Tax Returns

I will most likely be buying 3 $20 polar bears and 1 coin each from the Canadian Wildlfe series.

 

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umm you can just give me your extra money you dont want...I never heard of being sad for getting more money...

 

The problem is...you aren't "getting money".

I chose my words very carefully...I am getting back more money than I'd like, suggesting that it is being returned to me...which is exactly what's happening.

A tax refund is a loan...a loan you made to the government at 0% interest. You gave the government money to hold on to...and got absolutely nothing in return. no dividends, no interest, not even so much as a thank you.

I'd say it was like stashing cash away in an envelope...but even that analogy falls short. At least you could GET to cash if you wanted/needed it.

To top it all off, in my experience (and I have more than a fair bit in this sort of thing) the people most frequently "relieved" at, or desperate for, the arrival of the tax refund are the very same people who struggle to make it through each pay period.

This concept makes no sense. According to the IRS, the average tax refund is in the neighborhood of $3000 these days. That's $250 a month...a light bill, or maybe a car payment, or food for a couple of weeks. Money they're simply handing over to the government to hang on to for them, and receiving NO benefit from it.

I screwed up this year. Meant to update my W4, never got around to it, and let it slip my mind. So yeah...I'm pretty miffed at myself for having made a large loan to an unappreciative debtor for no return.

 

I've never been able to figure out why people want to loan their money to the U.S. Government at 0% interest and then feel happy when it's returned to them later. This is a very strange concept that somehow doesn't make much sense.

 

I wish I was old enough to get tax returns... oh wait, no I don't!

 

Poor guy, your income only tripled?