[geeks] Tax Weirdness

[Jonathan C. Patschke]

I decided I'd be weird do my taxes early (January) this year.  It sure
couldn't hurt anything, and it means I get to apply for student aid
earlier, since all those figures are set in stone.

I just got a letter from the IRS.  Not one of those little brown envelopes
from the treasury, but a white letter with "official business" stamped on
the front.  "Shit, I -don't- need to be audited right about now."

So, I open it up, and, while not threat of an audit, the IRS is telling me
that I don't know how to do my own taxes.  So, I go over my figures, and I
have to say that I agree with their correction, as I made a mistake
jotting down a figure.  Fat lot of good it does to check the arithmetic if
you don't check your data sources first.

Here's the kicker:  The IRS will be giving me a $300 -larger- refund, as a
result.

I honestly never thought that the IRS would admit to an error in their
favor.  I'd probably have never caught it.

What bothers me more is that the tax amount they -did- come up with
doesn't agree with their other figures, but they note something called a
"Rate Reduction Credit".  The tax amount they come up with would be
perfectly appropriate for someone with 90% of the taxable income that I
had.

But, hell, if they're going to force another $300 down my throat, I'm not
gonna bitch about it.  I'm just confused and stunned over all of this.  
At least I didn't apply for any student aid yet, as those figures look
much happier now.

--Jonathan