Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2018 February 16

= February 16 =

Will public assistance find out/be notified about your tax return?
My friend told me today that she was thinking about filing taxes this year since she did some babysitting throughout the past year and because she has a younger son who she is going to claim as a dependent. But, she is also receiving public assistance currently and they have no idea about the fact that she even did any babysitting but she keep insisting that she had friends file taxes before while on PA and nothing ever happened to them or their benefits. So, my question is, will public assistance get notified or find out if she does file taxes and how much she got back in her return if she does go ahead and do it? I'm only asking because I just don't want her getting in any kind of trouble especially with a young son who depends solely on her. Randomgirlwithnoname (talk) 00:58, 16 February 2018 (UTC)

Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Randomgirlwithnoname (talk • contribs) 00:57, 16 February 2018 (UTC)
 * This heads really close into legal advice territory, which we don't do. Speaking in general, I assume Murphy's law applies whenever dealing with the government: the likelihood of communication between two departments of government is inversely related to how much you want them to be communicating.  For example, as I got my passport through the post office, I'd assume that the DMV would treat it as a forgery until proven otherwise.  Ian.thomson (talk) 01:04, 16 February 2018 (UTC)
 * That said, not filing presents its own legal troubles. Ian.thomson (talk) 01:06, 16 February 2018 (UTC)


 * You could talk to your accountant, OR you could get tax software such as TurboTax, put all your information into it, and see what you owe the government, if anything. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:13, 16 February 2018 (UTC)


 * In the US, low-to-moderate income folks can get free tax assistance via the VITA program. See IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. I know one VITA volunteer. There are several somewhat obscure tax laws such as EIC, and a lot of folks end up getting a quite a bit of money from the IRS (not jsut a refund, but actual additional payouts) instead of paying money to the IRS. I do not know about "public assistance" specifically, but the IRS is prohibited by law from sharing information with certain other government agencies: check with a lawyer. At her income level, I guess that would have to be a pro bono legal clinic. -Arch dude (talk) 05:07, 16 February 2018 (UTC)
 * It's hard to even take a stab at this, because "public assistance" can mean a whole bunch of different programs. Some welfare programs in the U.S., such as SSI, have very strict income thresholds. Others, such as the ACA subsidies and SNAP (a.k.a. "food stamps"), are less so. If your friend knows what specific programs they're receiving benefits from, they can probably find the requirements online. Obviously if they meet the requirements they shouldn't have any issues. --47.146.60.177 (talk) 08:30, 16 February 2018 (UTC)


 * "Your friend" needs to discuss this with a social service rep about income reporting requirements, of which she would have been notified when she qualified for them, and should probably seek legal advice first. You can google the penalties for not doing so. See welfare fraud.  This board is not the place to ask for advice on not meeting legal obligations by concealing information. μηδείς (talk) 17:28, 16 February 2018 (UTC)

Signature
Hi, I am new around. I'd like to edit my signature but cannot find my way around. Can someone help me? Thank you. Onaxis (talk) 17:20, 16 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Have you had a look at Signatures? -- Jayron 32 17:22, 16 February 2018 (UTC)
 * There is a button at the top right corner of your screen named "preferences", you can edit your signature there but I would advise you to read the aforementioned guideline. --Donald Trung (No fake news) (Articles) Respect mobile users, sign a petition to allow me to use emoji's in my signature. 19:44, 17 February 2018 (UTC)


 * For a practical example, my signature preference looks like this:
 * ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→
 * And the result from signing with ~ looks like this (the fourth tilde in the string invokes the timestamp):
 * ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:37, 17 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much, guys! I think I managed to find my way around. You were really helpful!  Onaxis  TALK TO ME  19:06, 21 February 2018 (UTC)