Does doing the right thing pay off?

[Mute]

So I surprisingly found I had an extra digit added to my pay check. Though I think most people would agree, it wouldn't have been a bad idea to keep the money and keep quiet about it, honesty got the best of me and I decided to point it out to my boss.

So I let my boss know. He said he'd look into and get back to me. The following day I ask him if he checked on it and he said he forgot all about it and straight away went to go check on it. So he goes to the payroll lady and she comes back saying there was no error in the system and I was paid what I was supposed to receive. She said if I got paid a large sum of money, it was probably from something else.

I go home and check my online checking account again and see that money I received is indeed from the company. Today I go back and point out to the lady where there error is. Her words are "HOLY BEEP" and she informs me that I don't have enough months left in order to make up the difference before the year is over and that this will be listed on my taxes as having received this large sum of money. She's going to see what she can do to fix the situation and I won't be receiving any new income for the rest of the year but the bottom line is I may actually have to pay more taxes because of informing them of the money.

I would have thought I'd have learned a lesson from Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect and Dragon Age that light side points don't get you anywhere but I guess I didn't learn that lesson. I wanted to give the money back because it wasn't mine but now I feel like I may be getting screwed with taxes because of it. Hopefully she can fix the situation but if she can't, I am going to fill a little dead inside.

[Blocky]

Eh, taxes smaxes. Ok, so that didn't really work. Really though, it's not that close to the end of the year, and you can always use corrected w-2's if they've already submitted the first one. YOu might have to wait an extra month or so to file your tax return. If they can't get it figured out by April, 6 months away, then there is really something wrong with the system. In which case, you'd pay the taxes, but then re-file with the corrections made, and then they'd refund your over payment, which the IRS is actually pretty good about doing.

In the mean time, I can see the stress though:P Sometimes I wonder if the main reason alcohol is a no-no for us is just to make sure we learn stress relieving techniques on our own. Maybe that's the former alcoholic -all or nothing -in me speaking though.

[skippy740]

Most mistakes would be found out eventually. Your file should show that you disclosed this error.

Now, if your income was going to continue... then I would've recommended that you put the difference of that "big error" in a CD, collect the interest and pay it back as soon as they get around to knowing the error occured and requiring repayment.

[Darak]

So I surprisingly found I had an extra digit added to my pay check. Though I think most people would agree, it wouldn't have been a bad idea to keep the money and keep quiet about it, honesty got the best of me and I decided to point it out to my boss.

So I let my boss know. He said he'd look into and get back to me. The following day I ask him if he checked on it and he said he forgot all about it and straight away went to go check on it. So he goes to the payroll lady and she comes back saying there was no error in the system and I was paid what I was supposed to receive. She said if I got paid a large sum of money, it was probably from something else.

I go home and check my online checking account again and see that money I received is indeed from the company. Today I go back and point out to the lady where there error is. Her words are "HOLY BEEP" and she informs me that I don't have enough months left in order to make up the difference before the year is over and that this will be listed on my taxes as having received this large sum of money. She's going to see what she can do to fix the situation and I won't be receiving any new income for the rest of the year but the bottom line is I may actually have to pay more taxes because of informing them of the money.

I would have thought I'd have learned a lesson from Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect and Dragon Age that light side points don't get you anywhere but I guess I didn't learn that lesson. I wanted to give the money back because it wasn't mine but now I feel like I may be getting screwed with taxes because of it. Hopefully she can fix the situation but if she can't, I am going to fill a little dead inside.

Americans are lucky. They can actually stand up and ask questions. You should see what it's like in other countries where the targets are not gangsters.

Examples are: Israel so presumed its citizens would do everything to avoid taxes that the government upped the taxes to the point where if anyone payed by the book, they'd be over-taxed.

The deal is, you pay a percentage of what you make unto Cesar to keep the nation going, and that's it. After that it's unto God.

Edited October 21, 2011 by Darak

[Guest gopecon]

Once you file your taxes with the actual income you were paid, the refund that you get should get you in the right place. Your withholding may be goofed up, but it should get cleared up in the end. I definitely think you did the right thing by getting it fixed early. I've heard of people who got unexpected "bonuses", spent them, and when the errors were found they were unable to pay it back.

[jerome1232]

Since you pointed the error out, now you don't get fired (or worse) later down the road when they figure out why their company is in the hole and want to know why you didn't say anything.

Honesty is a trait to rare these days, embrace it!

[pam]

Can I have a loan? :)

[mnn727]

So I'm a bit confused:

Was this paid by mistake? if so why can't the company take it back?

If it was a bonus, why wasn't proper taxes taken out of it?

You did the right thing by reporting it, now you can't be fired - it sounds to me like the payroll department messed up (either by paying you too much or by not taking the proper taxes out) and is trying to avoid blame.

[RMGuy]

Mnn is correct. If it was paid to you in error, the company should be paid back the excess and they should correct the taxes etc fro you.

-RM

[Mute]

So I'm a bit confused:

Was this paid by mistake? if so why can't the company take it back?

If it was a bonus, why wasn't proper taxes taken out of it?

You did the right thing by reporting it, now you can't be fired - it sounds to me like the payroll department messed up (either by paying you too much or by not taking the proper taxes out) and is trying to avoid blame.

It was a mistake. I don't think I quite understood her reason for not just taking it immediately back and giving me the right amount. The problem was I was paid for over 500 hours instead of 50 something hours. I appreciate everyone's advice in this thread and I hope it works out for me. I talked with my boss today and he said he doesn't know why they don't just take the money back and pay me the proper amount.

[applepansy]

It was a mistake. I don't think I quite understood her reason for not just taking it immediately back and giving me the right amount. The problem was I was paid for over 500 hours instead of 50 something hours. I appreciate everyone's advice in this thread and I hope it works out for me. I talked with my boss today and he said he doesn't know why they don't just take the money back and pay me the proper amount.

Since he is the Boss maybe he should make that happen?

I notice you're in Utah. Correcting the payroll error shouldn't be a problem.

[Dravin]

To respond directly to the title of the thread:

Yes, but not necessarily in the way we expect, or want, and somethings the pay off character wise and spiritually is accompanied by a temporal hit. Take for instance when a cashier forgets to charge you for something and you go back into the store to have them ring it up, the payoff wasn't temporal, you just lost the price of the item, but the benefit in character/spirituality are the payoff that matters.

Edited October 22, 2011 by Dravin

[sister_in_faith]

Good for you for doing the right thing!!! Now when they ask you if you are honest in your dealings with your fellow men, you can answer yes with a smile!

[Suzie]

No, I don't think doing the right thing necessarily pays off in every situation however, it gives you peace of mind and at the end, that's what it matters to me.

[Guest mormonmusic]

Someone once said honesty is inconvenient, expensive, and sometimes, thankless, but it's required of us if we want to become like God. So, start out with that premise. And take comfort in the maxim that "virtue is its own reward". At least in the end, one can reflect upon their honesty and character in that situation forever.

Just make sure you distinguish between what I call "honesty, and "unwise, unwarranted honesty" (I used to call it stupid honesty but that is too harsh for me now). Not that you were unwise in this case, but I've seen people be so honest they cause more trouble than the virtue benefits....

[Blackmarch]

So I surprisingly found I had an extra digit added to my pay check. Though I think most people would agree, it wouldn't have been a bad idea to keep the money and keep quiet about it, honesty got the best of me and I decided to point it out to my boss.

So I let my boss know. He said he'd look into and get back to me. The following day I ask him if he checked on it and he said he forgot all about it and straight away went to go check on it. So he goes to the payroll lady and she comes back saying there was no error in the system and I was paid what I was supposed to receive. She said if I got paid a large sum of money, it was probably from something else.

I go home and check my online checking account again and see that money I received is indeed from the company. Today I go back and point out to the lady where there error is. Her words are "HOLY BEEP" and she informs me that I don't have enough months left in order to make up the difference before the year is over and that this will be listed on my taxes as having received this large sum of money. She's going to see what she can do to fix the situation and I won't be receiving any new income for the rest of the year but the bottom line is I may actually have to pay more taxes because of informing them of the money.

I would have thought I'd have learned a lesson from Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect and Dragon Age that light side points don't get you anywhere but I guess I didn't learn that lesson. I wanted to give the money back because it wasn't mine but now I feel like I may be getting screwed with taxes because of it. Hopefully she can fix the situation but if she can't, I am going to fill a little dead inside.

no good deed goes unpunished

seriously tho... you'd be a lot worse off if you kept quiet about it and then someone else found out about it later (que IRS guys). Trust me.

If nothing can be be done about it from the company end i'd say find out what you can start documenting just in case you need to take it to court or anything.

.02$- things like this have a nasty habbit of not remaining unnoticed... and generally at not a good time.