1 / 19

A Taxing View of Self-Direction

A Taxing View of Self-Direction. Jim Hoegemeier The Arc-Wisconsin Disability Association. Turbo Tax. The Simple Life. Didn’t make much money; Didn’t own a home; Wasn’t married; Didn’t have any deductions; Could file the IRS 1040 EZ Form. The Complexities of Life. Had a side-business;

yen
Download Presentation

A Taxing View of Self-Direction

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. A Taxing View ofSelf-Direction Jim Hoegemeier The Arc-Wisconsin Disability Association

  2. Turbo Tax

  3. The Simple Life • Didn’t make much money; • Didn’t own a home; • Wasn’t married; • Didn’t have any deductions; • Could file the IRS 1040 EZ Form

  4. The Complexities of Life • Had a side-business; • Bought a house; • Got married; • Had some other deductions; • Hired an accounting firm to do our taxes; • Cost a fair amount of money

  5. Looking For Middle Ground • Felt we were paying a fair amount of money to have someone enter numbers into a computer program; • Someone told me about their experience with Turbo Tax; • Looked like a good option

  6. What Is Turbo Tax? • Went online and learned about Turbo Tax; • Need to have access to all of your information; • Will guide you through the process; • Offers different levels of support; • Does much of what an accounting firm does; • I had to do some work

  7. Three Ways to Crack an Egg I needed my tax forms completed. • Could do it myself; • Very inexpensive; • Would I know all of the new tax changes? • Would I make any mistakes in figures? • Would I fill out the right forms? • Would my wife scream at me if I screwed up?

  8. Three Ways to Crack an Egg I needed my tax forms completed. • Could pay firm to do them – pretty expensive; • Don’t have a connection between financial activities and tax consequences; • If there is a mistake, it is somebody else’s mistake.

  9. Three Ways to Crack an Egg I needed by my tax forms completed. • Found Turbo Tax – middle ground – fairly inexpensive; • Led through process; • Had to enter information myself; • Could see impact of each entry on tax bottom line; • Availability of support if desired and needed

  10. How Does Turbo Tax Relate to Service Programs? You need a level of support. • You could do it all by yourself; • Find resources to help get services and supports you need; • You need to do virtually everything by yourself; • You have entire responsibility; • Like trying to do taxes on your own.

  11. How Does Turbo Tax Relate to Service Programs? You need a level of support. • Have other people plan and arrange for your services; • Costly to the system, but little for you to do; • You will get what other people think you want and need; • Very helpful in complex situations; • Like paying the accounting firm to do your taxes

  12. How Does Turbo Tax Relate to Service Programs? You need a level of support. • Can play a big role in developing and implementing your service plan; • You have significant say and responsibility; • Do have entities to support you in developing and implementing plan – when needed; • Like using Turbo Tax to complete taxes

  13. The Pitfalls of Self-Direction • It isn’t for everybody; • There is increased level responsibility; • The transition from a different level can take some effort; • Need to know where and when to seek support

  14. The Benefits of Self-Direction • While you will have increased responsibility, you will have increased influence; • Once you make the transition, it usually goes smoother; • You can clearly see how decisions you make regarding your plan will impact the types and levels of supports received;

  15. The Benefits of Self-Direction • There is a lower cost to the “system” that allows more resources to serve you and others; • It is the way most of us live our lives.

  16. The Current Environment for Self-Direction • Current leadership of Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services strongly supports concepts related to self-direction; • Whether the support is based solely on principle, cost factors or a combination, legislators will likely share support

  17. What We Can Do • If you have experience with self-direction, share it with others; • If you do not have experience with self-direction, learn from others; • Tap into the growing number of available resources; • Be open to the ongoing possibility that self-direction may or may not be the best option for you

  18. Self-Direction Resources • www.incontrolwisconsin.org • www.wisconsin-iris.com • www.wi-bpdd.org/projects/selfdetermination.cfm • www.centerforself-determination.com

  19. The Arc-Wisconsin Jim Hoegemeier, Executive Director The Arc-Wisconsin Disability Association 2800 Royal Ave., Suite 209 Madison, WI 53713 (877) 272-8400 arcwjim@att.net www.arc-wisconsin.org

More Related