84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday July 2, 1994
a farm
i
Joyce Bupp wUtk
-And other
hazards
Dear taxpayer
The envelope didn’t exactly say
that. It didnU have to.
FEw of us fail to immediately
recognize the connotations of a
piece of mail bearing the return
address of the Internal Revenue
Service.
“Now what?” I grumbled to
myself.
To the best of my knowledge,
all the income taxes, all the self
employment taxes, all the employ
ee Social Security and withhold
ing, all the “dues” that were due
had been paid - in full and on time.
Based on experience, that still did
not likely mean this was just a
“have a nice day!” friendly greet
ing from the IRS.
An envelope like that one
always instantly prompts that
knot-in-the-stomach response that
makes me want to cany such a
piece of mail gingerly, between
thumb and forefinger, as though it
w Free Seminar*
FARM & BUSINESS TRANSFERS
on Friday, July 15, 1994 • 7:30-9:00 p.m.
at Yoders Restaurant in New Holland
Admission is Free. Donations over costs will be given to LIFE. Ministries
To reserve a seat or for more
information cell 354-8288
Mark L. James, Attorney At Law
Clymer & James, P.C.
Law Offices of Tuesdays by Appointment at
Clymer & James, P.C. Gehman Accounting
23 North Lime St. 581 North Shirk Rd.
Lancaster, PA 17602 New Holland, PA 17557
might detonate at any given
moment Back in the kitchen, I
took a deep breath, ripped open
the white envelope and read the
introductory line.
“We changed your return - You
are due a refund.”
Well! This might be a “have a
nice day!” letter after all.
The computerized communica
tion informed us that our Social
Sccurity/Medicare self
employment tax had been incor
rectly figured and that we were
due a refund of $18.20. Listed
below were the complete figures
on which the computation had
been made.
Then came the line: Overpay
ment of taxes - $20.20.
And a subsequent line noting a
tax penalty of $2.00.
A ten-percent penalty for over
payment? Huh?
What a racket!
How many of us, do ya’ sup-
pose, could get away with penaliz
ing someone Uatpercent for over
paying us? Or would even be gut
sy enough to try it?
Now, I understand the logic of
levying a penalty for underpay
ment. We’ve had a few of those
already, too, and believe me, the
penalty is figured at a fairly steep
rate. Plus interest.
An $OO-line phone number was
listed on the communication for
taxpayer assistance. The two-buck
penalty was irrelevant - but the
idea of it irritated me. I called.
And called. And called. As
expected, the only answer I ever
got was the continuing beep, beep,
beep of a busy signal.
It brought to mind a whole stack
of government-generated mail
that had arrived over a two-day
span, just prior to the arrival of the
money-back greetings from the
IRS. These were from a federal
agriculture agency, listing dollar
amounts we had received through
a particular program.
Every single one of the nine
identical notices came in a sepa
rate envelope and every single one
bore the same dollar amount we
had received: $.OO. And, every
single one came first-class-mail,
postage paid by you, the tax
payer. And me, the taxpayer.
On our front, porch is a white
plastic planter filled with red
blooming impatiens. On Memor
ial Day, I stuck into that planter a
small American flag, which catch
es the breeze and makes me feel
good every time I pass it
It reminds me of those who
made the ultimate sacrifice over
CLOSED SUNDAYS, NEW YEAR,
EASTER MONDAY, ASCENSION DAY,
WUT MONDAY, OCT. 11, THANKSGIVING,
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the past 200-plus years to keep
this United States free - so that
those of us who so wish can gripe,
complain and poke fun at the
waste in government agencies.
Without finding someone at our
door the next morning waiting to
haul us away in handcuffs.
Fun And Games
At Chicken Festival
GEORGETOWN, Del.
Competition was even hotter than
the weather as more than 100 chil
dren and adults battled it out in the
“Olympics of the Chicken World”
at tire 46th Delmarva Chicken
Festival in Dover, Del. recently.
These games, called Chicken
Capers, are an annual event at the
Chicken Festival that are organiz
ed and presented by members of
Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc.’s
Allied Industry Committee.
The action sizzled as 14 teams
from five of Delmarva’s poultry
companies and more than 40 chil
dren competed in the egg scratch,
spoon race, sack race, egg toss,
and wheelbarrow race.
Perdue Farms, Inc. and Town
sends, Inc. were the big winners of
the day in the relay matches. In the
grow-out competition. Perdue
came out on top with the winning
team of Bill Brown of Hurlock,
Md.; Gerard Graham of Bethany
Beach, Del.; Dan Wenner of Sel
byville, Del.; and Mike Evans of
Frankford, Del. In the processing
plant division, a team from Town
sends dethroned Perdue, Inc.,
which had won the relay the last
three years. Townsends’ victory
team consisted of Harvey Holden
of Frankford, Del.; Linwood
Waller of Millsboro, Del.; Made
lene Jones of Seaford, Del.; and
Freddie Reid of Milford, Del.
If your local (tore
docs not have it,
SEND FOR
FREE
BROCHURE
On this July 4th birthday
weekend of our United States,
may we remember and cherish
chat freedom.
(P.S. A day later, we received a
:heck for our refund. It included
tn interest payment Of 16-cents.
[s this a great country or what!)
The children got into the spirit
of the Chicken Festival as they
searched for nickels hidden in a
huge pile of commeal in the
‘‘Chicken Scratch.” Brian Rowe,
4, of Selbyville, won the
3-to-5-year-old division, while
Sade Carter. 8. of Seaford, DEla
ware, found 17 coins to take the
6-to-8-year-old division. Michelle
Cannon, 10, of Bridgeville, Dela
ware. found 32 coins for the win
in the 9-to-l 1-age category.
The egg toss produced a lot of
fun, despite the occasional mess.
In the 12-and-under-age group,
Sade Jones, 8, and Donald Jones,
10, both of Seaford, Del., were the
winners. The adult winners were
Freddie Reid of Milford, Del. and
Harvey Holden of Frankford.
The spoon race attracted the
most participants and required se
veral heats for each age group.
Coming out on top in the 6-and
under division was Steve Orta, 6,
of Milford, Del. In the 7-to-12-age
group, LaQueen Johnson, 10, of
Bridgeville, was the winner. The
adult champ was Kenny Wilkins,
a flock supervisor at Allen’s
Hatchery, Inc., had to battle com
petitors in seven heats for Ms win.
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