IRS Payments

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RONALD
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IRS Payments

Post by RONALD »

I was doing my taxes, and reading thru payment methods, and came across this:

Page 59 of IRS Instructions.

I guess I will have to send them two checks!
Page 59 IRS 1040 Instructions..png
earlgo
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Re: IRS Payments

Post by earlgo »

Dang, and I already sent mine in in one check. I'll probably get audited. :roll: :P
--earlgo
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Steggy
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Re: IRS Payments

Post by Steggy »

Still waiting for the day when my income will rise to that level.
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liveaboard
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Re: IRS Payments

Post by liveaboard »

Has anyone received the much touted stimulus cash into their account?
As a US tax payer living overseas, I don't know whether I'm eligible for it.
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Steggy
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Re: IRS Payments

Post by Steggy »

liveaboard wrote: Thu Apr 09, 2020 3:36 am Has anyone received the much touted stimulus cash into their account?
As a US tax payer living overseas, I don't know whether I'm eligible for it.
Nothing so far. Word has it the government is trying to get a payday loan to have enough funds to keep the checks from bouncing.
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mcostello
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Re: IRS Payments

Post by mcostello »

A Payday loan is expensive, I am worried what they are using for collateral.
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Harold_V
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Re: IRS Payments

Post by Harold_V »

Heh! The way I understand it, the government is simply going to run the printing presses. This isn't like the old days, where each bill was a certificate that there was on hand in the government treasury enough precious metal to cover its value.

I'm far from an economist. Didn't study that topic at any time in my life, but I'm wise enough to understand that when the government raised the price of gold from $20.67/ounce to $35.00, what really happened is that the government cut the value of the dollar by 41%. Reaction by many was to rejoice, that gold was now worth more money. How sad that people are so ignorant.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. How it works is this----it now takes more of your hard earned dollars to buy an ounce of gold, which still weighs the same as it did (480 grains) prior to the new valuation. People didn't benefit from this, as the government, prior to raising the price, called in all gold. It was illegal to own gold bullion, and gold coins were no longer considered legal tender. Even collectors were limited in the number of gold coins they could include in their collections. Until January 1, 1975, it was illegal for American citizens to own pure gold--and equally as illegal for them to work with gold. A private man could be fined $10,000 dollars and incarcerated for 10 years for doing something as simple as melting a gold ring. A federal license was required for those who worked with gold, including refiners and jewelry manufacturers.

In regards to the source of the money that is intended for distribution to Americans, they will run the presses endlessly, creating money from thin air. The net result will be that citizens will get some "free money", which will amount to the value of the dollar being diluted. Not really a good thing, considering the dollar, which is worth not much more than 3¢, is going to be further reduced in value. No wonder a loaf of bread costs nearly $3.00.

There is no free lunch.

H
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liveaboard
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Re: IRS Payments

Post by liveaboard »

It's true; they just make more dollars available.
They don't even print it now, they just say there's money and BING, there's more money.
The definition of money is tricky; it hasn't been based on gold for a long time, yet the world keeps turning.
Basically a dollar is what the US government says a dollar is. If they accept dollars for tax payments, then dollars are worth a dollar.
Whatever that means.
The economy expands, inflation marches on, reducing debt load along with the value of savings.

I became interested in economy and tried to learn about it. I found that the top economists of the world disagree with each other on key points; therefore, no one can say they know how it works.

There is a lot of recorded experience though, economic history. When people reacted to crisis in ways they thought were right, disaster followed.
Giving away money flies in the face of market capitalism, government intervention to prop up business is against dogma.
If it becomes a normal thing, capitalism gets squashed.
But from time to time, it's the best way forward. If the government had taken over Lehman bros in 2008, the last recession might not have happened.
Those economic professors are still arguing about it.
In this case, I agree that they need to sling out the cash. Yes, it's going to cost us. But the alternative, economic collapse, would cost much, much more.

Money is all in our heads, and so is the impulse to get out of bed and go to work in the morning.
Farmers won't harvest, drivers won't drive, ships won't sail without the belief that money will be paid for their effort.
And people will starve. It's happened before.

Dogma isn't a good method for economic management. There is no pure capitalism, it has to be continuously tweaked and prodded.
The US has been good at that, which has resulted in huge economic power.
History will argue over the decisions being made today.
Let's all hope that whatever our elected leaders decide turn out to be the right choices.
SteveM
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Re: IRS Payments

Post by SteveM »

Whenever money has been printed to create the illusion of wealth, only disaster has resulted.

Rome
Germany
Zimbabwe
Venezuela

I have a Zimbabwe dollar I got when I was there in 1997. I think it was worth something like 20 cents at the time.

It is now worth:
$0.00000000000000000000000001

Yes, a decimal point with 25 zeroes.

Printing money is nothing more than a tax on people who own assets.

Without getting political, Elizabeth Warren wants a wealth tax? We already have it - inflation.

BTW, many economists define inflation as putting more money in circulation than is needed. The rise in prices is not inflation, but the result of that inflation.

Here's one more thing to think about:

Your grandparents would tell you stories about how much things used to cost.

Their grandparents never did, that's why YOUR grandparents thought it was so unusual.

From the founding the country to the founding of the fed, prices changed almost not at all. If you look at a graph of inflation over time, there is an inflection point right around the time the fed was founded.

Steve
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Steggy
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Re: IRS Payments

Post by Steggy »

Running the printing presses to work a country out of a severe economic depression has been done in the past, often with disastrous results. One only needs to look at what happened in post-World War I Germany for a brutal example.

As for the value of a dollar, it is ultimately determined by how much goods and services it will purchase. These days, a dollar is worth about what a dime was worth when I was a child. Inflation seems to be as unavoidable as death and taxes.
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NP317
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Re: IRS Payments

Post by NP317 »

All reasons I build and operate steam locomotives...
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