Now if you we're to loot a company's pension funds to pay yourself millions in management fees, then bankrupt the company, thereby forcing the federal government to step in and make the pensions whole, you would qualify as moocher, but only on a small scale. True moochers crash their companies and then get the federal government to bail them out and make them profitable again.

First, you are not getting all of your money back. You are paying taxes, and being refunded the excess.

Second, you should really think about other ways to save money than an interest-free loan to the government.

I mean, I totally "get" the convenience of a forced saving plan from which you cannot make an early withdrawal.

You can get a savings account which takes automatic transfers from another account, and some ledger programs like Quickbooks have a feature now where you can "hide" the money from yourself.

if you're very disciplined about your money, then yes, you might as well have the minimum withheld and earn whatever interest you can on the rest, even if it's only 0.1%. this is good if you have the discipline not to spend it, that is.

but for those who aren't so disciplined, this is an easy way to "hide" the money from yourself, as you put it.
for people who can't help but live paycheck to paycheck, this is the only time of the year they have "extra" money for anything big.


personally, i monitor my money like a hawk, with both quicken and excel, so i'm a big fan of withholding the minimum; but i recognize that that's not for everyone.

...they aren't paying a premium for "rapid refund" and other come-ons by tax preparers.

I know a lot of people use federal withholding as a "Christmas club" savings plan. Heck, I did it myself for a number of years. IMHO, that seems to be the target of some of the come-ons that have grown up around tax refunds.

that the exorbitant interest, thinly-disguised payday loan is definitely among them.

your payroll department usually knows exactly what your fica tax is. income is either exempt (interest, dividedends, capital gains) or not (most salary, wages). and it's a flat percentage.

the only way i can think of where you can overpay your fica is if your total income is over the annual social security tax limit but you have more than one job and so combined, they take out more than the maximum. THEN you would get a rebate.


but i'm guessing you actually mean that you take zero exemptions for federal income tax purposes, and that you're paying some federal income taxes, but get a refund from overpayment of federal income taxes (not fica) around april.

in any event, underpaying or overpaying throughout the year and getting a big bill or a refund in april is a pretty irrelevant cash flow matter. in terms of ethics and politics and whatever, what really matters is the net amount paid in taxes, not when it was paid (assuming you paid any appropriate penalties in the case of underpayment).

if you are self-employed, in which case you have to make quarterly or monthly tax payments (depending on your income - my own business never made enough money for me to pay FICA).

that's more likely from not knowing that exact amount of earnings on which to pay, or by deliberately adding to the amount actually due.

to me, fiddling with the number of exemptions claimed makes me think of federal income tax withholding exemptions, not fica exemptions.

It would be fun to ask friends and family questions, enter the data into the app and say "Yes, you are indeed a moocher!" Or "No, you are a real American."

Please, someone with computer knowledge and tax knowledge, make that. I swear it would make my day.

Line 60 on the Form 1040 is your total tax.

You give extra money to the government, let them earn interest on it, so you can have a big refund?

It's called a savings account - get one. You can manage your own money, right?

there is a real fundamental misunderstanding of basic tax returns, rates, deductions, etc., that leads people to incorrect conclusions, and adds to the smokescreen Romney and the GOP throws up around tax policy.

Just because you get a tax refund doesn't mean you pay no taxes.
Just because you ultimately pay net-zero in federal income tax doesn't mean you pay no taxes. It doesn't even mean you pay no federal taxes. Hell, you are likely also subsidizing your employer's Medicare/SS cut through stagnation of wages. You pay state income tax, sales tax, property tax, local/municipal tax, gas tax, etc.

The concept that there is a huge group of people gettting off scot-free is absurd. Matter of fact, the working class (the 47%) has probably shouldered a bigger burden than ever when it all comes out in the wash. Creative math has created a political cottage industry of blaming the poor for a rich-created ripoff system.