I should have noticed that a single-digit percent refund would not return 1/3rd of your income. Honest mistake, thanks for the catch.

So if someone making $12K/yr is living in poverty, why are we taxing them any amount while giving huge tax relief to Bill Gates?

Of course, I think we should have a flat tax with no deductions except a personal deduction that is pegged at the poverty line ($12K would not be a bad figure). Of course, the home mortgage interest would have be fazed out over some period or the fallout would be worse than the current sub-prime fiasco that was created by this administration (it is in another Slate article).