Ask the Prez for Your Christmas Present

In the wake of the President and Congress approving another gagillion dollars in spending, we decided that it was a good time to release this little gem. We were going to wait until tax day, but we think everyone can use another Christmas present – especially these days.

Now, if you are a frequent visitor to Threedonia, you don’t think much of all of the wild spending that has been the hallmark of the Obama’s first year. In fact, you’re probably not too happy about how your tax dollars are being spent. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get that money back? But, how much should you get back? Sure, you’re willing to do pay something in taxes, but not for this wild, out-of-control distribution of government funds. Wouldn’t it be nice if somebody could come up with a way for you to calculate your share of paying for this madness?

Well, ladies and gentleman, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve got Threedonia’s exclusive “Stimulus Liability Calculator (TM)”, an easy to use Excel spreadsheet that allows you to not only calculate your share of the tax liability associated with the stimulus package, it also allows you to generate an invoice to send to the White House – in order to demand your money back.

How cool is that?

Here’s how it works:

1. Enter Your Personal Data:

You enter this on the “Taxpayer Data” tab.

2. Like This:

Dr. Batty, the extremely well-paid head of our research section, shows you how it’s done. All you need to know is your name and address, along with the amount of federal taxes you paid according to your last W-2. With his salary at about $1 million/year, Dr. Batty paid $350,000 last year in federal taxes.

3. Switch Tabs

Go to the “My Invoice” tab. There’s nothing to do here except to look at your invoice. Your address and the calculation of your share of stimulus/bailout tax liability are calculated automatically. Thus, for Dr. Batty:

4. Scrolling Down On The Invoice:

5. And, Finally:

You can print out the invoice and, if you really want to get on the Official Enemies List, print it out and send it to the White House. I hope you will give it a try – it really puts your share of all this crazy spending in perspective. Be advised, however, that the amount shown (“Total Due”) represents 1/10 of your total tax liability. For reasons explained at the end of this post, I’ve spread the amount of the refund owed over a ten year period.

If you want to use the spreadsheet, you can download it from Google Docs. Not the most user-friendly sharing site, but it has the distinct advantage of being free. Here’s what you need to do, if you’d like to download the Excel Workbook.

6. Hit The Link

The Excel Workbook, and a Clever Cover Letter, can be downloaded by first hitting this link. That will bring you to the following page. You’ll then have to hit the name of the document that you want to download:

7. Once The File Is Displayed, Click “Open”

Thus:

8. Now, Once It’s Open Click On “File”:

9. You’re Almost There. Select “Download As” and “Excel”:

10. Play With The Workbook – And Have Fun!

A few technical notes:

a) The stimulus/bailout spending listed precedes the latest round of spending. It represents total taxpayer liability, not actual dollars expended to date. Since it is generally expected that this liability will be realized over a roughly 10 year period, I have…

b) …spread your refund over a ten year period as well. In other words, the amount of your personal liability calculated is 1/10 of the total amount you will be expected to pay in order to fund the stimulus/bailouts – based on your current income.

c) Inflation is not included in the calculation. Yeah, we could have done so – but I’m not sure there are enough digits available in Excel to estimate the rate of inflation we are likely to see in future years.

d) Your liability is calculated as follows: your federal tax bill divided by the total amount of federal revenue collect in 2008, multiplied by the total amount of stimulus and bailout spending liability. A perfect formula? Of course not. But close? You betcha.

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