#that's basically all i know. ok. don't shoot the messenger

[front-facing-pokemon]

[astrid-nomically-steddie]

Part 2 of My Steddie mean girls au

Part 1

Steve feels like an asshole.

He really didn't mean to do this. What was the point really? To be popular? How stupid is he. He ruined his only chance at real friends. And for what? To mess with Carol? Yeah sure she's a bitch but why does that matter? And Tommy? Yeah he doesn't even really want him. Steve just wanted to get back at Carol.

God he's pathetic.

And Eddie. Jesus fucking christ. Eddie. He's been so nice and sweet to Steve and he just basically threw it all away. He took a bit fat dump on their friendship and a chance at something more for nothing. And Robin, she was so kind to him too. He shakes his head. He needs to fix this now.

Steve gets up, wipes his face and takes the canvas with him. He doesn't even glance at the painting knowing if he did he would stare at it for hours. As soon as Steve is 10 feet from his house he can feel the music pumping through his feet. Shit. The party, he thinks. He sighs as he walks closer to the door.

When he walks in the music screams in his ears. God I'm going to get a massive headache after this. One of the basketball players comes up to him, Steve thinks his name is Jake? Jason?, something with a J.

"Hey Steve. Had a good time with Hagan, huh." He said sluggishly.

"Umm, yeah I guess." Steve replied wanting to get away from him.

"You guess? Tommy told me you loved it."Jason? said.

"Loved what?" He was so confused they only ever kisse-.

Oh. My. God. Did Tommy tell people they fucked?

"Ummm, you guys did fuck. Right?" The guy - Jake? No Jason definitely Jason - said.

"No?! What are you talking about? We barley even made out!" Steve replied slightly frantic and a little angry at Tommy for lying.

"OK, jeez. Just asking! That's just what I heard. Don't shoot the messenger and all that shit." Jason mumbled as he began to walk away.

Steve stood there in shock and anger. He couldn't believe this. He needs to think but he can't because of this stupid fucking party. That's it he can't take it anymore. Steve power walks to where he knows the radio is and full on unplugs it. He gets on top of his fireplace and screams at the, now confused, party-goers.

"That's it! Party's over, guys! Go home!" He yells over all the protests. He sees Tommy and his friends stare at him with annoyed looks. Steve watches as Tommy tells his friends something and goes to walk towards where Steve is. "Dude, what the fuck?!" He says.

"What?" Steve replies slightly confused but with left-over irritation spilling from his voice. "What do you mean, what? You stopped the music and told everyone to go home!" Tommy argued but Steve thought it was pointless because he was, So. Fucking. Done. "And?! It's my house and my party. I can do what I want." Steve huffed, "Now, get the fuck out of my house, Tommy!" He practically yells at him.

Tommy just stands there in shock not knowing what to do. "Well?! What are you waiting for? Leave!" Steve yells this time. Not just at Tommy, but instead at everyone who stayed standing there like complete idiots. They all scramble to get their stuff and rush out the door. Tommy shakes his head and starts to walk away. Before he leaves he tells Steve, "You are not as cool as I thought you were." Then he walks away with all his friends. They keep looking back at him and giving him looks.

Steve feels like a total fool. Who was he to think that Tommy was an actual good person? God he's a complete buffoon. As time went on and the last people trickled out he began to clean. After around 5 minutes later he felt a tap on his shoulder. He quickly turned around.

The face he saw was definitely not one he'd thought it would be.

[petruchio]

the albatross by taylor swift always makes me think of katniss and thg. probably the bird symbolism or something. thoughts?

ok short digression before i get into the thg part of this ask but i honestly get so annoyed at that song bc i think ts is trying to sound literary and interesting and reference the rime of the ancient mariner but the albatross metaphor doesn't work for me bc 1) it doesn't work with what the albatross represents in that poem and 2) i think she could've committed way harder to referencing the poem if that's what she wanted to do (and could have made a really cool song) (but she didn't) (her wordsworth references were better on folklore -- i still do believe she read lyrical ballads and got inspired by a lot of the imagery in those poems but the wordsworth stuff in lyrical ballads is mostly made up of shorter poems and the imagery lent itself well to songs. but rime of the ancient mariner is ... a much more complex (?) poem) (i guess complex isn't exactly the right word, bc of course short pieces can be endlessly complex, but it's just a lot longer and has a lot more going on in it than most of the shorter wordsworth poems in that collection. and i don't think taylor really, like, got it.)

basically it annoys me for the same reason tolerate it annoys me. like it's bad literary analysis. the albatross isn't "here to destroy" in the poem -- it just doesn't work with the metaphor she's trying to write in that song. imo there's no good reason to try to reference coleridge if you're just going to string together a bunch of mixed metaphors that don't make any sense. she tries to make this reference to like, shooting the messenger but that is not why he shoots the albatross... like what is she talking about?? if you're going to reference a metaphor with a long storied history in poetry then i think you should actually make an effort to understand the reference you're making

the most annoying thing is that i actually think there COULD be a really cool song referencing the poem and the albatross and referring to herself as the bird. like "you killed me, but it ruined your life, i'll hang around your neck forever and you'll never be able to go anywhere without telling the story of what you did to me" THAT WOULD BE COOL. UGH. i hate that song so i kind of refuse to listen to it bc i just get annoyed. the shakespeare reference also pisses me off for making no sense. "a rose by any other name is a scandal" what the actual CRAP is she talking about. its so annoying

ANYWAY you did actually ask me about thg so i will say, disregarding all of my english major beefs with that song, i actually think it works really well with tbosas bc it gives me majorrrrr lucy gray vibes.

like: "a rose by any other name is a scandal" is very snow giving the rose to lucy gray to me, and then the "one less temptress, one less dagger to sharpen" line really goes well with the tbosas ending. and then i think the bridge would be kind of, lucy gray's warning to snow about the events of thg: "and when the sky rains fire on you and you're persona non grata, i'll tell you i've been there too, and that none of it matters" -- and then i think the final reference to the albatross would work as a katniss reference, like the outro is lucy gray haunting him and saying here she is (she being the mockingjay (albatross) and she's here, she's finishing what i started.) so for me it is in my tbosas playlist (except it's not bc i hate the song)

ALSOOOOO just to connect it to what i was saying earlier but of course rime of the ancient mariner is the first poem in lyrical ballads. and you know what other poem appears in lyrical ballads? well that would be... LUCY GRAY. i rest my case 😎

[elizabethcariasa]

12 reasons to file a tax return even if you don't have to

Broad City image via Giphy.com

Do you have to file a return? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the answer usually is yes.

But there's a difference between having to file a tax return and submitting a 1040 form because you should. And by should, I mean when it's to your advantage to do so.

Yes, that does happen in the tax world now and then.

When filing is required: First, though, let's look at when the tax code says we must send the Internal Revenue Service a Form 1040. 

If you are a U.S. citizen or resident who made money last year, whether you must tell the Internal Revenue Service about it depends on three things:

Your gross income,

Your filing status, and

Your age.

The IRS created the table (shown as Chart A in the 2018 Form 1040 instructions) below to give you an idea of whether you should start getting your filing material together.

2018 Filing Requirements for Most Taxpayers

 If your filing status is: 

 AND at the end of 2018  you were:

THEN file a return if your gross income was at least:

 Single

 64 or younger  65 or older

 $12,000  $13,600

 Married filing jointly

 64 or younger (both spouses)  65 or older (one spouse)  65 or older (both spouses)

 $24,000  $25,300  $26,600

 Married filing separately

 Any age

 $5 (Yes, five bucks)

 Head of Household 

 64 or younger  65 or older

 $18,000  $19,600

 Qualifying widow/widower

 64 or younger  65 or older

 $24,000  $25,300

  A quick filing note for some older New Year's Day babies. The IRS says that if you were born on Jan. 1, 1954, you are considered to be age 65 at the end of 2018. That one-day shift lets you make a little more before you have to mess with filing.

Also, for filing requirement purposes, the IRS says that gross income means all income you received in the form of money, goods, property, and services that isn't exempt from tax, including any income from sources outside the United States or from the sale of your main home, even if you can exclude part or all of it.

In this gig economy world, all income definitely means money from these jobs, be they your full-time work or simply side hustles to supplement your wage income. And the earnings count even if you don't get an official tax form, usually a 1099-MISC or 1099-K.

You don't, however, have to include any Social Security benefits unless (a) you are married filing a separate return and you lived with your spouse at any time in 2017 or (b) one-half of your Social Security benefits plus your other gross income and any tax-exempt interest is more than $25,000 or $32,000 if married filing jointly.

And since the IRS has seen it all, it notes that if even if you're married, if you didn't live with your spouse at the end of 2018 (or on the date your spouse died) and your gross income was at least $5, you must file a return regardless of your age. That's the same as the five-buck income threshold for married filing separately folks.

There also are filing matters to consider if someone can claim you as a tax dependent. Basically, your filing requirement again takes into account your filing status, age and income. Chart B in the 2018 Form 1040 instructions has details.

Again, I'm just the messenger when it comes to keeping the IRS off your back when it comes to filing, so please, as the old saying goes, don't shoot me.

Other filing factors: One of the biggest complaints about taxes, aside from the actual dollars we pay, is how complicated they are. That's obvious in the rules regarding income and filing status above that determine whether you must file a 1040.

But there also are other factors that, well, factor into the decision. They include —

You have household help and pay your employees enough to trigger employment taxes. For the 2018 tax year, that's $2,100 and it means you must file a Schedule H with your 1040. Although this requirement is popularly called the nanny tax, it covers not just childcare assistance, but also maids, housekeepers, gardeners and others who work in or around your private residence as your employee. Note the designation as employees. This doesn't apply independent contractors who do household work for you. Be careful here. The IRS looks closely at worker designations. The good news, though, is that if you are filing a tax return only because you owe this tax, you can file Schedule H by itself.

You or your spouse or dependents got advance payments of the premium tax credit to help cover medical coverage purchased through the healthcare Marketplace. You need to file to reconcile those amounts.

You made, after expenses, at least $400 from self-employment. While you might not technically have made enough to require filing, you still have to file in order to pay the self-employment (SE) tax on these independent earnings. The tax due here, calculated on Schedule SE, is the self-employed person's version of the payroll taxes that go toward Social Security and Medicare, aka FICA, that are taken out of salaried workers' checks. Again, it bears repeating. It's possible you could owe SE taxes, but no income tax. However, you still must file to report those independent earnings.

You can find more about filing requirements in the IRS' general tax guide, Publication 17. You also can use the IRS' online tool to determine whether you need to file this year.

When you should file: OK, you've discovered you technically don't have to file a return. Great, right?

To borrow one of Donald J. Trump's favorite words, Wrong!

Sometimes even if you don't have to file a tax return, it's to your benefit to do so.

Here are a dozen situations when you should file a federal income tax return:

You had federal income tax withheld. The only way to get any of this excess money back as a refund is to file a 1040.

You made estimated tax payments. You want to make sure the IRS knows that you sent in these extra amounts for income that's not subject to withholding.

You qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This tax break for lower- and middle-income workers is, as the name says, a credit, which means it reduces any tax you owe dollar-for-dollar. It's also a refundable credit, meaning you can get a tax refund even if you don't owe any tax. The amount of the credit and the income thresholds are adjusted annually for inflation, with as much as $6,431 available to some EITC eligible filers for the 2018 tax year.

You qualify for the refundable portion of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's (TCJA) new child tax credit. Like the EITC, this additional child tax credit means you could get money back — as much as $1,400 — even if you don't owe any tax.

You qualify for the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) premium tax credit. Yes, Obamacare is still law. Most people who qualify for this credit get it in advance — which, as noted in the must-file discussion above, means you have to send in a Form 1040 — when they purchase their health insurance via the Marketplace. But you do have the option of paying all your premiums in full yourself during the tax year and then claiming the credit when, you got it, you file your return.

You qualify for the health coverage tax credit (HCTC). The HCTC is a refundable tax credit that pays 72.5 percent of qualified health insurance premiums for eligible individuals and their families. This is a separate, more narrow tax credit with different rules than the ACA's premium tax credit. The IRS has a special Web page with HCTC eligibility and claiming details.

You qualify for the American opportunity tax credit. This educational tax break could give you a credit of up to $2,500 and portion of it — up to $1,000 — is refundable to some qualifying filers.

You owe the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). This parallel tax, created in the 1960s to ensure that rich taxpayers paid at least some (aka minimum) amount of tax, used to snare a lot of middle-income filers because it wasn't indexed for inflation. That changed in 2013, with the annual exemption amounts now reducing the number of folks caught in this tax net. The TCJA went even further, increasing AMT phaseout threshold amounts to $1 million for married taxpayers filing a joint return and $500,000 for all other taxpayers. If, however, you make enough that you have to pay the AMT, then you must file.

You didn't report all your tips to your employer. You now need to do that by filing a return and also paying the SE tax on those gratuities. The same SE filing is required if you got a paycheck, but your employer didn't withhold these FICA taxes.

You qualify for the credit for federal tax on fuels. With this one, you might have to wait to file. This relatively arcane tax break for biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels, as well as the alternative fuel credit, had expired. They are part of the group of tax breaks known as extenders, which are still awaiting Congressional action. If they are renewed for the 2018 tax year and beyond, you'll be able to claim them. For now, you can get an extension if this tax break makes a big difference to your filing or you can amend your return later if the credits are restored. Form 4136 instructions have more details.

To establish a placeholder for tax deductions and/or credits you need to carry forward. TurboTax points out that, for example, you can't claim a home office deduction so large that it would produce a loss. Instead, you claim zero business income for the year and carry any leftover deduction into the next year. But in order to claim that extra write-off in future years when you do have more income, Smart Money writer Bill Bischoff says you need to file for that initial claim.

To start the audit statute of limitations clock ticking. The IRS generally can go back three years to look at your old tax filings. But that time frame doesn't start until you actually file a 1040. So even if you didn't make quite enough to trigger the filing requirement, you might want to make sure the IRS can't come back, say, 10 years from now to ask about why you didn't file in 2018.

The main reason to file, though, even if you don't have to is to get tax cash. The IRS doesn't know what tax breaks you qualify for, so it's not just going to send you the cash.

The only way to get any tax money you're owed because of over-withholding or tax credits you qualify for is to file a return and claim them.

So if any of these 12 potentially positive tax-filing circumstances apply to you, send in a 1040!

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[christophergill8]

12 reasons to file a tax return even if you don't have to

Broad City image via Giphy.com

Do you have to file a return? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the answer usually is yes.

But there's a difference between having to file a tax return and submitting a 1040 form because you should. And by should, I mean when it's to your advantage to do so.

Yes, that does happen in the tax world now and then.

When filing is required: First, though, let's look at when the tax code says we must send the Internal Revenue Service a Form 1040. 

If you are a U.S. citizen or resident who made money last year, whether you must tell the Internal Revenue Service about it depends on three things:

Your gross income,

Your filing status, and

Your age.

The IRS created the table (shown as Chart A in the 2018 Form 1040 instructions) below to give you an idea of whether you should start getting your filing material together.

2018 Filing Requirements for Most Taxpayers

 If your filing status is: 

 AND at the end of 2018  you were:

THEN file a return if your gross income was at least:

 Single

 64 or younger  65 or older

 $12,000  $13,600

 Married filing jointly

 64 or younger (both spouses)  65 or older (one spouse)  65 or older (both spouses)

 $24,000  $25,300  $26,600

 Married filing separately

 Any age

 $5 (Yes, five bucks)

 Head of Household 

 64 or younger  65 or older

 $18,000  $19,600

 Qualifying widow/widower

 64 or younger  65 or older

 $24,000  $25,300

  A quick filing note for some older New Year's Day babies. The IRS says that if you were born on Jan. 1, 1954, you are considered to be age 65 at the end of 2018. That one-day shift lets you make a little more before you have to mess with filing.

Also, for filing requirement purposes, the IRS says that gross income means all income you received in the form of money, goods, property, and services that isn't exempt from tax, including any income from sources outside the United States or from the sale of your main home, even if you can exclude part or all of it.

In this gig economy world, all income definitely means money from these jobs, be they your full-time work or simply side hustles to supplement your wage income. And the earnings count even if you don't get an official tax form, usually a 1099-MISC or 1099-K.

You don't, however, have to include any Social Security benefits unless (a) you are married filing a separate return and you lived with your spouse at any time in 2017 or (b) one-half of your Social Security benefits plus your other gross income and any tax-exempt interest is more than $25,000 or $32,000 if married filing jointly.

And since the IRS has seen it all, it notes that if even if you're married, if you didn't live with your spouse at the end of 2018 (or on the date your spouse died) and your gross income was at least $5, you must file a return regardless of your age. That's the same as the five-buck income threshold for married filing separately folks.

There also are filing matters to consider if someone can claim you as a tax dependent. Basically, your filing requirement again takes into account your filing status, age and income. Chart B in the 2018 Form 1040 instructions has details.

Again, I'm just the messenger when it comes to keeping the IRS off your back when it comes to filing, so please, as the old saying goes, don't shoot me.

Other filing factors: One of the biggest complaints about taxes, aside from the actual dollars we pay, is how complicated they are. That's obvious in the rules regarding income and filing status above that determine whether you must file a 1040.

But there also are other factors that, well, factor into the decision. They include —

You have household help and pay your employees enough to trigger employment taxes. For the 2018 tax year, that's $2,100 and it means you must file a Schedule H with your 1040. Although this requirement is popularly called the nanny tax, it covers not just childcare assistance, but also maids, housekeepers, gardeners and others who work in or around your private residence as your employee. Note the designation as employees. This doesn't apply independent contractors who do household work for you. Be careful here. The IRS looks closely at worker designations. The good news, though, is that if you are filing a tax return only because you owe this tax, you can file Schedule H by itself.

You or your spouse or dependents got advance payments of the premium tax credit to help cover medical coverage purchased through the healthcare Marketplace. You need to file to reconcile those amounts.

You made, after expenses, at least $400 from self-employment. While you might not technically have made enough to require filing, you still have to file in order to pay the self-employment (SE) tax on these independent earnings. The tax due here, calculated on Schedule SE, is the self-employed person's version of the payroll taxes that go toward Social Security and Medicare, aka FICA, that are taken out of salaried workers' checks. Again, it bears repeating. It's possible you could owe SE taxes, but no income tax. However, you still must file to report those independent earnings.

You can find more about filing requirements in the IRS' general tax guide, Publication 17. You also can use the IRS' online tool to determine whether you need to file this year.

When you should file: OK, you've discovered you technically don't have to file a return. Great, right?

To borrow one of Donald J. Trump's favorite words, Wrong!

Sometimes even if you don't have to file a tax return, it's to your benefit to do so.

Here are a dozen situations when you should file a federal income tax return:

You had federal income tax withheld. The only way to get any of this excess money back as a refund is to file a 1040.

You made estimated tax payments. You want to make sure the IRS knows that you sent in these extra amounts for income that's not subject to withholding.

You qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This tax break for lower- and middle-income workers is, as the name says, a credit, which means it reduces any tax you owe dollar-for-dollar. It's also a refundable credit, meaning you can get a tax refund even if you don't owe any tax. The amount of the credit and the income thresholds are adjusted annually for inflation, with as much as $6,431 available to some EITC eligible filers for the 2018 tax year.

You qualify for the refundable portion of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's (TCJA) new child tax credit. Like the EITC, this additional child tax credit means you could get money back — as much as $1,400 — even if you don't owe any tax.

You qualify for the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) premium tax credit. Yes, Obamacare is still law. Most people who qualify for this credit get it in advance — which, as noted in the must-file discussion above, means you have to send in a Form 1040 — when they purchase their health insurance via the Marketplace. But you do have the option of paying all your premiums in full yourself during the tax year and then claiming the credit when, you got it, you file your return.

You qualify for the health coverage tax credit (HCTC). The HCTC is a refundable tax credit that pays 72.5 percent of qualified health insurance premiums for eligible individuals and their families. This is a separate, more narrow tax credit with different rules than the ACA's premium tax credit. The IRS has a special Web page with HCTC eligibility and claiming details.

You qualify for the American opportunity tax credit. This educational tax break could give you a credit of up to $2,500 and portion of it — up to $1,000 — is refundable to some qualifying filers.

You owe the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). This parallel tax, created in the 1960s to ensure that rich taxpayers paid at least some (aka minimum) amount of tax, used to snare a lot of middle-income filers because it wasn't indexed for inflation. That changed in 2013, with the annual exemption amounts now reducing the number of folks caught in this tax net. The TCJA went even further, increasing AMT phaseout threshold amounts to $1 million for married taxpayers filing a joint return and $500,000 for all other taxpayers. If, however, you make enough that you have to pay the AMT, then you must file.

You didn't report all your tips to your employer. You now need to do that by filing a return and also paying the SE tax on those gratuities. The same SE filing is required if you got a paycheck, but your employer didn't withhold these FICA taxes.

You qualify for the credit for federal tax on fuels. With this one, you might have to wait to file. This relatively arcane tax break for biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels, as well as the alternative fuel credit, had expired. They are part of the group of tax breaks known as extenders, which are still awaiting Congressional action. If they are renewed for the 2018 tax year and beyond, you'll be able to claim them. For now, you can get an extension if this tax break makes a big difference to your filing or you can amend your return later if the credits are restored. Form 4136 instructions have more details.

To establish a placeholder for tax deductions and/or credits you need to carry forward. TurboTax points out that, for example, you can't claim a home office deduction so large that it would produce a loss. Instead, you claim zero business income for the year and carry any leftover deduction into the next year. But in order to claim that extra write-off in future years when you do have more income, Smart Money writer Bill Bischoff says you need to file for that initial claim.

To start the audit statute of limitations clock ticking. The IRS generally can go back three years to look at your old tax filings. But that time frame doesn't start until you actually file a 1040. So even if you didn't make quite enough to trigger the filing requirement, you might want to make sure the IRS can't come back, say, 10 years from now to ask about why you didn't file in 2018.

The main reason to file, though, even if you don't have to is to get tax cash. The IRS doesn't know what tax breaks you qualify for, so it's not just going to send you the cash.

The only way to get any tax money you're owed because of over-withholding or tax credits you qualify for is to file a return and claim them.

So if any of these 12 potentially positive tax-filing circumstances apply to you, send in a 1040!

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  // <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); // ]]> // ]]> // ]]> // ]]> // ]]> // ]]> // ]]> // ]]> // ]]> // ]]> // ]]> // ]]> // ]]> // ]]> // ]]> // ]]> // ]]>  

from Tax News By Christopher https://www.dontmesswithtaxes.com/2019/04/12-reasons-to-file-a-tax-return-even-if-you-dont-have-to.html