The last day of taxes here in the States are Monday, 15 April.
But why do we have tax season? Why do we get tax refunds? (Note: I do not mind getting money, but I want to know why I have to worry about that kind of thing every end of winter/beginning of spring)
Apparently, you get a tax refund when you overpay in taxes.
Your job withholds money from your paycheck for the government to determine what your actual tax amount is. And every year, they return what you ‘gave’ more of.
Because I, in all honesty, don’t know shit about taxes (hence why I make this post), I did a bit of Googling as to why this all happens in the first place. I found one guy explain the actual refund/the overpaying part:
“You and your buddy go out for drinks every so often. To make things easier you both kick in $200/mo into a joint checking account and pay for everything out of that account. At the end of the year, you need to settle up and zero the account. You go through each receipt and determine who was responsible for each cost, and pay out the appropriate remainder. With the account at $0, you both start kicking $200/mo into the account again.” (link)
But why do we actually overpay? Well, I found two different answers, both surprisingly from the same article.
1. It’s so we can avoid UNDERpaying taxes and have to owe money to the IRS in April
And 2. We are essentially loaning the government money for free, which they ‘return’ every end of winter/beginning of spring. (click for the article)
So, that’s what I found. I don’t know how much is true and how much could be nonsense. Either way, I have a headache just from trying to figure out why this happens.
Make sure you file your taxes. Deadline 15 April. That’s it.
Hugs (and aspirin)
Alexandra
Alexandra TG 