Freakonomics
March 31st, 2006 at 10:30 am by David FarrarJordan (no not that one) has lent me a copy of Freakonomics which is a great read. A wonderful study of how human nature and incentives work. I’ve been reading it every night (bar one) this week.
Anyway one of the items in there was about how US taxpayers used to be able to get a tax credit for their children. In 1987 they then required not just to list the children but also their social security numbers. Overnight *seven million* children disappeared.
Anyway the day after I read this in Freakonomics it turned up on the Snopes Urban Legends site who confirm it is true.
I wonder what proof of children our tax system requires?
March 31st, 2006 at 10:43 am
I remember staying at the Tauranga YHA in the mid 80s where a young American woman was telling us she claimed for eleven children (she had none), which was the maximum you were allowed before the IRS audtied you to ensure they existed. She looked like she was 25 and using the tax refund to travel the world.
Vote:March 31st, 2006 at 10:54 am
IRD number, which you have to get from one section and then give to another… they don’t talk to each other….
Vote:March 31st, 2006 at 11:44 am
Sure sounds like “Freakonomics” would be a book outlining future ACT Economic Policies, authored by former ACT MP’s, Stalwarts & Cronies?
Vote:March 31st, 2006 at 12:22 pm
My guess is the givingyour kid an IRD nubmer is the improtnat bit.
You should do that anyway, if your kid has a bank account.
Otherwise the IRD deduct tax at 39% automatically.
A surprisingly large number of parents don’t know that.
Vote:March 31st, 2006 at 2:07 pm
Yes, you need to get an IRD# for each child to qualify for WFF.
Vote:March 31st, 2006 at 4:00 pm
“Sure sounds like “Freakonomics” would be a book outlining future ACT Economic Policies, authored by former ACT MP’s, Stalwarts & Cronies?”
Yep! The truth shall set ye free comrade!
Vote:March 31st, 2006 at 5:27 pm
Oh, so he’s “that Jordan” now is he?
Must modify my child import wheeze to include automatic IRD number applications. Thanks for the tip.
Vote:March 31st, 2006 at 9:46 pm
I found the chapter about how the legalisation of abortion resulted in a significant drop in crime 2 decades later…and how there are these more long term effects that are probably not considered as much as they should be. Which is so perfecetly obvious, considering the complexty of society. Instead, everyone seems to make every attempt to find some angle to blame the current government for everything that goes wrong everywhere…highlighted by the recent discussion about the changes in productivity (variations on an overall long term increasing trend) and the relationship with the government at the time – down to the point of arguing over ‘who is responsible’ for a period of 3 months around an election.
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