Glorious vision of two bars and the word "Approved" but I’m still mad

[Gurlcat]

This is my 3rd year on IGMR so I know to post my details in case they’re useful to another desperate person. So: I filed 1/22 via TaxSlayer, got accepted on 1/24 with one bar, then it disappeared on 2/15 like most everyone else with PATH. Blah Blah Blah. Today I finally see TWO bars, approved return, DDD “by Feb. 27th.” Yeah it’s wonderful, but….

I’m still angry because this took wayyyyy too long, with wayyyy too much opacity. Even now it says not to call them unless I don’t see the money in friggin MARCH something. I’m still angry because the extended wait has already caused me a cascade of problems. This year I even paid my fees up front to avoid that 1-3 day delay in the middleman’s hands, but it’s still taking way longer than the past two years. I’m still angry because just mentioning that I have financial problems will trigger self-righteous trolls to make assumptions and accusations about being foolish and living like the money was already in my hands. I’m still angry because just mentioning PATH will trigger self-righteous AND jealous people to say I’m getting money I didn’t earn and don’t deserve. And I’m still angry because there are still people with no money, no bars, including people who filed BEFORE me.

What I find weird is how none of the IRS phone calls I’ve made or read about involved reps citing the government shutdown as the reason for this extra-wackadoodle tax season. I don’t even see people here mentioning it much, because like any other year, everyone has two main modes: 1. pure suffering with focus on details only as they pertain to how soon the suffering will end, and 2. Pure jubilation when the money finally comes and immediate amnesia about the suffering, never mind the details. Like giving birth. But not me. I know who the father was, we all do, but we don’t say his name. Maybe it’s against the rules because this isn’t the place for politics, I don’t know. If so I’d find that pretty ironic, that politics would be forbidden among adults and their families directly affected.

[Gurlcat]

@chicagoannie I suspected the same thing, that the phone reps aren’t allowed to say anything about the shutdown or the unusually long delay. The day that I spoke with 5 different reps, each one of them seemed annoyed that I already knew about PATH because it took away the only piece of “information” they could “give” me. Even AFTER I said I understood that PATH returns could not begin until the 15th, they said it to me like they were literally reading from a script. One of them even phrased the “27th” date as “the week of the 27th.” Now what’s interesting about that is, normally when people say the week of a date, that date is a Monday, in other words that day or one of the other days after, within that week. But the 27th is on a Wednesday. TWO YEARS AGO (the first year affected by PATH), the 27th was a Monday. So in other words, she was still using the February 2017 script!

[Arin]

@miss Jae
Its not a single person. It never has been. its always US vs THEM. THEM vs US. But what we little people fail to realize is that neither side knows what WE really need. They’re all just interested in proving each other wrong while the middle and lower class struggles to make ends meet no matter who sits in the chair. Its a fucked up system.

[MISS Jae]

@Arin,

Thank you for acknowledging that it’s both parties fault and not blaming one single man😊

Politics in general are horrible and our Country is so divided.
It’s sad. Wish we could all get along.

[Arin]

I’m here for all of this. Especially the part about the suffering. This tax season has been all types of stressful. And there’s no way i will forget because, thanks to the new tax laws, i fall into the category of people whose return is significantly lower this year. The shutdown was unnecessary BS and the idiots that let it happen (both red and blue) dont give a damn about who it affected.

[Andrew]

@djhasms

Everything you said is wrong. There is no new Obama tax law, he hasn’t been in office in 2 years. And the PATH Act is not Obama’s law. The PATH Act was an extension of credits that were set to expire in 2017. The delay part of the PATH Act was added by Republicans.

[Jessie j]

Well I say you are selfish. At least you have a ddd. Many of us don’t. So stop whining and be greatful

[Sean]

My dd will be 4 days later than last year. However even though I had the same income/dependents/credits as last year, I’m getting back $700 more.

I’ll take that trade any year.

[chicagoannie]

Those call center reps are not allowed to mention the shutdown. Grounds for firing. They are also marked off for even acknowledging the processing of tax returns is running behind this year.

[Jennifer Starr]

I feel for the people that you’re not seeing on here waiting for their refund this year. The people who maybe get 1500-2000 back that are all of the sudden seeing that they owe 5-10,000. This is probably the first year that I haven’t desperately needed my refund, those people who do? It’s no ones business why. Maybe they lost a job, or had to take a job with a pay cut, maybe they had a devastating illness that cut into their savings. The sad fact is, millions of people are living paycheck to paycheck, it’s us, the ones that look forward to that return, that spend it on spoiling the kiddos or ourselves, that help the economy. You are absolutely right, we shouldn’t be judging each other, we should have each others backs and help get information for those who are nervous about what is happening with their refund. I completely believe that the reason this year is so jacked up is because of the shut down. They were out for a month when they should have been testing the system and training on new procedures.

[Ttcc]

@djhasms

Thank you for keeping it real. Democrats are getting a bad rap because no one wants to accept facts these days.

[Gurlcat]

DhjhasMS It sounds like you are talking about the PATH Act that is an identity verification system, and was already in effect the past two years. If you’re talking about something else, what is it called? Got any links? I would like to read about it.

[Gurlcat]

growing a brain The reason that makes me angry is just because you know somebody living recklessly doesn’t mean anything about a stranger whose situation you don’t know. There are countless things that can happen to people that are completely out of their control, but I’m not being specific on purpose, because somebody could construe any hardship as deserved, somehow. People will go to any lengths to blame people for their own suffering, and punch down instead of up. And the people who are ‘up’ out of the suffering LOVVVVVE that flaw in human nature. It works nicely for them.

[growing a brain]

tbf I see a lot of ppl living wreckless around tax time. getting loans that they can’t repay unless they get a DD. using the mortgage for that new outfit and MK accessories. hell my baby mama does that shit every year. so unfortunately most ppl will just assume that bc it’s actually very common.but we’re glad that u got your DD. all I wanted to know was that my return was good since it’s first yr claiming baby girl

[DJhasMS]

The government shutdown is not the primary reason for the delay is, that’s why you don’t see a lot of people talking about it.

The primary reason for the delays is the new Obama tax law that just went into effect this year, including the new ID verify system to protect people’s identity that went into effect under the Obama administration.

People try to stay out of the political realm on here, so there’s very few comments that are political based. Also, a lot of us are Democrats and we don’t want to admit that it was a Democratic president that kind of screwed up the taxes this year, LOL.

[Smkillion]

Well said !

[Author]

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