Watching this happen, I kind of believe it’s just beginning. I don’t know exactly how long it will continue, but I’m sure it’s not over, and I know things will turn around again. I feel that we’ll be experiencing more factors over the coming months that will be pulling down the value of home prices even more. We’re also seeing an increase in the unemployment filings, and as those increase we will likely expect to a corresponding increase in foreclosures which will affect the overall value of homes. Interestingly enough, the decrease in value will also affect tax revenue related to price of homes which has a negative impact on civic infrastructure.

To get it quickest:

• File your return electronically before April 15th
• Have a low ordinal value for the last two digits of your social security number
• Opt for direct deposit for your 2007 refund

Those who owe, like me, will likely receive a paper check.

You must file by October 15th to receive a check this year.

It takes a deeper look into saving more money, investing smarter, getting out of debt, getting your career kick-started, and more.

It’s actually a collection of 10 articles, and will take some time to get through all of them, but it’s time well spent.

Most people who were flagged were seeking the earned income credit. These are poor people, those with an income average of less than $13000 a year. They were the targets. These targets are mostly single parents and married couples with children. Another large portion consists of people trying to get off welfare by finding their own income. In many cases, the IRS was ordered to provide no hint of the return’s questionability when the refund was frozen.

Now, here’s the most relevant issue behind this whole shenanigans:

Ms. Olson said the I.R.S. devoted vastly more resources to pursing questionable refunds by the poor, which she said cannot involve more than $9 billion, than to a $100 billion problem with unreported incomes from small businesses that deal only in cash, many of which do not even file tax returns.

One of my mentors once told me that you “pick your lowest hanging apples first”… meaning you pick your most easily accessible bounty of fruit, and once that’s done then you can work on the rest of it. I think we could be more fruitful by focusing on that $100 billion instead of the $9 billion.

2006 taxes

The second part of this lesson is taxes. Again, the author suggests seeking professional assistance if you have special circumstances, such as being self-employed or owning a home, because of the complicated laws that allow for some helpful deductions.

The basic concept related to both of these lessons is “A dollar saved is two dollars earned.”