Now About That Tax Refund Obama Promised...

I don't know what's going on at the AP but this is the 2nd less than flattering story about the Obama Administration in a week...

Remember that little promise about "95% of Americans will get a tax cut" from The One on the campaign trail? Think that he fulfilled that promise with his brilliant "Making Work Pay" plan? Think again...

The tax credit is supposed to provide up to $400 to individuals and $800 to married couples as part of the massive economic recovery package enacted in February. Most workers started receiving the credit through small increases in their paychecks in the past month.

But new tax withholding tables issued by the IRS could cause millions of taxpayers to get hundreds of dollars more than they are entitled to under the credit, money that will have to be repaid at tax time.

At-risk taxpayers include a broad swath of the public: married couples in which both spouses work; workers with more than one job; retirees who have federal income taxes withheld from their pension payments and Social Security recipients with jobs that provide taxable income.

Are you shocked? You mean you didn't read that fine print that said "you may get an extra $13 in your paycheck but we're going to screw you on April 15, 2010"? Just like the extra tax on cigarettes, the extra taxes if Cap and Trade passes and all the other little "extras" - it's just smoke and mirrors people.

Still think that this only applies to the uber-rich? AP provided a few examples. Here's one...

A single worker with two jobs making $20,000 a year at each job will get a $400 boost in take-home pay at each of them, for a total of $800. That worker, however, is eligible for a maximum credit of $400, so the remaining $400 will have to be paid back at tax time - either through a smaller refund or a payment to the IRS.

For those in Rio Linda that means the single worker will make $40,000 year working 2 jobs and either get a smaller refund or have to make a tax payment come April 15. But I thought the taxes were only going up on those making $200,000/year? Oopsie...

Looks like the only change we're going to truly get is enough to buy a cup of coffee - and I don't mean at Starbucks.