Unread Content 30 Days

I think I've only been in a Walmart store once or twice in my life.

The problem line to cross is when you're close to the limit but none of your SS is taxable, and you get some extra income. That extra income causes almost the same amount of SS to be taxable so it's like being almost double taxed on that windfall. A retired client won 4k playing bingo and paid so much tax on it that she said that she hoped she never won bingo again.

The 1983 changes also made it so self-employed paid double the rate. Before that it was 1.5 times rate. The majority of cases where someone moves from 12% to 22% marginal rate is very close to when the max 85% becomes taxable. Those with less than 85% taxed and in a 12% marginal rate, pay an effective rate of 22.2% (12 x 1.85).

After 40 plus years in the business, I have seen it all. Remember the headaches when efile went live ? Remember the stimulus bull crap ? Too many questions will drive you nuts. I just wait for the IRS regulations. And we all know software vendors will not have the crap ironed out till mid season (if then). So just relax. Stress kills.

I think a lot of people feel that way. I can't see how it could be any worse than after the 2017 bill. It wasn't so much the changes to law, but the mandated changes to forms without any purpose than a photo op to hold up the "postcard". It took me a good two years to get back up to speed of not having to look as to where they moved a line item.

I use PayPal or GPay for most things and they let you cancel payments more easily, sometimes right on their site. Also, if you get a new credit card number, you can change it in one place and it takes care of all recurring payments. When out, I always pay with my phone because it creates a one time credit card number that's only good for that transaction. Walmart wouldn't let me pay with my phone at the self-checkout unless I installed their app. No thanks! I've hated Walmart for a very long time.

From my experience Comcast Xfinity is the most maddening where I use the most 4 letter words

It's like an amoral three dimensional crossword puzzle where the rules keep changing

On and on it goes. I try to wait it out as long as I can but sometimes, I just have to give in. Go with the flow. E this and e that

At least they got it passed in mid-year. Regardless of the pros and cons. The IRS and software companies will have plenty of time to get it all done before next tax season. I get Parker subscription so they should be sending a summary soon. I usually just rely on the software doing it's thing. I'll take some continuing ed on it of course and get ready.

36 years here, they've always been 25/32.

Sara, I agree with Lee B that you have been very astute and helpful to all of us. Yes, the "Big Beautiful Bill [sic]" has so many phaseouts that we are almost entirely dependent on software, and the software providers will no doubt be charging us for the massive programming development. I hate that because tax practitioners have been keypunch operators instead of tax analysts. To make it even worse, not only will we depend on massive changes in software, SO WILL THE I R S. Can you taste the foulness in the air? I wish our politicians would announce how much more it will cost to prepare taxes and quit talking about how wonderful these tax cuts may be.

You can guess what this is about from the title. Why can't I just buy something, get an invoice, write a check for it, and mail it off??? Corporate America chomps at the bit for every opportunity to control us. Now every vendor wants us to give them a credit card account so they can charge it - preferably month-after-month. Can you stop it?? Sure. All you have to do is to call the vendor. Bear in mind that it will not be the same number that you called to order the whatamajig. "Oh sir, if you want to cancel, you have to call a different number." And yes, that number will keep you "on hold" forever. Most young people (that is, younger than myself, and that is just about everyone) jump through their hoops and do whatever they are told. Dining at the feed trough of corporate America like a pig after slop... Ron, how do you deal with this? "Old fogey, you need to adapt." Is this the answer? My children tell me this. Politicians won't do anything about this, unless retail sales slump so badly that waves of "consumer protection" will be discussed and touted in the halls of the mighty as solutions. To the group: Are there any suggestions from those who object to our being "controlled" to bring back our bargaining power?

This link provides a history of the taxation of social security benefits: https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/RL32552

Sara, I have always enjoyed your thoughtful posts and wish you a well desired retirement. I understand how you feel. If most of my time was spent on taxes I would retire too. Fortunately for me, the majority of my time is spent on monthly write up work and payroll for my business clients, which I still enjoy ,so I will keep working.

Today I put my EA status into inactive (still cost $140). Looking over my shelves of reference material and law books, I realized most of them are now obsolete. Prior big changes in the tax code have made us adaptable and fast learners. The year the ACA went into effect, coupled with new rules on expensing vs capitalization, all passed in December, sent us rushing into the classrooms and seminars, but learn we did. We now have so much to unlearn. The bits and pieces I've read of specific provisions of the BBB struck me by their complexity. You can deduct car payment interest if this, that and another thing. Seniors get a bigger deduction but being married may take it away. Energy Star certification meant to go into effect this year is gone, and taking energy credits is now a labyrinth of rules soon to expire anyway. I doubt that the new above-the-line charitable deduction will be as simple as it sounds. With the exodus of expertise at the IRS, I doubt the agency will be of much use helping us navigate these changes. On top of all that complexity, I personally don't agree with the majority of the changes. I don't want to invest any time into learning the detailed details. I am a lifelong academic who spent most of my career in the Ivy League, doing taxes on weekends. Once I retired from academia, I couldn't stay out of the classroom--got a Master's in Taxation and usually took way over the required number of CPEs. It truly pains me to say for the first time in my life that I just don't want to learn about something, but this awful bill is it. I tried to semi-retire this year but the office needed my help. Now I feel that my over three decades of experience are of no use in this new, morbid tax environment.

The source of confusion is that there have been so many versions of the bill. The bill the House passed and sent to the Senate eliminated taxes on Social Security for many beneficiaries. The Senate Parliamentarian said that did not meet the rules for passing the bill by reconciliation (requiring a simple majority to pass) instead of the normal route (60% majority). They took it out and instead granted seniors an extra $6k deduction. The original version would have reduced payments into the SS Trust Fund because taxes on SS are dedicated to the fund. The passed version does not impact those payments because the extra deduction is not tied to SS. Apparently the inexperienced political appointees at the SSA don't know the difference and sent out that totally wrong email. At least I hope it was due to lack of knowledge rather than intentionally meant to deceive.

Every amount in the tax code needs to be adjusted for inflation and back inflation. One small simple sensible bill.

You are misinformed on so many levels. In 2004 I paid 2,740 for individual coverage for myself and teenage kid. By 2013 that had basically doubled to 5,335 for just myself. This is actual data for what SLCSP was for me. No annual 20% increases. Want to talk subsidies? How about subsidies for tax free employer coverage estimated at 300-350B a year. Medicare Part B is funded 25% from premiums and 75% from general funds. 6,660 per person times 66M people and you are talking about 435B annual. The only people not being subsidized were those of us with individual policies. According to KFF increase in spending is lower since ACA was enacted.

That would be too sensible.

@Abby Normal @kathyc2 @mcb39 You all just made my point. The ACA was supposed to make healthcare more affordable, and it did the opposite. That is not opinion, that can be searched on any website and proven out. Prices still went up after the ACA became law by about 20% per year, but the Federal Government started paying some of the extra cost. The pandemic hit and the cost continued to go up (labor costs skyrocketed for healthcare workers) and the Federal Government stepped in and paid more. Demand is up because the prices paid by the people getting the insurance were artificially low. The price of health insurance is not going to go down, the corps that run our healthcare are not in the mood to take them down and the shareholders will punish the stock price if they do. There will be a lot of sticker shock in November when people renew their insurance on the insurance marketplace. There will be some that will be forced onto Medicare, some that never really qualified that will now have to prove they qualify and won't get subsidies, and then there are the folks that cannot afford to pay for the coverage. I expect to see a lot of dissatisfaction with Healthcare Insurance, perhaps even anger, when the new year enrollment periods open. Congress never seem to learn that when the Fed Government subsidizes something, the prices don't go down, because demand goes up and the law of supply and demand always comes into play. Tom Longview, TX

Why didn't they just raise the $32K ($25K) used to determine if any of SS was taxable, and the $12K ($9K), used to determine how much was taxable? I have been preparing taxes for over 20 years and don't remember them ever being raised. Adjust these amounts for past inflation now, and then adjust yearly to avoid this issue in future years instead of using this band-aid approach.

I don't judge my clients or their choices. I only recommend, advise and explain the law. They aren't going to stop gambling just because we tell them it is a bad choice. IMO

I am still filing 2021 just to get my clients up to date. The most recent ones had refunds that they will never see. What is fair about that? If they owed, they owed interest and penalties regardless of the window.

Excruciating for self=employed people then. I remember deductibles that kept climbing right along with premiums. We had to pay in order to protect what we had and never collected any benefits. I worked a part-time job just to pay for health insurance premiums and the deductible was always higher than the bill.