[net.taxes] No Double Taxation

wjm@whuxj.UUCP (MITCHELL) (02/29/84)

No, you are not being taxed twice when you report state income tax refunds
as income, since you SUBTRACTED the tax you paid (which included the refund)
from your income the previous year.  When you report it the following year,
you pay tax on it for the FIRST time.  You do NOT report a state income tax
refund as income if you did NOT deduct the tax the year before (e.g. you took
the standard deduction.
Bill Mitchell
Bell Communications Research, Inc.
Whippany, NJ (whuxj!wjm)

wjm@whuxj.UUCP (MITCHELL) (03/29/84)

As I've said before, there is NO double taxation when you have to report
State income tax refunds as income in the following year.  The reason you
have to report them is that in the previous year you DEDUCTED the entire
amount you paid the State folk (including the refund) from your income and
therefore did NOT pay tax on it.  In effect, you've deferred paying taxes
on the refund for one year.
Bill Mitchell
Bell Communications Research, Inc.
Whippany, NJ (whuxj!wjm)