IRS Errors Mean Many People Will Be Paying Back Stimulus Money

  Starting last month Americans began to receive a tax credit in their weekly paychecks of around $13. (Which will fall to $8 next year) I hope that you weren’t planning on keeping that money because the chances are good that you will have to give it back when you fill out your taxes next year.

  It seems as though the IRS is changing their tax tables around and because of this many people will have to return their tax credits. But don’t worry, you won’t be affected unless you belong to one of the following groups:

• married couples in which both spouses work
• workers with more than one job
• retirees who have federal income taxes withheld from their pension
• Social Security recipients with jobs that provide taxable income

  In other words, if you are an average American trying to make ends meet you will probably be giving that tax credit back, or at least part of it. As the article linked to above states, people who receive little or no money back from the IRS at the end of the year are the ones who will be most hurt by this. The rest of us will be getting a smaller return.

  The IRS knows that there is a problem and they have a solution. Any idea what that might be? Take a guess before you read on.

If you are married and both spouses work, you might consider having taxes withheld at the higher rate for single filers. If you have multiple jobs, you might consider having extra taxes withheld by one of your employers

  Pay more now so that you don’t get screwed later. Isn’t that just typical? My suggestion to them would be for them to fix the problems and not punt it to us next year.

  If the idea behind the tax credits is to give people more money in their paychecks to spend and thereby stimulate the economy, doesn’t the IRS’s solution of having more taxes taken out of your paycheck nullify the desired effect?

 Am I missing something here?