Why the heck even bother going anywhere? You can get all the papers you want shipped anywhere you want in the world, and you could - for many decades, probably closer to a 100 years in case of some newspapers. Never mind that almost any worthwhile paper can be had online these days.

Intelligence isn't about diplomats sitting around reading newspapers.

LOLWUT?! A bounced check doesn't equal check fraud. I have a separate checking account just to receive PayPal funds. I keep no balance there. One fine day by mistake I've paid for a bunch of things via PayPal without switching the payment method to the credit card (each and every time). PayPal submits the ACH transaction twice before charging your alternate payment method (credit card). The bank account ended up with hundreds in negative balance from all the fees ($35 per each try, and it was a dozen PayPal payments). It took a while to untangle. I also promptly got listed in one of those "persona non grata" databases in spite of having excellent credit scores and in spite of all the fees having been forgiven by the bank (after lots of hassle). So, I'm in a situation where my checks are sometimes rejected in spite of having excellent credit and sufficient funds, and I can't open a checking account without providing a lot of documentation first. I have never not paid a bill on time in my life, BTW.

Don't ask me, I only live here, not set policy.

Well said.

That works only if you have no significant federal credits. Anyone with a mortgage, and especially with a mortgage credit certificate, is screwed, then, because the state-federal equivalency breaks down and you are forced to either overpay federal or underpay state. You can of course send estimated payments to the state so as not to underpay them, but that's extra paperwork that shouldn't be necessary if the idiots in charge just were bright enough to put to fields on W-4 instead of just one.

Now if only the federal taxes were calculated exactly like the state taxes, so that the appropriate federal exemption count was exactly applicable to your state taxes. Hmm.

Well, no, it doesn't work that way, unless your tax situation is very simplistic. There can be plenty of federal credits that have no analogs in the state tax code, so in order not to underpay on the state taxes you're forced to overpay on federal tax. Or you must pay estimated state taxes quarterly, and that's extra hassle.

I hope you're not serious, that's all. I sincerely hope.

I've been fortunate enough never to be in such circumstances, but I have met people who, in order to save $25 would need to stay hungry for a week. Just for kickers, sign up for a minimum-wage job at Walmart, and see how many days you'll last without eating, doing full time or more, as many people are forced to in order to make ends meet. Yes, over a month or two saving up $25 is doable, but sometimes you don't have that much time, and the need to get paid now means you may squander those $25 on fees etc.

That's if you actually have a branch of that bank where it's convenient. Gas is not free, and sometimes a large multi-state employer may use a bank that doesn't have branches in your city, in your county, or even in your state.

For those who live payday-to-payday, week-to-week, putting $25 aside may be hard. On top of that, many credit unions will not open an account if you have a history of bounced checks, just like mainstream banks won't.

Said someone who is obviously rich enough not to run into the trouble the poor run into. Protip: bounce once check too many and you're done with checking accounts, possibly for life. I'm serious. You have to get there to believe it, maybe, in your case.

Alas, most people cashing bad checks and not paying their bills do that because they simply can't afford otherwise. Now I'm not saying that there's a large group of dumbfucks out there who have the means to be current on everything but chose to do otherwise due to laziness and/or stupidity. This certainly happens and you can read a lot about it. Heck, my neighbor is a nurse and he has bad credit in spite of earning ~$80k/year. He simply can't get himself to pay the bills! He'll let the bills accumulate for a couple of months, then when he feels like it he'll pay them. He also has a whole lot of useless crap that he buys. So yes, I do realize there's many people like that. But for most, it's simply that their minimum wage doesn't pay enough, and no matter what they'd "cut", they can't, short of living on the street.

You bounce too many checks and no bank will open a checking account for you. The companies that have databases of those happenings are not subject to the same regulation as the credit reporting agencies, so you're essentially without recourse unless you can afford a lawyer to bring in a civil suit.

Not really. Not on state taxes. There's simply no mechanism to indicate to your employer that you want less deducted from state taxes. Many employers use a third party processor for payroll, so if that processor offers no mechanism, then there's nothing you can do.

Sometimes you need a bootstrap. People in low-wage jobs often run on razor thin budgets. Imagine you have no money and have to get a job and still come to the job dressed and clean. That's a real issue, not something made up.