Do I need to file a tax return? I haven't filed one for a few years due to the fact my only income is ssi. I'm well under $75k limit.

Ccajon2 said:

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Do I need to file a tax return? I haven't filed one for a few years due to the fact my only income is ssi. I'm well under $75k limit.

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yes

sp4149 said:

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Ccajon2 said:

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Do I need to file a tax return? I haven't filed one for a few years due to the fact my only income is ssi. I'm well under $75k limit.

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yes

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What do you do if you don't have any income at all?

A relative has been unemployed and living home with her mother. She hasn't filed a return in over 5 years. What would she even put on the return when she has no income?

VITA does free tax preparation and filing for anyone who earns less than $70,000 and undocumented.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/free-tax-return-preparation-for-you-by-volunteers

I assume they are basing this on tax returns for 2018 (or 2019 if already filed)?

I had to earn more in order to cover increases in taxes and now that will keep likely keep me from getting the $1200. The only screw left to turn is to find out I still owe taxes.

heartofthebear said:

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I had to earn more in order to cover increases in taxes and now that will keep likely keep me from getting the $1200. The only screw left to turn is to find out I still owe taxes.

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The screw job for me is that I have two kids so theoretically should be able to earn the bonus payments for children . . . but apparently I have to qualify for the individual benefit before being able to get the child bonus so I also get nothing. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

But also, honestly, I'm doing okay because my job can be done from home. Other people who made my kind of money and now can't work would really be screwed. It should have either been a flat payment or something that adjusts for cost of living.

I'm pretty sure I don't qualify for anything, but as far as I can tell the federal government owes me a lot more than $1,200 given the degree to which they've been raping me (and millions of others) for the past 10 years.

The qualifications for these kinds of payments is never fair. I have 3 kids in college and will likely get nothing. I'm ok with that because lots of other people need it more than I do. However, if you are on a low fixed income but are a millionaire you will get a stimulus check. That's what I hate about these programs--they never take a person'ts full financial picture into account. They assume everyone has no assets.

LMK5 said:

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The qualifications for these kinds of payments is never fair. I have 3 kids in college and will likely get nothing. I'm ok with that because lots of other people need it more than I do. However, if you are on a low fixed income but are a millionaire you will get a stimulus check. That's what I hate about these programs--they never take a person'ts full financial picture into account. They assume everyone has no assets.

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I think everyone agrees with this but how would they solve for this?

GBear4Life said:

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LMK5 said:

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The qualifications for these kinds of payments is never fair. I have 3 kids in college and will likely get nothing. I'm ok with that because lots of other people need it more than I do. However, if you are on a low fixed income but are a millionaire you will get a stimulus check. That's what I hate about these programs--they never take a person'ts full financial picture into account. They assume everyone has no assets.

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I think everyone agrees with this but how would they solve for this?

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The only way to do it is to fill out a short form, similar to the Net Price Calculator worksheets that colleges use to figure your financial aid. It takes about 5 minutes. It would cause a slight delay in the distribution but the huge upside is that you can get more money to the ones who really need it. It's very wasteful the way they're doing it now. Wealthy retirees will greatly benefit from the current method and people with higher incomes but high expenses with little assets will get next to nothing.

Anarchistbear said:

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It should be disaster relief not a bonus . If you lost your job you should get your full pay for three months plus medicaid. Nobody else needs to get anything. Money should flow to fighting the effects of the virus.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EUD_63oXgAMCYtA?format=png&name=small

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100% agreed. But how do you compensate people who have lost hours or income (self employed) but haven't lost their "job"

Trickier. If you are a contractor you are likely filing a 1099 so should be able to demonstrate loss of income but there would be a time lag; same with hourly workers doing less and payroll reporting. Probably easier to just give them the money on a declaration basis.

It's a stimulus check to stimulate the economy. It's not unemployment. I've heard the argument from the evil libs I follow that everybody getting one without some kind of means test means it gets out faster. And the money will be used to do what a "stimulus" is supposed to do. If you're rich, and you receive $1200, you can donate it if you want. But it seems everybody getting a check would actually be better than a percentage receiving it.

LMK5 said:

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The qualifications for these kinds of payments is never fair. I have 3 kids in college and will likely get nothing. I'm ok with that because lots of other people need it more than I do. However, if you are on a low fixed income but are a millionaire you will get a stimulus check. That's what I hate about these programs--they never take a person'ts full financial picture into account. They assume everyone has no assets.

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I'm thrilled that you get nothing. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

okaydo said:

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It's a stimulus check to stimulate the economy. It's not unemployment. I've heard the argument from the evil libs I follow that everybody getting one without some kind of means test means it gets out faster. And the money will be used to do what a "stimulus" is supposed to do. If you're rich, and you receive $1200, you can donate it if you want. But it seems everybody getting a check would actually be better than a percentage receiving it.

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That's Andrew Yang's argument. It gets too complicated when you try to determine who "needs" it most.

And of course another argument is that for those who already had the means you can get it back in taxes later.

Professor Harold Hill said:

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LMK5 said:

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The qualifications for these kinds of payments is never fair. I have 3 kids in college and will likely get nothing. I'm ok with that because lots of other people need it more than I do. However, if you are on a low fixed income but are a millionaire you will get a stimulus check. That's what I hate about these programs--they never take a person'ts full financial picture into account. They assume everyone has no assets.

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I'm thrilled that you get nothing. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

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Only a commie can have so much hate in their heart!

okaydo said:

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It's a stimulus check to stimulate the economy. It's not unemployment. I've heard the argument from the evil libs I follow that everybody getting one without some kind of means test means it gets out faster. And the money will be used to do what a "stimulus" is supposed to do. If you're rich, and you receive $1200, you can donate it if you want. But it seems everybody getting a check would actually be better than a percentage receiving it.

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There is no economy to stimulate now. The economy has temporarily disappeared.I suppose people can buy stuff on Amazon

sycasey said:

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heartofthebear said:

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I had to earn more in order to cover increases in taxes and now that will keep likely keep me from getting the $1200. The only screw left to turn is to find out I still owe taxes.

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The screw job for me is that I have two kids so theoretically should be able to earn the bonus payments for children . . . but apparently I have to qualify for the individual benefit before being able to get the child bonus so I also get nothing. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

But also, honestly, I'm doing okay because my job can be done from home. Other people who made my kind of money and now can't work would really be screwed. It should have either been a flat payment or something that adjusts for cost of living.

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Some folks fall through the cracks, others (like us?) have cracks opened just so we can fall through them.

sp4149 said:

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calpoly said:

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sp4149 said:

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Ccajon2 said:

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Do I need to file a tax return? I haven't filed one for a few years due to the fact my only income is ssi. I'm well under $75k limit.

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yes

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I plane to use any "Stimulus" money I recieve to HELP pay my federal taxes that increased during the tRump tax increase on the middle class!

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My adjusted income rose $25K due to the GOP tax increase eliminating most of my itemized deductions and I will not qualify for a stimulus payment.

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GOP tax increase? Please.

25k? What could've possibly increased your AGI by 25k? Assuming you're married filing jointly, you lost 2 personal exemptions of $4050 each, so you'd still need another 17k in writeoff losses to raise your AGI 25k. You'd have to have an equity line balance of over 350k or a 1st mortgage balance of 1.1m to have it go up that much. What other itemized deductions did you lose?

And in terms of net tax expense, your tax bracket went down. Everyone's did. If you're married filing jointly, the first 19k of your income is taxed at only 10% and the next 58k of your income is taxed at 12%. So for your first 78k of income, you're only taxed $8907 ($1905 + $7002). Everything above 78k in income after writeoffs is at 22%. Before the tax cut, that same 78k in AGI would've cost you $15,238 in taxes, which is $6631 more in federal taxes. With today's 22% bracket, you'd have to earn $42,210 more in adjusted gross income to pay the same $15,238 in federal taxes.

So yes, you lost some things in the tax plan but it's virtually impossible to not come out net ahead. The average is 2k per person in most every tax bracket IIRC. It was pretty much right on the nose for us, too, even losing the equity line deduction.

Despite the democratic talking points, it was not a tax cut for the rich. It was a tax cut for everyone.

dimitrig said:

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bearlyamazing said:

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sp4149 said:

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calpoly said:

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sp4149 said:

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Ccajon2 said:

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Do I need to file a tax return? I haven't filed one for a few years due to the fact my only income is ssi. I'm well under $75k limit.

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yes

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I plane to use any "Stimulus" money I recieve to HELP pay my federal taxes that increased during the tRump tax increase on the middle class!

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My adjusted income rose $25K due to the GOP tax increase eliminating most of my itemized deductions and I will not qualify for a stimulus payment.

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GOP tax increase? Please.

25k? What could've possibly increased your AGI by 25k? Assuming you're married filing jointly, you lost 2 personal exemptions of $4050 each, so you'd still need another 17k in writeoff losses to raise your AGI 25k. You'd have to have an equity line balance of over 350k or a 1st mortgage balance of 1.1m to have it go up that much. What other itemized deductions did you lose?

And in terms of net tax expense, your tax bracket went down. Everyone's did. If you're married filing jointly, the first 19k of your income is taxed at only 10% and the next 58k of your income is taxed at 12%. So for your first 78k of income, you're only taxed $8907 ($1905 + $7002). Everything above 78k in income after writeoffs is at 22%. Before the tax cut, that same 78k in AGI would've cost you $15,238 in taxes, which is $6631 more in federal taxes. With today's 22% bracket, you'd have to earn $42,210 more in adjusted gross income to pay the same $15,238 in federal taxes.

So yes, you lost some things in the tax plan but it's virtually impossible to not come out net ahead. The average is 2k per person in most every tax bracket IIRC. It was pretty much right on the nose for us, too, even losing the equity line deduction.

Despite the democratic talking points, it was not a tax cut for the rich. It was a tax cut for everyone.

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It was a huge tax cut for the rich. It was a small tax cut for the poor. It was a tax increase on the upper middle class. My taxes also went up as a result of not being able to take all of my SALT deductions. Some of us did not come out "net ahead."

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Not everyone comes out ahead but most do. And the "tax cuts for the rich and not for the poor and middle class" is democratic rubbish. Again, just because you say it's so doesn't make it true. Facts and numbers don't lie. Every tax bracket went down. And every income limit in each tax bracket went up significantly, meaning not just did your tax bracket go down but the amount of taxes you're paying income on below your tax bracket decreased significantly, as well. There are very few scenarios where lost write-offs exceed the decreased taxes. If you don't believe me, run your own scenarios in all the tax brackets.

dimitrig said:

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bearlyamazing said:

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sp4149 said:

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calpoly said:

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sp4149 said:

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Ccajon2 said:

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Do I need to file a tax return? I haven't filed one for a few years due to the fact my only income is ssi. I'm well under $75k limit.

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yes

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I plane to use any "Stimulus" money I recieve to HELP pay my federal taxes that increased during the tRump tax increase on the middle class!

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My adjusted income rose $25K due to the GOP tax increase eliminating most of my itemized deductions and I will not qualify for a stimulus payment.

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GOP tax increase? Please.

25k? What could've possibly increased your AGI by 25k? Assuming you're married filing jointly, you lost 2 personal exemptions of $4050 each, so you'd still need another 17k in writeoff losses to raise your AGI 25k. You'd have to have an equity line balance of over 350k or a 1st mortgage balance of 1.1m to have it go up that much. What other itemized deductions did you lose?

And in terms of net tax expense, your tax bracket went down. Everyone's did. If you're married filing jointly, the first 19k of your income is taxed at only 10% and the next 58k of your income is taxed at 12%. So for your first 78k of income, you're only taxed $8907 ($1905 + $7002). Everything above 78k in income after writeoffs is at 22%. Before the tax cut, that same 78k in AGI would've cost you $15,238 in taxes, which is $6631 more in federal taxes. With today's 22% bracket, you'd have to earn $42,210 more in adjusted gross income to pay the same $15,238 in federal taxes.

So yes, you lost some things in the tax plan but it's virtually impossible to not come out net ahead. The average is 2k per person in most every tax bracket IIRC. It was pretty much right on the nose for us, too, even losing the equity line deduction.

Despite the democratic talking points, it was not a tax cut for the rich. It was a tax cut for everyone.

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It was a huge tax cut for the rich. It was a small tax cut for the poor. It was a tax increase on the upper middle class. My taxes also went up as a result of not being able to take all of my SALT deductions. Some of us did not come out "net ahead."

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Exactly. They changed the tax code so that deductions are reduced or eliminated. As a result my taxes went up as well.

There are a lot of people who owe more taxes when it comes time to file because they had less taxes withheld during the year than they used to have and think it's because they had a tax increase.

As stated, far fewer have increases than decreases. The only main exceptions are those with major mortgage an equity line balances and individuals with very unique income situations. State taxes and personal exemptions apply to most everyone but they don't come close to surpassing the tax cut on their own.

Here are the deductions that were eliminated:

• Personal exemptions
• Casualty and theft losses (infrequent expense)
• Unlimited SALT deductions
• Mortgage interest above $750,000
• Unrestricted home equity loan interest deduction (you can still write off helocs used for improvements)
• Moving expenses (1 time event unless you move frequently and don't get reimbursed by your company
• Work-related expenses (home office deductions still apply)
• Tax preparation fees.

I don't think Trump's tax cuts were allocated optimally (not including corporate tax cuts which were ridiculous) either. But the rhetoric dogging it so obviously partisan and personal.

I never heard liberals talk about protecting the "upper middle class" so much until a tax policy affected their pocketbook, and that affect was enacted by Republicans. It was clear cut and dry cut for the poor and middle class (with some exceptions as outlined in previous posts -- particularly the "rich").

GBear4Life said:

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Professor Harold Hill said:

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LMK5 said:

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The qualifications for these kinds of payments is never fair. I have 3 kids in college and will likely get nothing. I'm ok with that because lots of other people need it more than I do. However, if you are on a low fixed income but are a millionaire you will get a stimulus check. That's what I hate about these programs--they never take a person'ts full financial picture into account. They assume everyone has no assets.

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I'm thrilled that you get nothing. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

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Only a commie can have so much hate in their heart!

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I can't wait to re appropriate your belongings to the state.

Anarchistbear said:

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okaydo said:

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It's a stimulus check to stimulate the economy. It's not unemployment. I've heard the argument from the evil libs I follow that everybody getting one without some kind of means test means it gets out faster. And the money will be used to do what a "stimulus" is supposed to do. If you're rich, and you receive $1200, you can donate it if you want. But it seems everybody getting a check would actually be better than a percentage receiving it.

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There is no economy to stimulate now. The economy has temporarily disappeared.I suppose people can buy stuff on Amazon

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So those restaurants doing takeout and those stores selling TP and disinfectant wipes don't exist? Amazon isn't selling and shipping things?

I wonder who left all those boxes on my doorstep the other day then.

Professor Harold Hill said:

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Anarchistbear said:

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okaydo said:

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It's a stimulus check to stimulate the economy. It's not unemployment. I've heard the argument from the evil libs I follow that everybody getting one without some kind of means test means it gets out faster. And the money will be used to do what a "stimulus" is supposed to do. If you're rich, and you receive $1200, you can donate it if you want. But it seems everybody getting a check would actually be better than a percentage receiving it.

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There is no economy to stimulate now. The economy has temporarily disappeared.I suppose people can buy stuff on Amazon

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So those restaurants doing takeout and those stores selling TP and disinfectant wipes don't exist? Amazon isn't selling and shipping things?

I wonder who left all those boxes on my doorstep the other day then.

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You're intentionally obfuscating his point.

Anarchist is right, there are only a select (fraction) number of businesses in full operation (grocery, select big box brick and mortar retail, e-comm, builders, and restaurants that can accommodate take out). A stimulus won't have the same effect during a this crises. It will continue to support the businesses that are still "flourishing" for the most part as is due to the shift in priorities and demand.

Professor Harold Hill said:

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GBear4Life said:

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Professor Harold Hill said:

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LMK5 said:

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The qualifications for these kinds of payments is never fair. I have 3 kids in college and will likely get nothing. I'm ok with that because lots of other people need it more than I do. However, if you are on a low fixed income but are a millionaire you will get a stimulus check. That's what I hate about these programs--they never take a person'ts full financial picture into account. They assume everyone has no assets.

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I'm thrilled that you get nothing. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

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Only a commie can have so much hate in their heart!

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I can't wait to re appropriate your belongings to the state.

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Because you have nothing.

I still don't understand why cutting taxes when the government is spending far more than it's taking in was a good idea.

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

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I still don't understand why cutting taxes when the government is spending far more than it's taking in was a good idea.

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Especially when the Obama economy was humming along!