I'm about a month into tax season and I'm still amazed at the transformation of my tax practice. My practice has transformed from a tax planning/reduction practice to a quasi welfare satelitte office.
Today I had to explain to a guy who made $30,000 in self employment income (no taxes withheld, including social security) why he didn't get a refund on his return.
In the past, it was easy. You can't get back what you didn't pay in the first place. Now, it's a lot harder since a difference of $10,000 in income can result in a $6000 swing on a return. How do explain that to someone?
But it gets better. How do you explain to a roofing supervisor that he owes money to support the two part time derelicts who are getting multiple thousands of dollars in refunds for knocking up a ho and not getting married?
Or to the guy who's ball busting a living so he can support his neighbor who's capable of coaching little league and pee wee football but is getting disability income because he "can't" work.............
Unemployment is down, according to the official numbers, yet more people than ever are not working. What are they doing instead? The New York Post reports that an astonishing number of them are classifying themselves as disabled in order to continue receiving government benefits:
Mental-illness claims, in particular, are surging. During the recent economic boom, only 33 percent of applicants were claiming mental illness, but that figure has jumped to 43 percent, says Rutledge, citing preliminary results from his latest research. …
That last statistic is remarkable: a quarter of those who are dropping out of the job market, and hence out of the unemployment statistics, are going on disability instead. Disability, unlike unemployment benefits, will most likely go on forever.
More........
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