Sandy Bartlett: Another taxing story

I have tried to find my mistake since I discovered I would not get my usual North Carolina tax refund of about $600 but rather had to pay $8. My taxes have been pretty easy to do since I am a North Carolina teacher and my income never changes.

Thanks to the great articles in The N&O, plus letters from angry residents, I realized I must have been getting a deduction for a small pension I receive from another state and a deduction for medical expenses.

As Sen. Bob Rucho said, “If you have a special tax preference, that means everybody else has to pay a higher tax rate to pay for your special tax preference.” I certainly would not want anyone to have to pay for my special tax preference, certainly not American Airlines (known for canceling flights for no reason, charging exorbitant baggage fees and cramming people into tiny seats) or NASCAR (I don’t even know what to say).

I did make a mistake. I voted for Republicans. I cannot, in good conscience, vote for a Democrat. They have a reputation of being “tax and spend liberals” for a reason.

Since the gas tax is going up, I believe I will save the gas and sit out the next election.

This story was originally published March 13, 2015 at 7:19 PM with the headline "Sandy Bartlett: Another taxing story."