Comment: My daughter has been living on her own up until a month ago. However, she had a serious break in October after being assaulted and has not been able to work since then. She is now living with me, but I basically supported her living expenses for most of last year. In addition, I had to replace my roof and my heating/air conditioner unit. I had to cash in my supplemental retirement to make ends meet. When tax time came, the deduction I got for my daughter's expenses was offset by the penalty for withdrawing retirement early. There was no credit for the expenses (approximately $7500) for maintaining my home. We have been trying to get my daughter covered by Social Secuirty and Medicaid, but so far she has not qualified. Now we have to get an attorney involved. I am willing to pay my share to support the services our government provides; but as more costs are shifted to the states, individual tax payers are being hit hard by state and local taxes. We must maintain some way of addressing the complexity of issues facing individual citizens and their families. I consider the homeowner's exemption a financial life-saver, especially this year when I had to pay additional thousands of dollars to both the federal and state governments. Linda C., Robinson Greenville, NC |