I hate Taxes....

[RustEoldtrux]

You can always tell a Texan, but you can't tell him much.

 

[Greg]

@Greg you might need a better tax person, but you are in the worst situation for taxes being a dink in the prime of your income earning years.

I do our taxes, we used to get a decent refund each year but since the tax law 'improvements' in 2017, that all changed.

And yeah, yeah... if you're getting a refund you gave the government an interest free loan. 🙄

Dual income no kids kills us, the change with mortgage interest a few years ago and selling the rental didn't help anything. I'm withholding a pretty decent additional amount each month and have to work hard to get anything back.

I do need to be more meticulous keeping track of business expenses, that's for sure.

 

[Houndoc]

It really makes me miss being self employed. I always had to pay roughly the same amount come April but I wasn’t paying anything in all year long. My wife still claimed zero so she was covering some for both of us, But big difference in the end numbers of what Uncle Sam stole from us

I am surprised you found being self employed easier. The hardest part of being a business owner is that what is calculated as profit (and therefore taxable income) and what is actually taken home from the business are not the same.

 

[ChestonScout]

I am surprised you found being self employed easier. The hardest part of being a business owner is that what is calculated as profit (and therefore taxable income) and what is actually taken home from the business are not the same.

Super easy when none of it was profit. 🤣


It was pretty small potatoes. I was a finish carpenter. No employees. The builders I worked for provided all the materials. So I just had to keep track of tools and miles basically

 

[Gravy]

One thought for the other small business owners here.

"Distribution not income"

 

[Cody]

One thought for the other small business owners here.

"Distribution not income"

Yes, this. Much lower tax rate.

Also, whatever portion isn't paid out as wages falls to you on your k1 as income even if you didn't see it. However, that falls onto your balance sheet as retained earnings, and since they have been taxed you can access that money without it being taxed as income.

Being single and healthy is the most expensive way to live ha ha.

 

[spaggyroe]

We are in a similar boat @Greg. Dual income, no kids, making ok $.
We only have the standard deduction.
Taxes are BRUTAL. Our only saving grace is that we defer income into retirement accounts until it hurts.

I go into full Ron Swanson mode this time of year, mainly because I don't feel like I get much in return for the $$$$ the government steals that I give to the .gov.

Taxes are (by far) my largest "expense".

It's pretty frustrating to see that much of my life's energy (in the form of cash) being pissed away at every level of the government.

#taxationistheft

 

[Herzog]

We are in a similar boat @Greg. Dual income, no kids, making ok $.
We only have the standard deduction.
Taxes are BRUTAL. Our only saving grace is that we defer income into retirement accounts until it hurts.

I go into full Ron Swanson mode this time of year, mainly because I don't feel like I get much in return for the $$$$ the government steals that I give to the .gov.

Taxes are (by far) my largest "expense".

It's pretty frustrating to see that much of my life's energy (in the form of cash) being pissed away at every level of the government.

#taxationistheft

Thanks for giving congress a raise this year! They work very hard on deciding which stock to buy just before they legislate.

 

[jackjoh]

I do our taxes, we used to get a decent refund each year but since the tax law 'improvements' in 2017, that all changed.

And yeah, yeah... if you're getting a refund you gave the government a loan. 🙄

Dual income no kids kills us, the change with mortgage interest a few years ago and selling the rental didn't help anything. I'm withholding a pretty decent additional amount each month and have to work hard to get anything back.

I do need to be more meticulous keeping track of business expenses, that's for sure.

This was interesting to me because my taxes went to zero in 2019. Our income is from Social Security, Northrop retirement, 3 rentals, and a retirement account that is tax-exempt but you have to take a minimum distribution each year. I have paid zero state and federal taxes since 2019 and we are seeing about a 10% return on our rental investment.

 

[Kiel]

Yeah single filing equals nothing. Still had to pay, what a joke

 

[skippy]

You guys actually do your taxes?

 

[glockman]

You guys actually do your taxes?

Taxes are one of the few things I can do, but gladly pay someone else to do better. I'd rather pay an accountant $500 than pay the government an extra $1!

 

[N-Smooth]

Taxes are one of the few things I can do, but gladly pay someone else to do better. I'd rather pay an accountant $500 than pay the government an extra $1!

Well shoot… I’ve been trying to justify having a tax accountant for years (but still doing it myself) and you just solidified that deal. Win!

 

[Cody]

Mine are pretty complicated, and I think I pay like $375 for my personal's. We have a couple "family" companies setup to push money around to "pay" our kids the maximum untaxable income (which reduces our taxable income). Between the two personal (joint) returns for me and my partner, and 5 businesses, we pay about $4k per year. $3k of that is just the brewery and brewshop taxes though.

 

[YROC FAB.]

Taxation is theft.

 

[Cody]

Taxation is theft.

I mean, I read Aristotle too, I get where this is coming from. I hate taxes too. I guess the question is: how else do you propose public works projects and initiatives be funded? How do you pay for public infrastructure? Roads, parks, schools, police/fire/defense? Social security? Has there been any examples of different systems in history that have worked better? Honest question.

A fee based system could work. Pay for use sort of thing, which honestly seems fair in a vacuum. But I have a suspicion the family down the road with 6 kids doesn't have the money to pay for their 6 kids to go to school... Pay for the higher fee/toll for shuttling them around or using an unsubsidized public transit system etc. Even with the savings from a non tax scenario. I know it always burned when I was single that I had to pay 50x more for health insurance and 2x as much in taxes because I was single and healthy.

 

[Greg]

 

[glockman]

I mean, I read Aristotle too, I get where this is coming from. I hate taxes too. I guess the question is: how else do you propose public works projects and initiatives be funded? How do you pay for public infrastructure? Roads, parks, schools, police/fire/defense? Social security? Has there been any examples of different systems in history that have worked better? Honest question.

A fee based system could work. Pay for use sort of thing, which honestly seems fair in a vacuum. But I have a suspicion the family down the road with 6 kids doesn't have the money to pay for their 6 kids to go to school... Pay for the higher fee/toll for shuttling them around or using an unsubsidized public transit system etc. Even with the savings from a non tax scenario. I know it always burned when I was single that I had to pay 50x more for health insurance and 2x as much in taxes because I was single and healthy.

I have no problem paying for all the things you listed. What I have a problem with is that the government, both state and more so federal waste at least 50% of the money. I have worked for several government agencies and they all reward mediocrity and squash innovation or motivation. The entire system is setup to funnel public money to lobbyists.

The budget for every government agency rises an order of magnitude faster than inflation and they deliver the same or worse results/
It's like paying 10x as much as you charge for fantastic beer and getting a bud light. Actually, it's like being forced to pay $50 for a Bewildered beer and getting warm water.

 

[Cody]

I have no problem paying for all the things you listed. What I have a problem with is that the government, both state and more so federal waste at least 50% of the money. I have worked for several government agencies and they all reward mediocrity and squash innovation or motivation. The entire system is setup to funnel public money to lobbyists.

The budget for every government agency rises an order of magnitude faster than inflation and they deliver the same or worse results/
It's like paying 10x as much as you charge for fantastic beer and getting a bud light. Actually, it's like being forced to pay $50 for a Bewildered beer and getting warm water.

I agree with you here. Sounds like Union labor too

 

[Herzog]

I mean, I read Aristotle too, I get where this is coming from. I hate taxes too. I guess the question is: how else do you propose public works projects and initiatives be funded? How do you pay for public infrastructure? Roads, parks, schools, police/fire/defense? Social security? Has there been any examples of different systems in history that have worked better? Honest question.

It's cute that you think the taxes they take out actually pay for that stuff. Our money just pays the interest on the loans for many of those programs.

Also - all of the things you actually use are taxed differently than income. Roads: gas tax; parks, schools, p/f/d: property tax. Those make sense. None of our income tax goes to any of that.