Taxes
Stupid Taxes. Most people I know are getting a refund. In fact, one guy at work (who purchased a house last year) is getting over $5000 back!!! I guess I ineed to start spawning some little Earned Income Credits so I can save on taxes. Or not. Anyway, I've got to pay a couple of bills in federal taxes, but I get a whopping $2.00 State refund. Apparently I'm pretty good at filling out a W-4 form. I used a tax program *cough* "borrowed from a friend" *cough* to calculate things. At the end of it all, I checked out the e-file options. Apparently, someone (the government, the tax software people, I don't know) gets $14.95 for a federal return and $10.95 for a state return. WTF?!
The software itself, and the IRS Website both confirm that if you want to enjoy the benefits of e-filing, then it'll cost you. The software even includes a video explaining how e-file is faster and easier and introduces less human error since no government employee has to manually input my information. This sounds like it should SAVE the government money.
It's my opinion that the IRS should use some of their annual operating budget to hire some people to create a website where everyone can go to fill out their tax forms FOR FREE!!!! If e-filing saves time and money, shouldn't this be performed by our government? It baffles me that this is left to private companies to profit by selling the software, and then perhaps get a cut when you actually e-file. What the hell kind of tax software lobby is out there calling for this.
So screw that, I'm pringting out my forms, and some government employee will have to input my data, and I'll wait wait wait for my stinkin' $2.00 check. I sure as hell am NOT paying to e-file so I can pay more money in tax. To me, it's rediculous to even offer that option. The only case where I'd do this is if I was getting a big refund and wanted my money ASAP. But I fail to see why I should have to pay more for the privledge of receiving money which should be mine anyway, and was basically a free loan to the government for the previous year.
Enough ranting for now, I've got to go write a check and seal an envelope.