Tax Day folks! Made out your check yet?

[flagreen]

I have #$%@$#*!!! :bibber:

[Handruin]

I have #$%@$#*!!! :bibber:

Oh yeah, forgot it was today. No big deal, I've had my refund for over a month. ;)

[timwhit]

The one good thing about making a small amount of money is that I got $800 back all but $18 on my federal income tax. Now I can start paying off dumb loans...

[Corvair]

. .
Re: Tax Day folks! Made out your check yet?

I have #$%@$#*!!! :bibber:

Yes, I just dropped my $Xxxx.xx payment in the mail today, though I usually wait until the 15th of April to do it.



. .

[Tannin]

wot's tax?

[Fushigi]

I had to file an extension because I rolled a 401(k) last year & the original holding company messed up the 1099R.

But the rollover doesn't actually affect what I owe so I went ahead & sent in my check this morning.

Next year it'll be fun. Bought a house last month & getting married in August. Two big events from a tax standpoint.

- Fushigi

[Mercutio]

Taxes, bane of the self-employed.

Last year was a really awful year for me, and only 48% of my income wound up being taxed. Most years it's more like 53 or 54%, depending on how sneaky my accountant feels like being and how nice people are about paying me in cash (saints, every one).

Fortunately, I have to pay quarterly taxes on expected earnings (lucky me!), so I'm well aware of my month-to-month status. My personal, April 15th income taxes were mailed in mid-February.

[Pradeep]

For a horrifying minute there I thought you were paying 48% tax on your income!

[timwhit]

I went to the post office to send a box today and it was mobbed. I forgot that it was the 15th. Why do so many people wait until the very last minute?

[CougTek]

For a horrifying minute there I thought you were paying 48% tax on your income!
I've been paying 52% tax on my earnings for quite a while. But then again, Québec is probably the most taxed territory in North America. Here, you have to take RRSP if you don't want to work mostly for the government.

Lucky Americans, only 37% tax maximum. If you would only learn to speak French properly, I would move ;-).

[Cliptin]

For a horrifying minute there I thought you were paying 48% tax on your income!
I've been paying 52% tax on my earnings for quite a while. But then again, Québec is probably the most taxed territory in North America. Here, you have to take RRSP if you don't want to work mostly for the government.

Lucky Americans, only 37% tax maximum. If you would only learn to speak French properly, I would move ;-).


Eh, From what you've said you don't speak french properly. :P

[Mercutio]

For a horrifying minute there I thought you were paying 48% tax on your income!

Er, that's what I meant. 48% - 53% of my income goes out in taxes. I have pay double for some of the taxes that are normally split between employer and employee. I pay both halves. That's a big part of it right there.

I suppose the proper thing to do would be to incorporate and pay myself a salary.

[Pradeep]

OIC. Double taxation doesn't sound too good at all :(

[Mercutio]

Suddenly, it's easier to understand why an hour of my time costs $85 - $150 under good circumstances...

[CougTek]

Eh, From what you've said you don't speak french properly. :P
Quand est-ce que j'ai dit que je ne parlais pas bien français?

It's not because I don't speak French with an European accent that I don't speak it properly.

[GIANT]

. .
For a horrifying minute there I thought you were paying 48% tax on your income!

The last I heard, Denmark had the worst national taxation rate at between 45% ~ 70% (depending on your gross income). I also believe New Zealand was "catching up" with Denmark in a hurry, though. Better hope that this trend doesn't decide to cross the Tasman Sea! :o :o :o

. .

[Pradeep]

"In fact, the marginal top rate in most countries rises substantially when considering the all-in rate of taxes on income, to 61% in France and Turkey, 62% in Denmark and Sweden, 65% in Japan and 66% in Belgium. The highest all-in rates for taxpayers in the United States fall in the 40–48% range, depending on the State where they are resident. That puts the gap with their counterparts in Sweden, which most people would see as the quintessential welfare state, in some cases at as low as nine percentage points. But before European countries gain too much confidence from this, US income earners can point out that taxpayers in Sweden and most other OECD countries in Europe move into top rate brackets at much lower income levels than they do."

http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/77/The_income_taxes_people_really_pay.html

NZ isn't too bad, tho they do have GST.

[Fushigi]

Interesting stuff about the different natioins. In the US, not only do you pay income tax to the federales & to most states, but most states (and some counties, cities, etc.) also have sales taxes and excise taxes on many goods.

For instance, in Illinois I pay, in addition to federal income tax, 3% state income tax and 5 - 8.25% sales tax on purchases depending on where you make the purchase (IL is the base 5%; some counties & municipalities add additional taxes).

There are also real estate taxes; for the house I just bought, property taxes amount to about 2.1% of the purchase price. Property taxes are, however, annual and are not tied to the purchase of a home.

Excise taxes raise the cost of vehicle license plates in Indiana. Based on the value of the car in stead of the (more reasonable) amount of damage the vehicle's weight causes tot he roadway, license plates for expensive cars can cost 10 times that for an inexpensive or older car. Illinois is at least more reasonable in this respect; $78 flat fee for all passenger cars.

For me, these extra taxes add up to about an additional 17% of my annual income. For these countries that have such high income taxes, are there equivalents to sales, property, and excise taxes as well?

- Fushigi

[James]

Here I ended up paying over 4.1% of the purchase price of my house in stamp duty - around $24K. I find that a bit steep.

Otherwise, my top maginal income tax rate is 47% (plus an extra 1.5% for Medicare). http://www.ato.gov.au/content.asp?doc=/content/Individuals/12333.htm

Plus there's a GST of 10% on almost everything you buy, but this replaced a bunch of wholesale taxes on items so it's not like it's a tax on a tax (like state sales taxes in the US often are).