Economic Stimulus Payment--Report it Correctly Or Slow Down Your Refund

If you are one of the millions of taxpayers who have ALREADY filed your taxes and are anticipating your refund to hit your bank account any day now, you may be in for a big surprise. IRS says that many taxpayers are not reporting the correct amount of Economic Stimulus Payment they received last year, and that is resulting in slower refunds this year and in some cases reduced refunds.

If you haven't filed your tax return yet, don't rely on your memory for the amount of economic stimulus payment you received. Instead go to this website, type in your information and know for sure what you received.

Obama's Speech on the National Mall

MyFox Washington DC | Full Text of Barack Obama's Speech


Once in a generation comes an individual whose greatness is predestine and innate--Barak Obama is such a man--and if we allow ourselves to believe and to shed the cloak of cynicism we can once again become a proud nation and a proud people.

My favorite quote from yesterday's speech on the National Mall follows. I only hope that my daughter, who is D.C. to attend the inauguration, was able to hear this speech in person.

And yet, as I stand here today, what gives me the greatest hope of all is not the stone and marble that surrounds us today, but what fills the spaces in between. It is you -- Americans of every race and region and station who came here because you believe in what this country can be and because you want to help us get there.

It is the same thing that gave me hope from the day we began this campaign for the presidency nearly two years ago; a belief that if we could just recognize ourselves in one another and bring everybody together -- Democrats, Republicans and Independents; Latino, Asian and Native American; black and white, gay and straight, disabled and not -- then not only would we restore hope and opportunity in places that yearned for both, but maybe, just maybe, we might perfect our union in the process.

This is what I believed, but you made this belief real. You proved once more that people who love this country can change it. And as I prepare to assume the presidency, yours are the voices I will take with me every day I walk into that Oval Office -- the voices of men and women who have different stories but hold common hopes; who ask only for what was promised us as Americans -- that we might make of our lives what we will and see our children climb higher than we did.

Tell-A-Friend: Sign the Stop Puppy Mills Pledge

Tell-A-Friend: Sign the Stop Puppy Mills Pledge

As many of you know my beloved dog Wyatt died January 7, 2009 and I have been heartsick ever since. Part of the healing process for me is researching dogs and puppies in order to educate myself when April rolls around, and I have enough free time to adopt a new canine member to my family.

I have been combing the classified ads and roaming all over the internet gathering information and looking at dogs and puppies.

Just last week in the NICKLE give away ad newspaper there were countless ads for all kinds of puppies, all of them located in Snohomish County. On the news yesterday a huge puppymill was busted in Gold Bar in Snohomish County. 155 puppies and dogs were confiscated and found to be in deplorable conditions. That drove me to even more research.

If you are looking for a puppy or a new dog. Educate yourself. Watch this video.

HSUS MySpace Page | Stop Puppy Mills Website

This Weeks Most Common Tax Problems

Electronic Filing began on 1/15/09--and our office has been really busy. Two things have account for the early surge of tax filers. First, many companies are getting their W-2s out earlier this year and second because there was not major last minute changes to the tax law, all the forms are available for filing.

That said--we has several angry customers this week who weren't allowed to file with us until they received their Unemployment 1099G which lists not only how much UC they received but also the amount of federal withholding. So save yourself some grief and WAIT until the form comes in.

The second upset for customers is that many of our military customers wanted to file their tax returns using the final LES. Military W-2s will be available on line by the end of the month--again YOU must wait.

In Loving Memory

Wyatt was born in either 1998 or 1999. He was a stud dog for a breeder and lived in a small dog run. I got him in June of 2002 when he was three or four years old. When I picked him up at the breeder's I already had one broken wrist, by the time I left the breeder, I had a second broken wrist.

Wyatt, although terribly sweet, had not been socialized. But it didn't take him long. Three days to be exact, before he got the swing of sleeping on my bed. He was a great dog. He loved to go for walks, eat pig ears, play in the water, visit his friends, go camping, and follow me wherever I went. He played frisbee, but only to please me--it was never his passion.

He was my best friend. He was my heart. He died peacefully in my arms at the vet's on January 7, 2009. His is missed every moment of every day.

Feeling the Pinch

Oh my gosh! Someone sent this picture to me today in an email. Unfortunately the photographer was not identified--sure would like to give him/her the credit they deserve.

This poor pup should be the poster pup for our economic depression.