Back Door Tax Increase?

So I got my first paycheck of the year and it's about $4.00 less than it should be. I know, I know, $4 isn't alot. Totals about $96.00 over the year. But that's $96.00 I had plans for...I'm a serious budgeter, and have every penny I earn allocated. It's the only way I can keep a handle on debt, saving for retirement, and saving a "rainy day" fund.

Apparently there's been a big change in the 2010 Witholding Tables. Changes across the board. Not a nice litte surprise this morning. From what I've been reading, I've been affected the least. It appears some people will be affected to the tune of several hundred dollars a month. Yikes. I feel for them.

I'm now bringing home less than I was before my most recent miniscule pay raise, although I'm in the same tax bracket.

It would have been nice of our CPA to let us know this prior to January 1. Like when I was in her office in late December going over the impact to my bottom line with various changes to my Flex plan witholding eff Jan 2010. She acts like it's out of her control; how is she supposed to know? Frankly, it's on the IRS website. She should know this, and I think she should tell us this. She should have been using the updated tables when calculating for 2010.
The group of us were talking, and I mentioned how it's frustrating & it just would have been nice to know (not meaning from her, from the media, from the pols) so I could adjust my flex/budget accordingly and not be surprised, she snarled "I'll give you four dollars". What a bitch. Not all of us make her near 6 figures, and not all of us have investment banker sons that pay our mortgage and finance all our home remodels and any other whim of ours. I should have said "Great, thanks, that's $96 for the year." Wonder what she would have said then?

Anyway. It isn't her fault. It's the government. And I truly don't mind so much paying more taxes. It's just something we're going to have to do. I just want to know before hand so I can plan! I hate surprises!

On a good note, I won another contest! 3rd place in a Teleflora contest. I won a baking cookbook. Whoo-hoo. That's three wins now. Wonder if that's the end of it? Maybe I should go buy a lottery ticket...

Justified Outrage or Double Standard?

Sitrep: 30 mins Yoga (bad workout), 1x Gym (weights-legs, abs & 40 min treadmill)

So the battery on my MP3 player gave out just as I was getting onto the treadmill last night. Which means I plugged into the TV hookup. At first it was Biggest Loser, but that's losing interest for me, so when I saw Anderson Cooper 360 was starting with Obama, and the caption says "Obama Says He Screwed Up" (or something along those lines), I switched over. I have to wonder at everyone's outrage over Daschle's tax issue. Seriously. Why is everyone so upset? Because he made the mistake in the first place? Because he didn't pay it back right away? Admittedly, I haven't read any details recently. Way back this summer/fall I remember coming across something on this, but it's a vague memory at best. The way I look at it, we have a double standard for politicians and rich people when it comes to taxes. We love to flay them alive for tax mistakes, not paying enough taxes, etc. Yet how many of us scramble each year on our own taxes to pay as little as possible? How many of us have made errors and don't know it yet because we're small fry where IRS audits are concerned? How many of us have deliberately misrepresented facts or left off income all-together? What about my little sister's step dad, who had a home business with his first wife (decades ago) and she didn't file their taxes like she told him she did? It took until a few years ago for the IRS to figure it out and start attaching his refunds (and stimulus checks; his new wife's too, since they filed jointly when they got married, having no knowledge he owed back taxes.) No body is flaying him alive, or denying him a job (and yep, he worked for years where he managed budgets and finances for an adult group home.) And I gotta say, how many people when contacted by the IRS run right out and write that check. Wouldn't logic say "Look into this? What's going on?" Seriously. Is the issue in Daschle's case fraud? Was it deliberate? Will it affect his job performance? What if he didn't have the liquid funds to just write a check for $100,000? (That's the figure I thought I heard?). Speaking for myself, I'm going to do everything I know to minimize how much tax I pay. And if my CPA makes a mistake then so be it. If I ended up owing, you better believe I wouldn't be writing a check willy-nilly. Not with the horror stories I've heard about the IRS. I'd be demanding a review or whatever. And delaying as long as possible before paying the money. (And yes, my CPA has made a mistake, only it was in my benefit. He caught it after the fact and we filed the papers necessary to correct.) Maybe I'm being too generous here, but really. Is it justified outrage, or double standard? *I'm not a big Daschle fan, so my thoughts aren't out of partisanship or anything like that.