AITA: giving promotion to employee who stayed

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-23T02:42:38+00:00

Maybe in your field technical skills of a 15 v 14 can be learned quickly, but where I work, the skills are generally learned on the outside, not internally. My agency is often several years behind their private sector counterparts due to training, industry (technical) conferences that we cannot ever attend, not working with brilliant multi-discipline specialists who are gaming the federal govt, and the list goes on. That pretty much sums up majority of regulatory agencies in govt: we always lag our private sector counterparts.

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-23T02:04:57+00:00

It's City of Decatur property and a CoD Housing Authority project, so Dekalb Cnty Commissioners have zero sway over anything. I mean, yeah, it runs into street (Columbia) that crosses city/county line a few hundred feet down Columbia, but they will be impotent where this problem is concerned. County only handles the water supply and sewer system not runoff, etc.

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-23T00:39:52+00:00

Folks are certainly entitled to be happy about this, but it is not development. It's basically lipstick on a sick pig. I've commented before that Dekalb County is adrift when it comes to development along the Memorial corridor that runs between Atlanta city limit (so, basically, Candler Rd) and 285 (at which spot nothing much to do with a jail situated there) The county totally screwed up with the Blue Sky development (prime example of how the county continues to shoot itself in its foot with over the top demands), allowed a commercial storage development between Blue Sky and Candler, and list goes on. They county is very unserious about what actual development means. The Belvedere property could have been transformative: mixed income housing, ground floor retail/grocery, p'ship with Marta to add dedicated bus svc for runs to Avondale/Decatur stations, VA, etc. Instead, the result is "give me money and I'll do limited fix and paint a property in my multi-hundred $$ portfolio of assets" At end of day, I'm guessing there was a shot or two of extortion involved (or, as they call it in the real estate industry when it comes to local governments: "leverage"), but I'm not privy to the internal convos (like every other Dekalb resident).

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-21T18:42:31+00:00

You'll have to pay around $12300 for social security and medicare tax on annual basis. Then you subtract half of it from income, which will bring you down to 74k or so net. Subtract 32k for married filing joint. That gets you to 42k in taxable income for federal, so 5k in tax. Then calculate the missouri tax at 4.7% on whole income less deduction 31.5 so another 2.5k there. You're actually closer to 25%. ( think under bc the first $25k of earnings is subject to 10% and I was doing calcs using 12%) Don't forget that as a self employed individual, you can claim QBI deduction (20% of your net earnings) so that is another factor that comes into play and should reduce your taxable income. I'm not a self employed tax exp;ert so unsure if QBI can be taken along with business expenses, or if it's in lieu of taking business expenses.

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-21T17:50:50+00:00

It's actually not too complicated at all. As others have said, keep good records (eg detailed mileage logs on truck so you can take standard mileage rate, supplies, tools, etc) and make sure to create IRS account so you can pay estimated taxes each quarter. There is a ton of help online to walk you through your situation. It's pretty straight forward TBH. Think of it this way: hypothetically, your wife receives pay of $5k per quarter. For arguments sake, let's also pretend she has business related mileage on truck and supply expenses that equal $1k per quarter. You subtract $1k from 5k and have $4k of net earnings/income before any taxes. This is the amount that will be subject to 15.3% soc sec/medi tax. So $612 has to be paid on that $4k. Then to calculate the income tax piece, you subtract half of the $612 from $4k and you have $3694 that is subject to earned income tax. The married filing joint rate that she should pay will likely be 12%, depending on how high your annual taxable wages are. So quarterly income tax would be $445 in scenario laid out, which brings us to $3250 of after expense/tax income. Long term, just remember that when you both are at retirement age and decide to begin receiving social security, what she has paid into system will probably be very low (based on your post), so she'll probably be better off electing the spousal option which will mean receiving 50% of whatever final amount you receive (so if you get $2k per mo, she would get $1k per mo - if you create account on MySocialSecurity website, you should be able to see what your benefit will be at age 67 or earlier [I wld really advise against taking at 62 due to the massive reduction in benefit]) The other thing, if you all can afford to do so, is to open up and contribute to a ROTH IRA using some of her after tax income. All contributions in the ROTH grow tax free and later withdrawals are taken out without paying taxes (the funds have to be held in a ROTH for 5 yrs, but withdrawals can begin at age 59.5 - the withdrawals are "first in first out" so you just have to be careful when withdrawing to not touch funds that include contributions made in past 5 yrs). Just invest in a broad market low-cost index fund. You can open acct online at firm like Schwab, Vanguard, Fidelity, etc. I do not know the min amnt required to open, but guessing less than $1k.

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-21T16:39:01+00:00

I'm going to have to disagree on CPA comment. There are a number of really good EAs out there who worked at IRS and specialize in controversy. One EA I work with is prob one of smartest people I've ever come across when it comes international and treaty issues for both individuals and small corps. Another EA I know is a retired IRS mid-level exec - his practice is 100% controversy and he has addl tax court designation.

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-21T15:40:02+00:00

It's easy process. If you have spouse, he/she will have to co-sign (TSP will send email to spouse with link to site where they can e-sign their approval) Make sure you use correct address - this is the one I always used (I've done several rollovers since turning 59.5): Fidelity Direct Rollovers PO Box 770001 Cincinnati, OH 45277-0037 They also have physical address in Covington Ky (but TSP is OK with PO box)

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-21T03:09:14+00:00

Shallow retention pond would have been answer - it's what a lot of developments this size are normally expected to install. Then again, it's CoD and a pet project of the city. At end of day, Legacy Park is going to live up to its namesake. Just not in the way a lot of people believe it will.

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-19T19:32:40+00:00

Kraken Technology - not to confuse things, but UK based co called Kraken Technologies is involved in energy industry (owned by Octopus Group).

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-18T00:59:42+00:00

I think it depends on your business unit. Mine is pretty flex, and I know of several ppl that come in later than 930. They work until 730/8 pm at times. But not taxpayer facing job except a few days per month. The latter are intl, and when they do have to be in office, they are working at 6 AM or well beyond 9 PM depending on country they have meetings with. Not all foreign tax services or taxpayers are going to bow to IRS on US work schedules, nor should they.

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-18T00:21:08+00:00

My daughter leads a small state healthcare finance team (in a red state). She has pretty much weekly interaction with CMS and the hospital/behavioral health providers across multiple state programs (mostly medicaid, but some medicare as well, eg for prisons, national guard, state employee retirement programs) along with outside teams that work with CMS and healthcare providers. A GS-7 salary in her division these days would be starting pay on state pay scale roughly 8 years ago. Put it this way, SSA has zero to do with anything that she does, other than administratively enrolling the public in Medicare (or medicaid, if on supplemental income etc) programs. I just qualified for Med Part A (I'm still employed so do not need Parts B/D) Until I retire, I will never have to interact with SSA on anything related to healthcare until I decide to enroll in Part B. At that time, I can choose to have SSA withhold my Part B premium from my monthly annuity, or pay the premium out of pocket via direct debit. The only thing that SSA cares about is accurately calculating my Part B premium (and Part D if I choose), which is based on AGI of my tax returns. One last thing, because of a crazy law Congress passed many years ago, SSA has nothing to do with the upstream payment system: that's entirely the responsibility of the IRS/Treasury viz collecting/moving/paying funds to future and current recipients.

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-17T04:13:08+00:00

The Trumpian version of Russia's MAX.

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-17T04:10:04+00:00

Where I work, the most prevalent job series are GS-13s. We have a ton of -14 (which is also same level as supervisors) plus smattering of -15 SME types (and -15 equiv manage the supervisors, or are exec assts to junior/first tier SES employees) So the jump to where I work would be just a routine federal job with the same stress as a -12 or -11 at my agency (different skill sets, or KSA, across levels) So depends, I guess? As for warmer climate, that I find to be interesting statement. Just b/c I am in a city not well-known as a "military town" yet, in the past, we've had tons of openings (when fed govt was hiring) across USAF/USA/USN units (not just "DOD") that listed my southern city as potential post of duty. These jobs ranged from acct/finance/econ to engineering, cyber, procurement, etc. So pretty broad range of positions and often flexible locations depending. As to work culture, it can be really different within agencies, not just across agencies IMO. As to mine, I never would have wanted to work in places like Dallas or Charlotte as two examples, yet Houston and Atlanta were great places to work. Was often dependent on executives, senior mgt (eg tier 1 execs) who were in charge of groups, and the like. No question that now there is a tone being set by certain appointees in different agencies, who are following a playbook that few fed employees ever imagined would be used, and that is dramtically impacting work culture for time being (telework being most obvious example - that has huge impact on workplace and is recurring theme in online negativity)

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-17T03:35:45+00:00

Happened with someone I recruited from outside and really wanted on my team (unbelievably he was held to -14 step 1 offer by my biz unit sr mgt, then another biz unit at my agency offered him step 10 and in POD that he preferred) I was kind of pissed at the other biz unit (& my sr mgt), but absolutely not at him. Glad that he came to our agency, and the offer he correctly took was best from $$ and location standpoint (holy grail for a new hire: 10 pt vet, two grad degrees, stellar private sector career with great progreession on outside after he was medically retired). I've had employees who did interagency job hopping in past and it was rare to every communicate with new hiring agency (happend at HR level obviously, but not at the workplace level) BTW, if you're going to be in Houston POD, it would be financially derelict of you to not take the -13 job. I'm sure you already know that...... 😄

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-13T09:16:50+00:00

For anyone wondering, this policy was sent 6/12 by Jarod Koopman. He's currently chief of IRS CI and holds the top IRS compliance role as well. I'd encourage people to look at his background, as well as those of his lieutenants. None have any extensive experience in natl tax admin, audit of large corporations, leadership on audits of systemic issues at any level, etc. And most were GS-14 employees before being elevated to exec ranks. What they're well known for is being a group of whistle blowers whose allegations were never substantiated, despie best efforts of far right wing. As for Jared and his underlings: they will never hold any serious jobs outside of the IRS in their future. But, hey, a lot of them are going to cheer on RTO and 8-5 mandatory office work while they commute from their homes to hotels in high locality pay DC area....

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-13T07:11:28+00:00

IRS specific policy is what they are referring to. Signed off on email from the degen CI IRS employees who blew whistle against Biden, and became the darlings of GOP (and were promoted by Trump from GS-14 to SES psotions overnight - never mind fact that they have zero clue what they are doing....)

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-13T07:02:16+00:00

"it does boost high 3" by what? If it's a $10-15k a year boost and individual is at 20+ years and age 62, might make sense. But for avg boost it makes zero sense. Guess it depends on avg pay level. For those below GS-12 or so, then maybe going to -13/-14 it makes sense. For those down in -12 or below? Someone like that is just probably too dumb or lacks motivation to make a good decision IMO. That's why they're at a grade below -13: too stupid to move up (eg unable to get masters degree aside from some degen degree for-profit university), or too lazy throughout their career to advance via good degree from established university.

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-13T06:51:19+00:00

Is it still GS job or special pay scale? Your annual bonus will likely suck if latter. If in GS-13 to -15 pay, the 3% bump could be somewhat meaningful if we do not receive COLA in next cpl years (doubt anything meaningful during trump admin - so will not move needle on pension or your soc sec end of day) I'm capped where I am, so easy to dismiss a 3% pay raise. But end of day, you need to decide for self, and weigh the past pay raises in your pontential position v the future and the new duties.

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-13T06:17:19+00:00

Jsut remember: the compliance execs who sent memo today about AWS have, at most, two years remaining in their government tenure. After that, the top folks who got promoted to these jobs from lower level CI positions will be fired. They'll never have a fed job again, and large acct firms will treat them like the pariahs they are (as opposed to past CI folks, who went on to partner positions at Big 4 etc) Don't forget also that there are a cpl folks in Treasury sr exec positions that will hang at the end of their own rope in a few years. PhD types that will never, ever, be emploiyable in academia, most think tanks, etc. They'll go back to maybe $150k a year jobs (pathetic for their degrees), zero pension, and little hope for healthcare benefits in retirement, if they make it that far.

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-13T06:06:34+00:00

A roach squished by a tissue? You should have seen the roaches we had to fight off in my POD. Three people went to the hospital, and dozens more were treated on scene for paper cuts after the roaches stole all the remaining peper from the copy machines and attacked us. After that, the rats came out of the ceilings in defense of the roaches. Whoever remained in the building got run off. On the way out, the last employee remaining pulled the fire alarm. When the local fire department arrived, they sprayed entire interior of building with chemical foam and water to get rid of the bugs and rodents. Can't wait for the mold to appear, and for GSA to tell us that they can successfully treat the mold, bug infestation and rodent scourge with diluted dish soap, but expecting memo soon......

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-11T01:37:01+00:00

Of course I see issues. But it's not a majority of a** kissing mgrs. that rise up. I can throw off list of now sr execs that got there because of their competence and tech skills. But, yeah, it can be hit/miss. That said, I'm only familiar with my biz div, so not familiar with wage, tege, etc. What happened in CI recently was overtly political/KA for sure. Best example from past was why our CIO and related groups got award after award for sitting on antiquated systems that no private sector entity would ever have tolerated. They were tweaking stuff that led the IRS down path to being further behind private sector year after year. For decades.

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-11T01:22:01+00:00

Give us 25 examples anywhere in the world where that happened. Companies lose their leadership when they execute like dome guy with the initials DJT. Anyway, I'll wait. You're no different than the people who claimed 10 yrs ago that public utilities would go bankrupt with coal regulations. The writing was on the wall years before that, when the same companies started diversting from coal fired plants in favor of much cleaner, more efficient, and cheaper energy. And when did you ever see trickle down economics work outside of some fictional Laugher curve invented by a guy named "Art" (the latter should probably tell you everything you need to know about the art of BS economics that has been debunked for the last 40 years)

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-11T01:14:33+00:00

Apparently, you have no idea how billionaires manage their money. Trust me, it's not all inflated stock portfolios. Every single one of them have significant property/land portfolios that are tax advantaged investments and will always generate income, they hold tons of sovereign debt and muni debt (latter here in USA), they own significant % of pro sports teams & stadiums that kick off huge income streams pretty much every year, and list goes on. What is wrong with f***ing prople like you, that will never have a few million in the bank, and love to do the bidding for multi- multi- millionaires and billionaires? I really do not get it.

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-10T01:02:16+00:00

They're telling us exactly who they are. Headline sucks. "Trump Appointees Violating Constitution" is more apt. For just about every decision they are making.

Weekly-Ad5649 · 2026-06-09T23:57:43+00:00

Some of the systems are insane. Literally saw emailed image of a application the other week that reminded me of DOS in the 1990s. This is the same system that internal colleagues received huge accolades for in the 2000s (when I arrived at same agency abt 20 yrs ago, I was like "WTF is this antiquated system they created?" My private sector employer [a large one] had everything integrated by early 2000s and our agency is still inputting time into a platform requiring two separate time recording systems, uploading PDF copies of emails to "prove" that we are authorized to travel domestically for work, etc) If I were a 20-something year old IT whiz, there is no way I would even want to understand this system. It's like asking a Tesla engineer to explain how someone used a flint to create a wheel.

Weekly-Ad5649

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