Thing 1: There was a fair amount of G. family crossover with Y. family (that would be me) this weekend. Let’s see, Sarah came over for Little Big Planet 2 time, um, twice last week. Then we went shopping on Saturday. The family less one came over for dinner on Sunday, and then we saw Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows at the Byrd, thus reigniting my obsession with the last film. I thought I was past that after I rented out a theater and invited my former students to watch it with me in November. Guess not.
Funniest moment of the night: Jake asking me if I’d seen the movie before. “Jake… remember a big, empty movie theater? The one that I rented out for my birthday?” “Oh yeah!”
Kids.
Thing 2: My taxes are done. I am now going to be extremely obnoxious around mid-April. I also decided to pay the extra twenty bucks and e-file my state taxes, because I didn’t adjust my withholding well enough to get the money in my pocket instead of Uncle Sam’s and Old Virginny’s. Big refunds. Hence, the early sending in of the tax forms. I think I’m going to have to make yet another adjustment, though. I like getting as close to zero as possible. And oh yeah—how much does it suck that I’m paying less in taxes (percentage) now that I’m a homeowner? That’s right, people who don’t own property get screwed by the government. It’s a mystery to me why mortgage interest takes precedent over rent. It shouldn’t.
Thing 3: It’s time for soup. We had chicken for dinner last night, I’m making chicken soup tonight. I need to refill my freezer. This time, I’m going to add more carrots than I could possibly want. I simply can’t have enough carrots in my chicken soup. I always wish I’d added more. Well, this time, I think it’s going to be carrot soup, with chicken chunks and matzoh balls.
> It’s a mystery to me why mortgage interest takes precedent over rent. It shouldn’t.
It’s a deliberate tax policy put in decades ago in order to encourage home ownership. Normal living expenses like rent and food would generally not be deductible.
On the other hand, property taxes are a unique negative aspect of owning a home. Renters don’t pay property tax, though, of course, the person to whom they are paying rent does and presumably figures the cost into the rent; but by the same reasoning, housing prices also reflect, at least indirectly, the costs and benefits of property taxes and mortgage deductions, so maybe it all evens out.
Maryland does have an advantage in that we can efile from the Maryland taxes web site (for free). However, I am still waiting for the remainder of the 1099’s etc in order to file. We were also notified that itemized deduction filers are going to actually get their taxes finalized late because the IRS was given the final laws late. Unlike previous years, your refunds will be coming back later than they should based on how early you filed.
Yes, but why should there be a mortgage tax break at all? Why should the government encourage home ownership? The government is supposed to encourage us to follow the laws and be good citizens.
I’m getting closer and closer to libertarianism. And a flat tax rate.
Sabba Hillel, I know about the refund delay. That’s another reason to file early. I’m going to try to estimate my taxes for next year based on my salary this year (after the 401k payments) and see if I can’t make sure that I don’t get a refund next year. I want that money in my pocket. And because of all those mortgage tax breaks, my refund is even bigger because I refinanced my house next year. And because of all those breaks, my overall tax percentage is LESS than I used to pay when I made about half as much. Unbelievable. Tax fairness? Shyeah. Not in my lifetime.