US IRS needs competent web designers

[derien]

Somewhere in the mess of figuring out how to get people more money, Congress apparently decided that a portion of the unemployement compensation that people got last year will not be taxed, but 99% of people aren not going to be able to figure out how to refile their taxes in order to get the appropriate refund. Eor found one of the crucial worksheets - or at least, he thinks it is. They didn't put it on it's own page, it doesn't look anything like a normal tax worksheet, and the lines are all misnumbered (and at some point they started misnumbering them yet again). He worked on this project for hours, yesterday, and he used to be an accountant. Have I ever mentioned that I know someone who can't figure out how to use a credit card at a gas pump? Nope, most people are going to miss out on thousands of dollars that they probably need very badly. Most will never know it. They'll just be angry that they never got sent a check. With all good reason, because they SHOULD be. It's not like the government doesn't know how much money we all made.

Comments

[eor]

Today they have fixed the numbering on that web page, so at least the worksheet starts with 1,2,3 instead of 9,10,11 and then having the text of 12 refer to total 1, 2, & 3.

[(Anonymous)]

For future reference one can usually opt to Not
have the money withheld in the first place .....
If you are worried about owing you can just withhold yourself
by putting aside the amount it would be and collect interest on it to boot....
LTA

[derien]

No worries about that, Eor always has plenty withheld so we get money back. He says we get around .005% on savings right now, and you can collect a dollar if you have like $20,000 in there, so it's not worth it to have money in a savings account. (He says that interest rates are being held low to keep people spending and the economy moving.)

I guess I wasn't really clear - this is about the fact that he always gets the tax forms turned in as early as he can, so now he has to file an amended return because they changed the law regarding unemployment compensation after the tax season was already open. And he had gotten some unemployment compensation even though he wasn't UNemployed, he was underemployed (Bean's cut back his hours and pay for some months last summer.)

[(Anonymous)]

Hmmm get it now.
good luck with amended forms ....
LTA