<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Uncle Moneybags:
Angus,
Ouch! I remember when I made $23,000 per year and I only paid like 7%-8%. Are you sure that's right?
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I get almost exactly $2000/month. After they deduct tax on my monthly paycheck I'm left with like 1650 or something. So roughly 350/2000 is like 17.5% Of course I live in Taxachusetts and I'm also not an American citizen so maybe I don't qualify for some tax credits or breaks that a normal American would . . .
Angus,
Ouch! I remember when I made $23,000 per year and I only paid like 7%-8%. Are you sure that's right?
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I get almost exactly $2000/month. After they deduct tax on my monthly paycheck I'm left with like 1650 or something. So roughly 350/2000 is like 17.5% Of course I live in Taxachusetts and I'm also not an American citizen so maybe I don't qualify for some tax credits or breaks that a normal American would . . .
I'm still waiting for a source on this mysterious 50K tax claim.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4448630/
Kerry: Kerry has called for repeal of the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $200,000 a year, in order to pay for broad health care reform. However, he would retain the tax cuts for the middle class.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4448630/
Kerry: Kerry has called for repeal of the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $200,000 a year, in order to pay for broad health care reform. However, he would retain the tax cuts for the middle class.
Angus,
I think you are confusing some things.
I believe the general discussion here is on Federal Income Tax. The amount you are having withheld from your paycheck is not just Federal Income Tax. The amount withheld is a total of 5 things - Federal Tax, State Income Tax (because you are in a state that has state income tax), Social Security, Medicare and Disability.
Based on the figure of $2,000 Gross Income per month, the Federal Income Tax being withheld from your paycheck is either $235 (if you claim "0") or $196 (if you claim "1") assuming you are single.
Assuming you claim "0", then the amount of Federal Income Tax you are paying represents 11.75% of your gross pay (235/2000).
The remaining $100 or so withheld is Mass. State Tax, Social Security, Medicare and Disability.
When people discuss "taxes" in a political duscussion, they are generally only speaking of the Federal rate.
Hope that clears some things up for you. By the way, the full understanding of these numbers is what turns many young, idealistic and uniformed Democrats into Republicans who demand lower taxes.
I think you are confusing some things.
I believe the general discussion here is on Federal Income Tax. The amount you are having withheld from your paycheck is not just Federal Income Tax. The amount withheld is a total of 5 things - Federal Tax, State Income Tax (because you are in a state that has state income tax), Social Security, Medicare and Disability.
Based on the figure of $2,000 Gross Income per month, the Federal Income Tax being withheld from your paycheck is either $235 (if you claim "0") or $196 (if you claim "1") assuming you are single.
Assuming you claim "0", then the amount of Federal Income Tax you are paying represents 11.75% of your gross pay (235/2000).
The remaining $100 or so withheld is Mass. State Tax, Social Security, Medicare and Disability.
When people discuss "taxes" in a political duscussion, they are generally only speaking of the Federal rate.
Hope that clears some things up for you. By the way, the full understanding of these numbers is what turns many young, idealistic and uniformed Democrats into Republicans who demand lower taxes.
"unny, i heard kerry on the radio saying that he will give a tax cut to 98% of americans. "
Please remember that in political jargon, a "tax cut" also means that they'll decrease the planned tax increase; instead of increasing taxes by 10%, they'kll only increase them by 9.8%, so you get a tax cut.
Please remember that in political jargon, a "tax cut" also means that they'll decrease the planned tax increase; instead of increasing taxes by 10%, they'kll only increase them by 9.8%, so you get a tax cut.
Based on what Floyd is saying you may pay around 2400 a year in fed income tax and get most of that back if not all or more back in refund...so your not paying anything.
Its when you have been taxed around 10 K then find out you OWE another 2 or 3 K....Thats when your paying taxes....talk about a glass ceiling.
Democrats have always made this disengenuous argument to the ignorant,and want it to continue...ignorance.
[This message was edited by Patriot on April 09, 2004 at 03:08 PM.]
Its when you have been taxed around 10 K then find out you OWE another 2 or 3 K....Thats when your paying taxes....talk about a glass ceiling.
Democrats have always made this disengenuous argument to the ignorant,and want it to continue...ignorance.
[This message was edited by Patriot on April 09, 2004 at 03:08 PM.]
I make less than 50K. yes, I have taxes withheld from my checks. I also owe money this year, both to federal and state.
Again - I PAY TAXES
would you like me to post the federal tax brackets here to clear up this point?
Anyway, the higher your income, the higher the percentage of it you pay to the gov... but the less money you make, the more these taxes hurt.
Again - CPA here and almost everyone pays taxes
Again - I PAY TAXES
would you like me to post the federal tax brackets here to clear up this point?
Anyway, the higher your income, the higher the percentage of it you pay to the gov... but the less money you make, the more these taxes hurt.
Again - CPA here and almost everyone pays taxes
This article explains the marginal rates:
So what's you're tax bracket?
Not every dollar of your income is taxed at the same rate.
That's because portions of your income fall into different brackets, which are assigned tax rates and increase on a graduated scale. Generally speaking, the first dollar you make will be taxed at a lower rate than the last dollar you make.
Remember, your taxable income is not the salary your boss told you you'd make when you got your job, but the amount of income left over after you've made your pre-tax contributions to your 401(k) and after you've subtracted the tax breaks to which you're entitled. (We'll talk about those breaks later, in "1040 Mysteries Revealed.")
The income ranges that define tax brackets are adjusted for inflation, change yearly and differ depending on your filing status (e.g., single, married filing jointly). Tax rates can change as well. In fact, under the Tax Relief Acts of 2001 and 2003, they have (see table). What's more, a new 10 percent tax bracket was added, reducing the amount of income that used to fall in the 15 percent bracket.
Here's an example of how income is taxed: Say you are single and report $80,000 in taxable income in 2003. In accordance with the income ranges defining federal tax brackets for single filers in 2003, the first $7,000 of your income is taxed at 10 percent; dollars $7,001 through $28,400 are taxed at 15 percent; dollars $28,401 through $68,800 are taxed at 25 percent; and dollars $68,801 through $143,500 are taxed at 28 percent.
When people ask you what your tax bracket is, they're really asking for your marginal tax rate. That is, the percent at which the highest portion of your income is taxed. In the example above, if you report $80,000 of taxable income in 2003, your marginal tax rate is 28 percent -- the rate at which the last dollar of that $80,000 is taxed. But your effective rate is the overall percentage of your taxable income that was actually paid in income taxes at the end of the day. And that rate may be lower than your marginal tax rate.
You should also be aware of what's known as your combined tax bracket. That's the sum of your federal tax bracket and your state tax bracket, minus the amount of state taxes you can deduct from your federal return. (Example: If your top federal rate is 28 percent and your state tax rate is 5 percent, your "effective combined rate" is 33 percent.)
That number will determine how much tax you'll owe on income from your investments. (If your combined bracket is 33 percent, then 33 percent of your investment income will go to the government. Put another way, you'll be able to keep 67 percent of your investment income.)
http://money.cnn.com/pf/101/lessons/18/page2.html
So what's you're tax bracket?
Not every dollar of your income is taxed at the same rate.
That's because portions of your income fall into different brackets, which are assigned tax rates and increase on a graduated scale. Generally speaking, the first dollar you make will be taxed at a lower rate than the last dollar you make.
Remember, your taxable income is not the salary your boss told you you'd make when you got your job, but the amount of income left over after you've made your pre-tax contributions to your 401(k) and after you've subtracted the tax breaks to which you're entitled. (We'll talk about those breaks later, in "1040 Mysteries Revealed.")
The income ranges that define tax brackets are adjusted for inflation, change yearly and differ depending on your filing status (e.g., single, married filing jointly). Tax rates can change as well. In fact, under the Tax Relief Acts of 2001 and 2003, they have (see table). What's more, a new 10 percent tax bracket was added, reducing the amount of income that used to fall in the 15 percent bracket.
Here's an example of how income is taxed: Say you are single and report $80,000 in taxable income in 2003. In accordance with the income ranges defining federal tax brackets for single filers in 2003, the first $7,000 of your income is taxed at 10 percent; dollars $7,001 through $28,400 are taxed at 15 percent; dollars $28,401 through $68,800 are taxed at 25 percent; and dollars $68,801 through $143,500 are taxed at 28 percent.
When people ask you what your tax bracket is, they're really asking for your marginal tax rate. That is, the percent at which the highest portion of your income is taxed. In the example above, if you report $80,000 of taxable income in 2003, your marginal tax rate is 28 percent -- the rate at which the last dollar of that $80,000 is taxed. But your effective rate is the overall percentage of your taxable income that was actually paid in income taxes at the end of the day. And that rate may be lower than your marginal tax rate.
You should also be aware of what's known as your combined tax bracket. That's the sum of your federal tax bracket and your state tax bracket, minus the amount of state taxes you can deduct from your federal return. (Example: If your top federal rate is 28 percent and your state tax rate is 5 percent, your "effective combined rate" is 33 percent.)
That number will determine how much tax you'll owe on income from your investments. (If your combined bracket is 33 percent, then 33 percent of your investment income will go to the government. Put another way, you'll be able to keep 67 percent of your investment income.)
http://money.cnn.com/pf/101/lessons/18/page2.html
Here's a good explanation of the dreaded "FICA"
What's FICA again?
Under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), 12.4 percent of your earned income up to an annual limit must be paid into Social Security, and an additional 2.9 percent must be paid into Medicare.
There are no income limits on Medicare taxes -- so even if your income is well above the cap for Social Security tax, you will still owe Medicare tax on the total.
If you're a wage or salaried employee, you pay only half the FICA bill (6.2 percent for Social Security + 1.45 percent for Medicare), and the tax is automatically withheld.
Your employer must contribute the other half.
For most people that means 7.65 percent of their paycheck is withheld and their company pays another 7.65 percent on their behalf.
If you're self-employed, however, you're expected to cough up both the employee and the employer share of FICA. You are, however, permitted to deduct half of this self-employment tax as a business expense.
http://money.cnn.com/pf/101/lessons/18/page4.html
What's FICA again?
Under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), 12.4 percent of your earned income up to an annual limit must be paid into Social Security, and an additional 2.9 percent must be paid into Medicare.
There are no income limits on Medicare taxes -- so even if your income is well above the cap for Social Security tax, you will still owe Medicare tax on the total.
If you're a wage or salaried employee, you pay only half the FICA bill (6.2 percent for Social Security + 1.45 percent for Medicare), and the tax is automatically withheld.
Your employer must contribute the other half.
For most people that means 7.65 percent of their paycheck is withheld and their company pays another 7.65 percent on their behalf.
If you're self-employed, however, you're expected to cough up both the employee and the employer share of FICA. You are, however, permitted to deduct half of this self-employment tax as a business expense.
http://money.cnn.com/pf/101/lessons/18/page4.html
