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CA renter.
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October 29, 2012 at 7:09 PM #20233October 30, 2012 at 2:22 PM #753459
Doofrat
ParticipantWhat was the interest rate they gave you?
October 30, 2012 at 2:46 PM #753461
CoronitaParticipant[quote=doofrat]What was the interest rate they gave you?[/quote]
I have to double check exactly when the payment was made and when I got the refund. But I think it was about close to 3%. I might be wrong… Definitely more than 1%…I just thought it was kinda funny…
October 30, 2012 at 2:51 PM #753462desmond
Participant[quote=doofrat]What was the interest rate they gave you?[/quote]
PSA included
Put it this way if you run down to Taco Bell today between 2 pm & 6 pm and get your free Doritos Locos Taco for the World Series stolen base promotion, flu will be able to use his “extra” interest and walk away with as many as 6 free tacos today.
October 30, 2012 at 2:59 PM #753463CoronitaParticipant[quote=desmond][quote=doofrat]What was the interest rate they gave you?[/quote]
PSA included
Put it this way if you run down to Taco Bell today between 2 pm & 6 pm and get your free Doritos Locos Taco for the World Series stolen base promotion, flu will be able to use his “extra” interest and walk away with as many as 6 free tacos today.[/quote]
Yes, but that’s less money the state/FTB doesn’t have… It’s the principle of it….
There’s 3 entities I don’t have problem asking a refund from, even if it means a few cents.
1. Banks
2. FTB/IRS…
3. Any other government entity.And the nice part is that they probably had to spend a quite bit of human resources to do it….
For the very same reason, I never electronically file… They can have my 1040 +540 hardcopy…. All 211 pages of it….
October 30, 2012 at 3:08 PM #753466ParticipantI’m exhuasted thinking of that. btw go get the free taco today. The Doritos Locos Tacos are really good, and Taco Bell’s new cantina menu is also really good. Oh yea, I’m a YUM shareholder so order up…………
October 30, 2012 at 3:14 PM #753467CoronitaParticipant[quote=desmond]I’m exhuasted thinking of that. btw go get the free taco today. The Doritos Locos Tacos are really good, and Taco Bell’s new cantina menu is also really good. Oh yea, I’m a YUM shareholder so order up…………[/quote]
Well at least my hardcopy 211 page return was computer generated…It would have been more fun if I turned one one handwritten…
October 30, 2012 at 3:15 PM #753468spdrun
ParticipantTaco Hell “Mexican” “food” normally makes me want to liquish!t on the face of the person who prepared it about 1/2 hour after I ingest it. Note that I don’t say “eat it.”
October 30, 2012 at 8:05 PM #753485Anonymous
GuestFlu
So let me get this right. For years you have complained about Government services/operations, but then you intentionally make it as difficult and as expensive as possible for it to function efficiently, which of course wastes my tax dollars. Close?October 30, 2012 at 9:28 PM #753492CoronitaParticipant[quote=SVKodai]Flu
So let me get this right. For years you have complained about Government services/operations, but then you intentionally make it as difficult and as expensive as possible for it to function efficiently, which of course wastes my tax dollars. Close?[/quote]Pretty much…. Because the system is setup with the intention to be inefficient and lethargic…
But no worries, you can find many many many more reasons why the government is inefficient and wasteful that dwarfs anything here in comparison.
No one gives a crap about saving money and reducing spending….As some Big Government supporters would say… I’m helping create jobs in the public sector….Even when it shouldn’t exist….Mailing that 211 hardcopy is keeping the USPS in business…Forget that they have a special arrangement with China Post to allow small businesses in Hong Kong and China sell products directly to consumers in the US for 90 cents (postage included with tracking number)…
Nah, it’s ok to subsidize mail from overseas while screwing over the average american….
You know that’s the irony of what is happening. Our government seems to be a lot more keen on helping people overseas than they do helping people that are over here…
October 31, 2012 at 1:44 AM #753511CA renter
ParticipantSorry, flu, but you’re wrong about the system being set up to be inefficient and lethargic, and also about nobody wanting to save money and reduce spending. The public sector gets a lot more done with less money than most private entities. Just because Fox News spews a lot of BS about the inefficiency of govt/efficiency of the private sector, it doesn’t make it true. If you compare apples to apples, you’ll see that a lot of government activities are carried out for a lot less money than what private companies could do it for, and they often handle more complex situations, and do it faster and better as well.
Yes, the government is top-heavy, and there is a lot of waste, fraud, and abuse (especially where private contractors and RE developers are concerned). But that tends to be concentrated at the political level, not at the ground level. When people compare things like the AAA vs the DMV, they often forget that the DMV processes far more transactions and also handles the most complex jobs.
October 31, 2012 at 5:09 AM #753513CoronitaParticipant[quote=CA renter]Sorry, flu, but you’re wrong about the system being set up to be inefficient and lethargic, and also about nobody wanting to save money and reduce spending. [/quote]
…Oh really????? Shall we revisit memory lane?
…We don’t need to look very far in the past…Look no further FTB’s most recent attempt to exclude Mello Roos from a schedule A deduction in 2011….
Remember that?Let’s refresh…
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Calif-drops-property-tax-deduction-campaign-3486711.php
*California FTB goes ahead and declares mello-roos and other flat-rate taxes are NOT deductible on schedule A…
*It then spends millions of dollars to implement a system that’s purpose is suppose to monitor people’s reporting….all without checking first with the IRS on what it’s view on Mello Roos.
*It tells taxpayers all the way up to April 10th of that year that you cannot deduct Mello Roos on Schedule A…
*And then suddenly, on April 10 it becomes clear!!! An IRS memorandum from 2003 indicates that “Mello-Roos and other California assessments may be deductible as real property taxes, even though they are not imposed upon an “ad valorem” basis…
*Taxpayers who were “doing the right thing” and following the rules had 7 days to fix their returns…And for folks who already filed…They get to be burdened with a nice 540X refile…All at their personal time and expense. (Unless of course, you don’t mind forking extra money over to the FTB or in the situation in which you’re already bending over with AMT)….Ironically, filers who always just “assumed” it would be fine to write of Mello-Roos have nothing to do…
*Oh BTW, don’t forget about filing that 540X for previous years too…If you were unfortunate enough to listen to “advice” that mello-roos was not deductible…
So in summary, CA FTB wastes millions of dollars to try to collect more taxes…before it attempts to clarify what the IRS is doing….Someone failed to spend time to check the requirements and to interpret the IRS memo…… FROM 2003…Someone failed to inquire into the IRS to get clarity…The FTB decides to go ahead and spend money on implementing a system that is immediately not used….And worst, no one apparently got fired for this major screw up….(which if would have been the case at a normal a company)….
So while I have utmost respect for the IRS (despite I hate them too), the FTB takes the cake for me of the epitome of waste. Meanwhile, if you ever called the FTB for questions, you’ll most likely be immediately greeted by someone who is rude, unable(sorry, I meant incompetent) to help you, and tries to quickly transfer you to someone else, so it’s not their problem…Kinda like the people at the DMV…
But thanks for reminding me to send out a PSA to folks reminding then if they were unfortunate enough to have been honest for the past years and excluded mello-roos from schedule A, they can file an amendment for past years up to 4 years ago (for CA at least) to hopefully get some money back from the state…
October 31, 2012 at 8:24 AM #753516livinincali
Participant[quote=CA renter]Sorry, flu, but you’re wrong about the system being set up to be inefficient and lethargic, and also about nobody wanting to save money and reduce spending. The public sector gets a lot more done with less money than most private entities. Just because Fox News spews a lot of BS about the inefficiency of govt/efficiency of the private sector, it doesn’t make it true. If you compare apples to apples, you’ll see that a lot of government activities are carried out for a lot less money than what private companies could do it for, and they often handle more complex situations, and do it faster and better as well.
Yes, the government is top-heavy, and there is a lot of waste, fraud, and abuse (especially where private contractors and RE developers are concerned). But that tends to be concentrated at the political level, not at the ground level. When people compare things like the AAA vs the DMV, they often forget that the DMV processes far more transactions and also handles the most complex jobs.[/quote]
I’ve worked in both and I have to say that the private sector tends to be more efficient with it’s business processes. The problem with most government services is a convoluted set of business processes that slowly built up over time. The reason privatization doesn’t work that well is because the private sector isn’t allowed to change the business process I.e. the Red Tape that never goes away even when you try to privatize. A private company might have a really efficient way of processing water bills but they have no understanding of all the quirky business rules involved so the private sector gets bogged down with the funky rules and end up with cost overruns.
Say you privatized trash collection but forced the private company to pick up trash on the exact same routes/times even if they were extremely inefficient. Your private company might be able to design a route to pick up all the trash in 4 days with 20% less miles driving but if the government tells you can’t do that because the citizens are used to the old way and can’t be asked to change, then of course it’s going to cost more. That was my experience in working with the city. Too many egos with inefficient processes that they weren’t willing to change even if they was a better way to do things.
Of course when you’ve worked in that environment you either believe that your process is actually efficient or you just accept it because efforts to change it are met with too much resistance.
October 31, 2012 at 10:41 AM #753533no_such_reality
Participant[quote=CA renter] When people compare things like the AAA vs the DMV, they often forget that the DMV processes far more transactions and also handles the most complex jobs.[/quote]
Case in point. Blind Man Finds Holes in DMV Exam Methods
November 1, 2012 at 1:51 AM #753593Participant[quote=no_such_reality][quote=CA renter] When people compare things like the AAA vs the DMV, they often forget that the DMV processes far more transactions and also handles the most complex jobs.[/quote]
Case in point. Blind Man Finds Holes in DMV Exam Methods[/quote]
This comment regarding that article makes the best point:
1tamcc at 6:03 PM October 31, 2012
My experience with the DMV is that generally they do a good job with the resources they have.
DMV gets many thousand renewal applications each year. If they’re 99.9% accurate, some will still fall through the cracks.
———-Now, let’s see an example of a private business that services the same number of people as the DMV, and with the same number of employees/resources (who are compensated at or around the level of DMV employees), and see where their record stands.
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