I can only stand one day of having something political on my page. so this is going to change that subject. kinda. I have another problem that maybe I am seeing wrong when i see the commercials on tv. you tell me. nicely
Have you all seen those adds for those places that can get your tax debt reduced to pennies on the dollar? or even your credit card debt cleared out? Does this seem a little wrong to anyone else? I asked john the other day, how does someone get $14,000.00 in back taxes to the government. I know I have to pay taxes out of my check every week. Well, John told me they may be small business owners and couldnt keep up with the taxes. ok. i get that. BUT, then they go on tv and brag that they got that huge tax bill reduced to 6 cents on the dollar. or its erased completley. what the hell? and the credit card people say the same thing. then, we hear some voice say something to the point of, and their credit is still in tact. its just not right.
I know it isnt that easy, and these people had to probably give up their last born child to get these beneifts, but when most people are doing everything they can to keep up with their payments, then these people pop up with happy faces saying , "I got my debt erased"! its jsut wrong. thats all.
Do you know anyone that has had their debt erased in this way. just wondering.
OK - I don't know anyone who has had their tax debt erased....but what I think these ads are talking about are the interest and penalty parts.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few things that can happen to people like you and I which could get them into tax trouble. For example - if you inherit property.....in theory the estate paid the taxes due - but that isn't always the case and if they didn't - you probably have a big tax bill ahead of you.
Or if you happened to be divorced and there was confusion about which one of you took the kids as a deduction and you both did ( that happened to my neighbor).
Or maybe you own a lot of stocks and you sold some of them because you needed the money and forgot that you'd have to pay taxes on all your profit....so when the taxes are due you don't have the money.
Well, if you are late on your taxes - even if you didn't know you owed the money - there's big penalties and interest....and they both keep piling up and piling up - even if you make payments.
Its like the credit card companies - if you don't pay your credit card off each month - you've got interest payments - and then interest on the interest and if you happen to pay late you've got fees.
And it's really shocking how much the government charges extra if you screw up. I inherited some money a few years ago and got a nastygram from the IRS saying that I had neglected to pay the taxes due - which they estimated at 3000 dollars - but then the penalties and interest meant that the total they thought I owed was more than twice that.
Fortunately they were wrong and I was able to prove the taxes had been paid on time.
But anyhow - I think that these law firms go in and negotiate the interest and penalties down - not that they get their clients to not have to pay the taxes they owe - just all the other charges,
I know what you mean about it seeming wrong....I've been really torn about this housing thing. It seems to me that people who bought houses for too much money shouldn't be able to just walk away from their debts. On the other hand - if you lose your job and you can't sell your house for what you need to pay off the loan....I'm not sure what else you can do.
Thank you Em For explaining that. I just couldnt figure out how you wouldnt know you owed money to the governement, you exlained it prety clear. I see how that could happen. a reletive did iur taxes one year many years ago. at the time, an aunt was watching our son whilewe worked. we claimed that on our taxes and got our refund. before ya know it, we have this huge tax bill from the the tax people, cus you cant claim child care if a reletive is doing the careing. we didnt know that. they took the money right out of my paycheck though. What a shocker that was.
ReplyDeleteYep - the tax laws are awfully complicated.....and I wouldn't mind it so much except that they aren't very understanding about an honest mistake - the law says there are fines and penalties no matter what.
ReplyDeleteBut like the credit card companies - sometimes if you call and explain the situation you can negotiate some sort of settlement......and I imagine if you can afford to have a lawyer do it - you end up with a better one than doing it on your own - just like with insurance claims and other stuff.
It's a damn shame too - we ought not to need to pay a lawyer to deal with our own government which is supposed to be working for us - not against us.
I think.. it falls under the old saying, "If it sounds too good to be true.. it usually IS".
ReplyDeleteLast year we failed to file a single piece of paper and were late 14 days. We had to pay a penalty on the late filing and interest on the interest as it took the government a few months to tell us the paper was filed late. All told at the end we ended up paying around $1000 and we didn't even owe on our taxes just filed that one piece of paper late.
ReplyDeleteCArol, that is wrong. how can you owe, when you owed nothing to begin with. especially that much. talk about being ripped off. that sucks.
ReplyDeleteTell me about it Lisa. I have filed off two letters of appeal so far to try and get the money back but no go... Bastards! it still angers me as it all is a big money grab. and to have to pay interest on the fine for so many months grrrrr
ReplyDeletefor that price, you would think the government stopped until you turned it in. is that what happened. you stopped the canadian government until they got your piece of papar with your special numbrs on it. Oh carol.
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