Transcript
[An angry kid sits at his desk in school complaining]
Kid: Ugh why don’t you teach us about things we’ll actually need to know as adults?!
[An unamused teacher]
Teacher: Ok, I’m going to teach you how to do your taxes while also dealing the death of a loved one
[The teacher, wearing the same expression, holds a knife in one hand, and a hamster in the other]
Teacher: Please itemize your deductions while I deal with Mister Hamps, the class pet
[A class of shocked and crying kids look on in horror while trying to simultaneously do their taxes. The cries of the hamster off screen are cut off abruptly]
Hamster: SQWEEE- -
You must log in or # to comment.
In my country I just open the government website, quickly glance if they got my income for my job correct, and click “submit”.
Itemizing is a totally waste of your time. Just take the standard deduction.
And that hamster bit me, so stab away, I’ll feel nothing but schadenfreude.
As funny as this is, I really think an entire year if not a core course on taxes, tax law, rights, law, etc. would have really fucking helped life.
Most people don’t need an education on how to do their taxes. They simply need maths and reading comprehension. It’s not that hard.
If we get to wish for a public policy to change, then I’d rather we get 100% of our taxes from the rich, calculated by the government. Henry George was right.
I’ll say it as much as I can. Tax business, on profit not individuals on their salary. Salary comes from a business paying you, they have accountants, they can pay taxes.
And when you tax profits, they have the incentive to reinvest in the company, either by hiring more people, or building things, or spending money on research. Instead of giving record profits to shareholders.
Of course you can have small businesses below certain employee numbers exempt or something like that to help new businesses.
This of course means you can’t hand out “government help” by just taking less taxes from people already making money, and have to install give real help to people in need irrespective of their salary.
And of course there might be some details that should be added to make it good.
in HS I took a class for small business. we learned things like how to use spreadsheets(the paper kind) as well as balancing accounts. we had a whole section based on pricing with supply and demand.
I think we even covered things like different investment options for money.
out of all my friends in my youth, I was the only one who knew how to create a budget and balance my accounts.
wealth intelligence is important to ensure you can not only grow your savings, but protect it as well.
most people don’t even know what a fiduciary is and why it’s important, let alone why a CD might be better than a savings account.
These are precisely the things our government does not want you to know.
Incorrect. TurboTax and H&R Block don’t want you to know these things. And they lobby to keep the IRS crippled.
A lot of schools do teach laws, rights and the like to students now.
Taxes, not so useful when filing laws regularly change.
Lucky them, honestly.
This life lesson definitely does come in handy the older you get. Nothing like receiving complicated tax forms that have to processed for your dead relative / spouse / or child to remind you of how cruel the world is.
The debt your grandmother had is now yours! If you don’t resolve it she will haunt you.
Sorry for your loss!!!
Now fuck you pay me.
As I understand it, even in third world shitholes like the US, debt itself doesn’t transfer… but you do have to deduct debt from inheritance before you get anything.
Pretty sure it depends on the state. In NY, my mom’s credit card debt disappeared when she died. I do not think that’s the same in other states. I assume it usually transfers to the spouse.
In which state can you inherit debt?
Spousal debt: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Other debts: About 30 states have archaic, rarely enforced laws that can make adult children legally responsible for their parents’ unpaid necessities, like medical or nursing home bills.
IANAL and this is a summary from Google, so I cannot vouch for the accuracy of any of it. I can just tell you that in my experience, NY does not pass on debt to spouses.
What about grandmother’s debt like we were discussing?
Like I’ve said, I do not know this stuff. A Google search says:
You do not automatically inherit your grandparent’s debt in any U.S. state, including New York. Debts are the responsibility of the deceased person’s estate, not the heirs. However, you may become personally liable in any state if you co-signed a loan, jointly held accounts with the right of survivorship, or acted as a legal guarantor. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
While there are no states where grandchildren specifically inherit general debt, over 20 states have historical “filial responsibility” laws that can legally require adult children to pay for the unpaid medical or elder care expenses of their indigent parents. [6, 7, 8]
How Care-Related Debt Could Impact You
- Filial Responsibility States: In states where these laws are still active (like Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New Jersey), healthcare facilities have occasionally attempted to sue adult children for their parents’ nursing home bills. These laws almost exclusively apply to a child’s obligation to their parents, not grandchildren to their grandparents.
- New York Specifics: In New York, filial responsibility laws (New York Social Services Law § 101) technically require children to support impoverished parents, but it is rarely enforced by creditors.
- Estate Claims: Even if you do not inherit the debt, any money or property your grandparent leaves you will go toward paying off their creditors (via probate) before you receive your inheritance. [4, 8, 9, 10, 11]
If you are dealing with debt collection for a deceased relative, you can review your rights in the FTC Consumer Advice on Debts and Deceased Relatives and use the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
to report unlawful or abusive collection practices.
AI responses may include mistakes.
[1] https://www.metlife.com/stories/legal/can-you-inherit-debt/
[2] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6zwsytrEddc
[3] https://www.viewridgelaw.com/2025/10/will-i-inherit-my-parents-debt/
[4] https://vicklaw.org/can-i-inherit-the-debt-of-a-loved-one/
[5] https://www.debt.org/advice/deceased-relatives/
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filial_responsibility_laws
[8] https://trustandwill.com/learn/filial-responsibility-law
[9] https://www.carolinafep.com/library/what-happens-to-debt-when-a-person-dies-.cfm
Depends on the debt, too. The feds changed things a few years ago so federal student loan debt can’t be discharged in death.
Lol, go fuck yourself, bill collector! You get nothing! You lose! God day sir!
I had some slimeball try that shit with me after my mother died. I told him to take it to the courts so he can get laughed out of the room and pay court costs cuz my mother died pennyless and I’m not making that my problem.
Depends massively on where you are located.
Debts don’t transfer when you die where I am from. Even if the estate can’t pay off all the debts with remaining assets the debts do not go to the inheritors.
Paying for a CPA to do your taxes (a person, not HR block) usually works out to a net positive financially
Easier than trying to learn the tax code yourself and they can usually maximize your return or minimize your amount owed
Edit; I can do nothing to help the hamster
This week we will be learning how to apply for a marriage certificate, how to find reputable marriage counselling, how to file for divorce, how to pay alimony, and how to skip bail and move to Venezuela
If they know how much I owe, why don’t they send me a bill?
In USA they tax toilet paper and water, you can’t even shit for free.
Also, our labor party is anti-labor, and our smaller government party is pro big government.
Why do we even bother with words? Just do what you want you win
If they know how much I owe, why don’t they send me a bill?
Because TurboTax and HR Block lobbied to make it like that
If they know how much I owe, why don’t they send me a bill?
The last time I read about this, it was said that they don’t actually know. They do statistical analysis and audit you if you are an outlier and didn’t pay what people in your similar position payed. I don’t know which metrics they look at though. Theoretically, this means if everyone decided to pay a fixed sum less, the data would work out and they wouldn’t know who didn’t pay enough. Don’t take my word for it though.
They know what’s reported to them including your payroll and bank account income. For the vast majority of people that’s everything you need. They don’t if there’s any special deductions that you want to take. The IRS could take the information they have, send you a form that you either accept as is or add your additional income and deductions.
Hope to spot manipulation would be a good one
![Useful Life Skills [extra fabulous]](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/47b968e3-02c8-4a35-92c3-ddaa888dd0fa.jpeg){kind=link}