market, you are selling soaring stocks; “all of a sudden your portfolio has done worse than if you had just let it run.” Re-balancing kills compounding. John Bogle, Vanguard, does not: “I see no circumstance under which rebalancing through an adviser charging 1% could possibly add value.”

SAFEST used cars under $9K
CR says older is better—problems have been solved:
Chevrolet Malibu (2009-2012, 4-cyl.): Starting at $8,125
Ford Fusion (2010-2012, 4-cyl. and hybrid): Starting at $8,325
Hyundai Sonata (2006-2014, 4-cyl., non-turbo): Starting at $5,450
Kia Soul (2010-2011): Starting at $8,925
Toyota RAV4 (2004-2012, 4-cyl.): Starting at $5,590
I bought a ’05 Sonata for $4,955 with 105K in 2011; still works well at 125K miles.

Obama to help students pay debt
Student loans cost over 6% per year while banks pay 0% rate. Obama will change procedures for paying income-adjusted installments easier. 7 million borrowers are currently in default for loans totaling $98.1 billion. Money is easier to get than a job.

Are you losing your health benefits?
Rising costs and risk of liability have prompted many of employers to “adjust” their offerings to retirees and employees. The number of employers offering retiree medical benefits have “definitely dwindled from where it was 20 years ago,” says Cara Jareb, Towers Watson. Now, more employers, like Hilton, are moving to private exchanges to save. Eventually, the US will adopt the least costly system—single payer.

And you think you can trust them to keep their word?
Two-thirds of Americans say they would be willing to give up salary increases in exchange for guaranteed retirement income, according to a new survey by the National Institute on Retirement Security. As corporations continue to freeze or eliminate defined benefit plans, American workers may be getting increasingly concerned about their financial security in retirement and looking for guaranteed income options.

America is going back to the pre-WWII time when workers had no unions, scabs took their jobs for less wages—No pensions/health care paid by employers. Wealthy people and large combines controlled elections. There was no government regulation of pollution, food, work, bridges, etc. Citizens were at the mercy of large employers. If you disagreed and were famous, you were called before the McCarthy committee and blacklisted. If you were not famous, you were dismissed and ostracized.


SCAMS           Why are we still paying $700 Billion a year for WWII deployments? That is 27 cents of each dollar in taxes—the largest part of our money—and we aren’t even at war. We could pay off our debts and fix our schools, roads and bridges!
We are paying for 164,253 of our active-duty armed personnel to be in 150 countries around the world. We have about 50,000 in Japan and 50,000 in Germany.
Are we preparing for WWII again? There are 1,208,083[1] armed personnel in the United States. Our taxes pay for about HALF of the WORLD’s military expenditures every year. We have wasted $398.6 billion so far on the F-35 program—they can’t fly safely.
We just can’t afford to pay for everyone else’s defenses anymore.
Japan, Germany and S. Korea can pay for their own defenses.
The War on Terror requires SEALS’ attacks on top terrorists at their homes. Iraq proved converting a nation to Western-style republic doesn’t work. Our trained troops ran away.

Daylight Saving Time, who needs it?
It was Germany which, in April, 1916, first started moving clocks forward by an hour, to conserve energy during the World War I. Does it really save on electric?

Banker Antonio Weiss, got a $21 million bonus by his Wall Street bosses to go to work as a bank regulator. Obama then nominates him for a high position in the U.S. Treasury Department and he takes it.  Treasury Secretary Jack Lew left Citigroup in 2008 and made somewhere between $250,000 and $500,000 in early stock payouts. Smallberg, head of watchdog group, authored a report last year that found a number of major corporations financially reward employees who go into government regulation.

Can Americans beat the robocallers?

Who protects the President from the Secret Service?
Two senior Secret Service agents -- one of whom is a top member of President Obama's protective detail -- reportedly drove a government car into White House security barricades after drinking at a late-night party last week. They skipped out and did not report accident. 
Are they drunk because Congress may cut their salaries in the Homeland’s budget fight?

IAN
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