Posted by
grad_1986 on Wednesday, March 31, 2010 1:51:38 PM
Last night I was doing my taxes using TurboTax and going through all of my normal deductions. I had tried very hard this year to make sure my withholdings were correct so I would owe only a very small amount of money (I would rather pay a small amount than get a refund as refunds are nothing more than interest free loans we give the government). As I neared the end I could see that I was going to owe about $200 and I was completely fine with that. Then TurboTax asked me if I had a student in college, which I responded to with a "YES". I entered the amount from the 1098-T sent to me by the college and instantly I saw my $200 payment to the feds turn into a $2300 refund from the government. At first I was "elated" but then I thought about where that money was coming from.... THIN AIR!
I have written article after article about the outlandish spending of the federal government and how they were just printing money on paper with nothing to back it up. Now it came down to ME. Should I take the money? One could easily rationalize that "ITS MY FAIR SHARE" and just take the money. But I am sick and tired of everyone just out for themselves and not seeing the big picture. One could also rationalize that its just a drop in the proverbial bucket that it won't really matter in the grand scheme of things. But where does this all end?? Have you seen the most recent commercials for the 2010 Census? The central theme in all of them is that it's your CIVIC DUTY TO FILL IT OUT SO YOU CAN GET YOUR FAIR SHARE FROM THE GOVERNMENT. Is that what its all about? I thought that according to the constitution it was for the alotment of representatives, not of tax dollars. Are we that selfish of a nation now, that we won't fill out a census (or at least the parts that we know are Constitutional), that we have to be bribed with money first? Just what is "my fair share" anyway? What happened to "Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what can I do for my country" (and that was in a speech from a Democrat!). Have we morphed into "Ask not what I can give to my country, but what money can the country give me?"
But getting back to my tax situation... I am asking people who might read this blog to give me feedback. What is your opinion?
Should I take the $2500 credit or not?
Let me know...