TAXES...what do ya'll pay?

joe shmoe

New Member
i'm in NY so between city, state and fed...claming 0 dependants across the board, i pay about 33% in taxes (give or take).

i'm asking because i want to know what ya'll are paying percentage wise, and where you live. i want to get the hell out of the city and into a state that allows me to keep more of my money. if you have some dependants, maybe you can find out what a single guy with no dependants pays?

besides, lets see who gets it in the ass the hardest...tax wise.

have a nice day
 
joe shmoe said:
i'm in NY so between city, state and fed...claming 0 dependants across the board, i pay about 33% in taxes (give or take).

i'm asking because i want to know what ya'll are paying percentage wise, and where you live. i want to get the hell out of the city and into a state that allows me to keep more of my money. if you have some dependants, maybe you can find out what a single guy with no dependants pays?

besides, lets see who gets it in the ass the hardest...tax wise.

have a nice day
hey bro, pack your shit and move to florida, no state taxes.
 
28% fed, 8% state, and another 2% in misc fees. If we are counting fica and medicare, add another 7.65%.

BTW - Your tax rate is independent of what you claim on your W2. If, for example, you claim 5 dependents on your W2 at the beginning of the year, your paycheck will be substantially higher but you will be responsible for the tax on your true filing status on April 15th and, if you failed to pay in enough tax, say for example you owed the fed a few thousand, it is likely that you would also be forced to pay penalties. So, though you claim 0 and have calculated your tax contributions off of your check stub, that does not necessarily reflect your actual tax bracket.

Also, your effective tax rate is what really counts. Tax rates on capital gains are different than tax on earnings and can thus dilute the effect of earnings taxation - ie, you pay less as a percentage. Also, tax-exempt earnings reduce your effective tax rate.
 
I pay about 20% for fed, state and local taxes, not including property taxes, being a single father and owning a home helps with the tax man, but I did have pay $9000 in daycare so I could go to work last year.
 
0% for me. Deductions, allowances, and such for self employed people is quite nice. Gotta love those mileage deductions!
 
You still get tapped for the full 15.3% of fica and medicare plus a 5% self-employment tax....right? I could have sworn that self-employed had to pick up both the employer and employee portions of fica/medicare which is 7.65% each side.

Bob Smith said:
0% for me. Deductions, allowances, and such for self employed people is quite nice. Gotta love those mileage deductions!
 
Exactly, HOGG! That nailed me in the ass last year. The only way around it is to operate at a loss if you're single and no dependents. What's the point in being in business if you can't make a profit? Sure, you could estimate your tax hit ahead of time, then just offset it by dumping $$ into a Owner-only 401(k). But, who has that kind of $$ sitting around, especially when working on commission? Maybe I was missing the boat, but I worked my income as low as I possibly could w/every allowable (& some not so allowable) deduction I could come up w/, then took a $5,000 tax raping! At 24 yrs. old, that's fucking discouraging! It's good to be back in school and not dealing w/that anymore!
 
Hogg said:
You still get tapped for the full 15.3% of fica and medicare plus a 5% self-employment tax....right? I could have sworn that self-employed had to pick up both the employer and employee portions of fica/medicare which is 7.65% each side.

Yes, you do get tapped for the employers and employees side of FICA and Medicare, which adds up to 15.3%. Hogg where does the 5% self-employment tax come from?
 
It comes out to about 34% figuring everything and self-employed. No state income tax, but, big property taxes in Texas. Also, state sales tax. I try not to think about the totals I pay in taxes and INSURANCE.
 
Windigo said:
Oh how little we perceive. Lets not forget the taxes you don't see, sales tax, excise tax, tariffs, the list goes on and on.

"sales tax, excise tax, tariffs, the list goes on and on" Excelent point!
 
Rod said:
Hogg where does the 5% self-employment tax come from?

I just looked it up, SE tax is the employer paid half of fica/medicare. I knew it existed because I use to think that 50% was the maximum ass-raping that one would have to endure from the government, then the old man told me that they had an extra tax that could bring you up over 50% => SE tax.

IRS Tax Topic 554: The Self-Employment Tax and IRS Publication 533: Self-Employment Tax.
 
Hogg, thanks for the clarification. You clarified what I thought was the case. That "SE tax is the employer paid half of fica/medicare". What does that come to 7.% something? :)
 
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Rod said:
Hogg, thanks for the clerification. You clerified what I thought was the case. That "SE tax is the employer paid half of fica/medicare". What does that come to 7.% something? :)

7.65% to both sides and 15.3 if self-employed. Now, the fica portion caps out at $ 85 K and change, the medicare never caps out. I believe the FICA limit is something like $ 5,520. I look forward to the 3rd quarter because it drops out of my deductions.

Another tidbit of information:

FICA and medicare precede all other deductions so if you plan on skipping a couple months worth of pay to fill your 401k for the year, bear in mind that your entire gross will not make it in to your 401k: fica and medicare will still be deducted.

Oddly enough, FICA and medicare are also taken on untaxed bonus. The upside potential is, you would tend to cap your FICA out earlier in the year, the downside is, FICA (social security) will be bankrupt by 2042 so its like paying in to a fund that our generation is unlikely to see. Medicare is a real bitch too.....they get their piece on every dollar of earnings regardless. The only way around these taxes is cap gains on stock and real estate investments.
 
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