Monday, December 03, 2007

Expect to hear more of such stories next year...   [David Freddoso]

Democrats' failure to patch the AMT until after the deadline for printing IRS forms will result in tens of millions of late tax refunds. This is all about Democrats failing to get their act together and pass an AMT patch that doesn't massively raise taxes on everyone else, even though they were warned months in advance that this could happen:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Silena Davis had counted on an early tax refund to pay for getting her teeth fixed. Now, because Congress has dawdled all year on a tax bill, she and millions of other early filers could have to wait extra weeks for refunds that last year averaged $2,291.

The Internal Revenue Service is looking hard at delaying the start of its filing season, set to kick off on Jan. 14, if Congress fails to pass legislation in the next two weeks. At issue is how to handle what could be a dramatic increase in the number of people facing a higher alternative minimum tax.

If there is a delay and it extends into mid-February, it would slow nearly 32 million refunds worth a total of about $87 billion, the IRS Oversight Board predicts.

"It would definitely make a big difference with me," said Davis, a George Washington University Law School administrator. "I'm going to have to get a crown and it's going to be really expensive."

If the Republicans were wise about this, then every single Republican Congressman and candidate would be giving home-district speeches and calling local news stations and newspapers to do interviews on this issue. This is an issue that hits very close to home for a lot of people. 

Voters were sick of the war and Republican corruption in 2006, but they didn't put Democrats in charge so that they could effectively steal their money (give the government an interest-free loan) by delaying tax refunds.

12/03 11:29 AMShare