Tax forms

[sendmorechuckberry]

I just sent this to my congressman. Please help by doing something similar.

I am 70 years old. I live on Social Security. Like many Americans, I was not able to build a substantial 401k. I had to work full time in manufacturing to pay for living expenses. When you add up all the taxes I've paid (income, sales, property, utilities, licensing fees, road tolls, gas taxes, school taxes, etc.,) there wasn't much left to save for my retirement. I'm not against paying taxes. I understand that we need the services that our government provides. But now that I'm retired, I'm starting to sell off things that I no longer need or want to help enjoy the few years my wife and I have left on this earth. Selling on eBay gives me the income to do that. Please do something about this new requirement. I feel it is unfair and that I have paid enough taxes over my lifetime. Selling on eBay is like having a garage sale. Are we taxing those now? Enough is enough. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@maxine*j wrote: ....   Call it whining and jumping to conclusions if you like ...

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I meant the OP!  Their complaints and lack of research about filing taxes. But ...

[sextons-sweet-deals]

I'm just outside of the boomer generation age range but my generation for whatever reason created the entitlement generation that just seems to keep growing. Your special! You get a trophy just for participating in sports or any other events even if you finish last.

I wish I had owned a trophy store in the 1990's. 

The young do have opportunities. They just don't want to work for it. They believe they should get top dollar out of college when they have no work history on their resume. Many fabricate their resume's these days. 

[frugalmarketplace]

I will not post health issues on a public form, however I don’t think you would really want to know. People can be terminal and still live their life to the fullest. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@sextons-sweet-deals wrote: ... . Your special! You get a trophy just for participating in sports or any other events even if you finish last.

I wish I had owned a trophy store in the 1990's. ...

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Pro tip: Local sports coaches are great sources for free bubble wrap for your eBay packages.   The local soccer coach calls me each time he fills up a trash bag. Each trophy comes in its own bubble wrap bag, which is removed before presentation.

[ed8108]

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@bonjourami wrote:

I really dislike playing the age card, we see that frequently in hereJust because we're old doesnt make us entitled.The rules are the same for everybody.

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A significant number of young people entered into a contract & received a great benefit.

Why should tax dollars eliminate the student loan debt with respect to young folks, although it may be inconvenient for the young to repay their student loans, those that have the ability to work can & should fulfill their contractual obligation having very manny years ahead to conveniently do so.

[maxine*j]

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@powell-memorabilia wrote:

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... The young have amazing opportunities.  The demographics are in their favor - small generation entering adulthood and a huge generation entering retirement.  There are opportunities abound - any young person that thinks otherwise has made bad life decisions.  Sorry, but true.

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Past generations did not have to be college educated to prosper.   Not everyone is scholastically inclined and those who were not had opportunities and options for good, solid, stable jobs in manufacturing and jobs related to manufacturing.  Not everyone fits into the Information Age, into jobs that are mostly just shuffling around data. 

I spent the last several years of my working life in higher ed, and I can tell you that a good proportion of the students were going deeply into debt for education that they are not really interested in, or very good at, that will not much benefit them or society. 

But the education-industrial-loan complex has convinced everyone that only "losers" don't have a few letters after their names and that physical labor is demeaning.  (And the days of my youth, when anyone could make enough money in the summer to pay for two semesters of college tuition, are long gone.) 

Unless I had kids who were natural scholars, I'd tell them to skip all that and take a practical course / degree / certification in a trade of some kind.   Among my young relatives, the one who went to a two-year tech school and got a certificate in fiber optics has done the best financially -- debt-free and never unemployed or under-employed.

As for demographics in their favor, I'm not sure about that because they have the burden of all us old retired people.

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[maxine*j]

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@sextons-sweet-deals wrote:

...  They believe they should get top dollar out of college when they have no work history on their resume...  

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But that's what they have been told.  They have been told, by the aforementioned education-student loan-industrial complex that spending years of their lives in school and going deeply into debt is a dandy idea because the minute they get that degree they're off to a high-paying job career.

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[maxine*j]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

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@maxine*j wrote: ....   Call it whining and jumping to conclusions if you like ...

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I meant the OP!  Their complaints and lack of research about filing taxes. But ...

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OK.  I accept the But... When the shoe fits, I wear it.   😄

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[jman0312]

I agree with you, it's a garage sale, your concern isn't political & shouldn't offend anyone. One response even said "it just doesn't end well". What is that supposed to mean? SAD, very sad. Try to respect out elders that have payed enough taxes already to make our lives easier. 

[maxine*j]

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@sextons-sweet-deals wrote:

... We all like to think we can script / plan our lives out to perfection, but that is not true either.

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Everything can change in the blink of an eye.  I know.

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[maxine*j]

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@jman0312 wrote:

... your concern isn't political & shouldn't offend anyone...

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You evidently did not read it before it was edited.

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[tinsoldierunderground]

So true... Life decides what happens while you're making plans.

[dubsteesllc]

I'm saddened by the comments here from the peanut gallery. This gentleman is simply trying to make a living and is asking for help. 

The horrible attitudes here and lack of genuinely trying to offer a solution is what continues to make Ebay a horrible website, not to mention "forum".

[powell-memorabilia]

Well, they are off to bigger and better things IF they choose the right course of study at any decent university.  Last I checked, individual colleges within universities make available typical starting salaries, percentage of graduates receiving offers within x months, typical jobs, etc..  So, no one is pulling the wool over anyone’s eyes. 

The information is SO easy to find - it takes a modicum of effort to find the information and run the numbers.  Frankly, I find it hard to feel sorry for someone that signs up for $100K+ in debt without doing the math on the payback.  

[tinsoldierunderground]

I can tell you that these boards are a LOT more civilized than they were years back.... Many posters on here are long time hard-boiled sellers and buyers, and rightly or wrongly, they don't mince words or suffer ignorance gladly.

I see the point the OP is making, and I admire your empathy, but as others have stated, the tax issue was dumped on us because of decades of unreported income.