Comments | papergreen: praise the lord and pass the welfare benefits.

papergreen

praise the lord and pass the welfare benefits.

Mar 16, 2007 15:43

apparently my taxable income this year comes to a whopping $5140the plus side of living on so little is that my tax refund will be an amount more than sufficient to cover a month's living expenses ( Read more... )

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robarchangel March 16 2007, 21:41:48 UTC

i'm pretty sure you qualify for food stamps, and you should also be eligible for free or super-low cost health care. here's a link to medicaid info, for which you pobbly qualify with your income- http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicaidGenInfo/Downloads/MedicaidAtAGlance2005.pdf

also look here: http://www.ins.state.ny.us/website2/hny/english/hny.htm

worth spending time researching with all those hours you don't spend slaving your life away :-)

papergreen March 16 2007, 23:48:01 UTC

i've actually looked into some of this before, and the reality is that $15,000 a year, for one person with no dependents and no serious medical condition, is still 150% of the federal poverty rate. basically, in order to receive most forms of government assistance, you have to be living on an amount of money that is truly unlivable ( ... )

robarchangel March 17 2007, 00:34:56 UTC

yeah, i'm familiar with the poverty line calculations. since in 1950 or maybe 1978 or some other year a generation or two ago, the average american spent about a quarter of their income on food, they calculate the bare minimum 'bread basket' amount and multiply it by four ( ... )

sorry if that was misleading... papergreen March 17 2007, 01:34:22 UTC

my TOTAL income was just under $15,000. my "taxable" income, as calulated on my tax forms, was $5140.

the taxable income, as i understand it, is the "adjusted gross income" minus the $8,450 they have you subtract if no one can claim you as a dependent.

unless i'm doing this wrong...but i've looked the form over several times, and that's what it seems to be saying.
i'm still pretty new at all this.

Re: sorry if that was misleading... robarchangel March 17 2007, 01:56:42 UTC

ahh, i see. that makes sense. i think i'm in that same ballpark.

by the way, lots of free online tax programs exist for peopel meeting certainc riteria (such as income under $25k, under 50 years of age, etc.

I was using Turbo Tax's Tax Freedom, but their site is giving me trouble. I'm using Tax ACT now. check out reviews of the various programs here: http://tinyurl.com/3ajyvo

jessebeller March 17 2007, 06:00:47 UTC

[health insurance] is still a luxury i can't afford

that's rich
(not that i have health insurance either, mind you. just sayin.)

papergreen March 17 2007, 15:22:27 UTC

oh, i'm well aware of the irony

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