One would think that this big of a scam would have, long ago, been exposed
by the insistent media.

On a lighter note, if what you surmise is true, then are we to have to pay
back the amount the U.S. spent just to let us know if we get a "REFUND/loan"
and how much the refund would be?

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Wirt Atmar [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Sunday, July 22, 2001 10:12 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      OT: Tax "refund" checks
>
> This posting is not only wildly off-topic, it will only be of interest to
> the
> American subscribers to the list.
>
> As everyone in the US knows, the US government has begun the process of
> mailing out tax "refund" checks to every tax payer in the US. If you are
> single, your maximum refund amount will be $300; if you are head of
> household, but single, your maximum will be $500; and if you are married
> and
> filing jointly, it will be $600.
>
> Whether this "refund" was merely very poorly explained or whether it is a
> purposefully deceptive sleight-of-hand on the part of the current
> administration, it is our understanding, as well as that of Ernst &
> Young's,
> that almost everyone has come to misunderstand what this check really is.
>
> Surprisingly, we run a tax service as a sideline business. It arose as an
> outgrowth of our writing business application software for the HP3000 for
> local businesses and was further strengthened in anticipation of us
> writing
> new applications for the HP3000 using QCTerm under the new "time-sharing"
> model that the internet presents us. While we confine this business to
> only
> Las Cruces at the moment, because all of the H&R Block-like organizations
> have long ago closed up shop for the season, our phone has been ringing
> off
> of the hook lately with people asking us how much money they're going to
> get
> back.
>
> Please allow me to explain the situation as clearly as we understand it:
> The
> $600 check you receive is not a refund or a rebate on your last year's
> taxes,
> as has been strongly implied by the White House press conferences. Rather
> it
> is better characterized as an "advance anticipation loan" of the refund
> that
> you will receive in 2002 from the taxes you will pay on this year's
> earnings.
>
> The way that money is calculated is that if you filed your taxes on your
> 2000
> earnings and received a $1000 refund earlier this year, in 2001, the
> government is anticipating that you will file essentially the same tax
> papers
> again next year, on April, 2002, and again you will receive approx. a
> $1000
> tax refund. Of that refund, they're giving you $600 of that money now
> ("It's
> the people's money, and they deserve to have it" has been the mantra).
> Next
> year, if everything you file is essentially the same, you *will* get your
> approx. $1000 refund, but it will be *minus* the $600 they're giving you
> now.
>
> This is obviously going to infuriate a lot of people, simply because it
> isn't
> what they're understanding this money to be. Amost everyone thinks that
> the
> checks are refunds on taxes they've paid in the past rather than an
> advance
> on a future refund. But I would expect that the level of irateness is only
> going to get worse, based on the phone calls we've been receiving so far.
>
> One-quarter of the people who file income taxes get no refunds, of course.
> They either earn too little to pay taxes or they owe money at the end of
> the
> year -- and these people are surprisingly irate until we explain the
> situation to them.
>
> But the people who are going to be really irate are those who, for one
> reason
> or another, received a $1000 refund last year but will owe money in the
> coming year. Not only will they owe the money that they would ordinarily
> owe
> the government, they will also have to pay back the $600 they received
> this
> year. It is, after all, an anticipation loan and from the government's
> point
> of view, the antipicated circumstances did not occur.
>
> Further, it's important to understand that this "refund" check is not
> merely
> taxable income that you add into your gross income revenue, it is *the*
> tax.
> Thus, if you wind up this year having to pay additional monies at the end
> of
> the year to the IRS, you will also have to pay back 100% of whatever money
> that you received in this coming check.
>
> While we could be completely wrong in this interpretation, simply because
> no
> one is providing hard and fast rules as to what's going on, this is our
> best
> interpretation of what this coming check means.
>
> Wirt Atmar
>
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