Paycheck Taxes & Deductions (1 Viewer)

[Colton]

Just have to vent, folks. Got my monthly paycheck and everytime I review my earnings statement my blood boils.

Deductions/Taxes:

Federal Tax = $259.93
State Tax = $137.00
FICA = $168.85
MQFE = $39.49
---------------------
Total = $605.27

That doesn't even include what I pay for my health care for myself and my wife. You guys feeling the squeeze on your paychecks too?

- Colton

 

[Patrick Sun]

You could just express those amounts in percentages of your paycheck, if you want to maintain a little privacy.

 

[Colton]

No biggie, Patrick. It's not like I'm posting my gross salary to start a pissing contest. Those figures are just taxes that are deducted from my monthly paycheck. Very frustrating to see how much is going to Uncle Sam.

- Colton

 

[ChrisMatson]

I am grateful to pay taxes.
"Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society."
-Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Can we consolidate all threads complaining about taxes? Maybe create a sticky through April 15th?

 

[Bill Slack]

Just be glad you don't live in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, France Austria, Italy, Norway Luxembord, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Canada, Germany, the UK, Greece, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Iceland, New Zealand, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, or Turkey...

All of which pay 15-100% higher taxes than the US.

Yes, they have more social services provided... but only because they have a higher tax rate...

Japan, the US and Korea are all around 25% average tax rate.

Mexico only pays 17%... Sweden has great public infastructure, but with a tax rate of 52%.

 

[John Alvarez]

I'm happy that Florida doesn't have a state tax. We put that load on the visitors from other states....

 

[Mort Corey]

That's just the easy ones Colton. Then you get your property taxes (in some/many states) excise taxes (which are pretty well hidden) sales taxes (there again, varied by location) municipal taxes (in some areas) vehicle license taxes (from exorbitant down to high in California)......and if you're into sin (alcohol, tobacco and firearms) they get ya with some really good whammies.

I figure pretty close to 60% of gross income, when all is said and done, for my wife and me. Oh yeh, almost forgot, throw in double the amount on your FICA withholding that your employer supposedly pays...you're really paying that half too.

Mort

 

[Scott Tucker]

Claim 10 dependants on your w-4. Your check will be larger every month, and you will be able to put of being pissed until next April.

Scott

 

[andrew markworthy]

Hmm ... the services received aren't as great as you might suppose, at least in the UK. Routine visits to a doctor are quick and free. Likewise, emergency treatment (ER and operations and treatments that have to be done straight away, like work on cancers) are free and arguably the equal of US health care. But non-emergency care involves long waiting lists. This is free, but it depends how long you want to wait in agony. Take the example of my mother who needed a hip replacement and was given a simple choice - wait 2 years to have it done for free, but by that time the hip will probably be inoperable and you can spend the rest of your days in a wheelchair (which in fairness would be free); or have it done now privately for a mere £14,000. Dental work is rarely totally free. You'll be expected to pay something even for a routine filling (okay, far less than in the USA) and you have to pay for most cosmetic work.

Oh yes, and if you are chronically sick (e.g. with dementia) then the local council is empowered to take your pension, sell off your house and assets to pay for your care. If you have a spouse, then the council is very considerate - they'll only take half of the house and assets (so of course the spouse has to sell up and live in penury). And when the council has spent all that money, they will usually have the nerve to approach relatives to ask if they would like to pay a contribution towards the care of the patient.

Beyond that, a lot of what we get for free (schools, etc) you get too. Universities used to be relatively free (richer parents had to pay for their kid's board and lodging, but that was it - no tuition fees, etc) but that is now being charged for. And in any case, a lot of stuff like schools et al is actually not paid from taxes but from rates (basically a tax levied on your propery by the local council).

Brit tax rates are 23% (or thereabouts) for basic rate, and then 40% on any income over about £29000 p.a.. You also have to pay National Insurance (basically pays for a state pension - a pitiful amount - and things like health care) which is proportionate to your income. When you add on council tax, road tax (for your car), petrol tax (unbelievably extrotionate in the UK) and indirect tax on goods and services, the average Brit pays about 50% of their income in tax, and to be frank, for not much more than you guys get for free in the USA.

On the positive side, social care tends to be better here. Although there are areas of real deprivation in the UK, they are small potatoes compared with the USA. The trouble is that a lot of Brits resent paying for social welfare projects because of the attitude of people 'sponging off the state' and not bothering to work for themselves. There are undoubtedly individuals who do cheat the system (e.g. claiming reasonably generous welfare checks - as I guess you guys would call them - whilst secretly doing paid work) but they are easily outweighed by genuinely deserving cases.

 

[DaveF]

I like taxes. Taxes paid my dad's salary for 30 years (marines, IRS, and Feds) and taxes essentially pay my salary.

I need a raise, I better write GWB and ask for a tax increase

 

[Jason L.]

Andrew,

You forgot the television tax!

 

[Philip Hamm]

You don't think so? It wouldn't take much to get a really good idea of what it is using FICA tax rates.

My blood doesn't boil at all when I see those numbers.

 

[SteveA]

--My guess of his gross salary: Deleted by poster--

 

[Philip Hamm]

SteveA, it's not nice for you to post that.....

 

[SteveA]

That's my guess, based on information provided by the poster. FICA is a flat rate, so I'm sure it's pretty close. Sorry for posting it, but it was a tempting "math" problem and the raw data was already provided for us.

EDIT: I deleted my guess out of courtesy to Colton.

 

[Philip Hamm]

I couldn't resist the math problem either but I didn't post the number for all to see!

You could at least edit and put a spoiler tag on....

 

[Colton]

You guys are being naughty!

- Colton

 

[andrew markworthy]

I know you meant it as a joke, but it isn't a tax!

The original idea of the licence fee was to free the BBC from government control. Basically, the idea was that the BBC would not be reliant on commercial or government pressure, and the government promised to protect this freedom by making licence collection legally enforcable. It hasn't quite worked that way in practice, but the original aim was, I think, a noble one.

 

[Jeff_CusBlues]

Not a good idea since there is a penalty for being under withheld on your federal tax. I'm not sure what the percentage is where the penalty kicks in, but claiming too many dependants is not a good idea. The IRS can be real bastards!!

 

[SteveA]

You must pay a penalty if your income tax exceeds your withholdings by more than 10% - UNLESS your withholdings for the year exceed the total amount of income tax paid in the prior year.

For example, if your federal tax was $5000 last year, as long as you have at least $5000 withheld this year, you won't have to pay a penalty no matter what your income is.

Don't you just love our tax code?