A Boring Dystopia

your country is just fucked

We know.

Got 100k in savings?

And only the really wealthy have the means to leave the country.

Pension? In 2026? Wanna help me emigrate? Need a roommate? I'll bring snacks!

And this is also why nobody is willing to actually rock the boat in the US. Everyone is too scared to lose what they have, our employers have us by the balls for our paychecks and healthcare, the banks have you by the balls because of debt and if you own a home and lose your job you could lose the home too.

The US has been turned into a giant company town. As soon as you get paid the money gets taken away.

Everything has been designed to extract the maximum money from people. From all the middlemen stealing convenience fees to subscription services to your increased medical premiums.

It works only while alternative options of employment remain available. Even if they are lower paid. In fact that’s better for them. However, when the employment rate drops, that’s when people get desperate. Desperate people do desperate things.

Tax refunds act as forced savings for many people. It's not a good way to save as the government pays no interest on the savings. The the people then blow the money immediately on major purchases or paying down debt buildup.

Personally, I always tried to make it so that I didn't get a tax return. I always figured it cost me significant money in cash flow through the year. Always pissed me off to overpay in taxes when I could have used the money for critical things I needed during the year.

Below a certain income, an average lower-middle class family will generally get more back in tax refunds than they pay in income taxes. A family of 4 making 50k per year (fairly livable in much of the country actually!) might only pay in 3-4k in income tax but then receive 6-8k in credits for the child tax credits, earned income credits, etc.

And for a lower-middle class family that tends to be the biggest amount of money they see at any given time. They're only bringing in about $2500/month after taxes, retirement contributions and insurance, and that's got to cover all living expenses. Recieving a nice big check each year tends to be the best way to be able to make a comparably large financial move, often paying down debt that's built up over the year, maybe buying a new car (I know I did that one year, put the entire tax credit into a used car, and that was the very first car we owned outright!) or if it's been a good year that money can be spent on fun stuff

The other side of the coin is that for the overwhelming majority of people who's earnings are coming from their jobs, the amount of money that gets withheld for taxes simply isn't enough to make enough money in interest to be worth while. If you pay $300/month in income taxes (not unrealistic) it would take 4 months before you've got enough to buy the smallest short term CD you can, then that 9 month CD for example will only earn you about $30 before you cash it in in February to pay your taxes. Basically in order for placing your tax money into safe investments to pay enough to be worthwhile, your tax bill would need to be so large that you'd already be paying quarterly anyways and already have much bigger fish to fry than worrying about your tax withholdings not earning you interest.

Not all tax rebates are due to the government over collecting either

I'll be getting about $1600-$2000 just because I Used a certain amount of money towards buying my first home. It's not money that I gave the government ahead of schedule, it's money I wouldn't have gotten unless I did certain things and filed certain paperwork.

Yep. Better for you to get a free loan(tax bill) than the gubmnt getting the free loan(tax refund)

This is the way