Jesus, I just got my first paycheck out of school, and taxes ate my shit up

how much (percent of your paycheck) did you actually get?

Filing as a single male, 2 federal and 1 state deduction, they took out 36% of my paycheck

and i'm royally pissed off

6/22/2006 10:51:28 PM

yeah, that's about right

welcome to the real world

6/22/2006 10:58:05 PM

this thread should be titled

$taxes

6/22/2006 10:58:17 PM

"I believe we've just witnessed the birth of a Republican."

6/22/2006 10:59:00 PM

yeah...they take about 1/3 of my paycheck

6/22/2006 11:11:53 PM

but think of all the wonderful things your government does for you.

Some day you'll grow up and realize that it's the government's job to take your money and give it to other people.

For the government it's called compassion. For anybody else it's called theft.

6/23/2006 1:14:40 AM

yeah...they take about 1/3 of my paycheck

6/23/2006 1:16:09 AM

Haha, just wait until tax time rolls around and you find out that you OWE money instead of getting back a refund. That happened to my husband and he was super pissed.

6/23/2006 1:17:06 AM

the middle class get whacked by taxes

6/23/2006 1:35:07 AM

first time ever this past year i owed...$60 for State taxes....i am thinking of moving to a state that does have state income tax, I think Texas doesnt have a state income tax...fuck NC.....

Gonna become a Republican?

[Edited on June 23, 2006 at 1:41 AM. Reason : w]

6/23/2006 1:41:02 AM

http://www.moneychimp.com/features/tax_brackets.htm

6/23/2006 1:47:45 AM

well as W keeps spending as much as he does then don't expect taxes to decrease anytime soon

[Edited on June 23, 2006 at 1:50 AM. Reason : l]

6/23/2006 1:50:12 AM

surprisingly enough i just got into an argument over this with a friend of mine tonight - i don't really hae a problem with defense expenditures, and you'd be surprised how strapped for cash the military is. they must have a huge warehouse of golden hammers and toilet seats somewhere, cuz i guarandamntee you that most soldiers never see that money. the military is really very jewish (outside of SOCOM).

i'm gonna stop before i end up in the soap box realm...

6/23/2006 1:59:43 AM

well if this is your first job, and your first paycheck, and they took out >30%, then consider yourself lucky because either 1) you're making serious $texas anyway because the 33% tax bracket starts at ~$95k, or 2) your employer is seriously overestimating your yearly taxable income (which should be in the 25% or 28% bracket for most new grads) and you'll get a hell of a return next year.

6/23/2006 4:31:02 AM

try to think of it as, the more you're paying on taxes, the more you're making. taxes will be high especially during war times.

6/23/2006 4:42:21 AM

Quote :

"taxes will be high especially during war times"

what? what year do you think this is? We're not in the middle of WWII where the government had some sense and realized we had to pay for the war somehow, and the citizens felt a responsibility to pay for the war through taxes, buy war bonds, and support our efforts.

We're in an era now where we can go to war all over the world, while lowering taxes, supposedly to increase capital spending, stimulating the economy, blah blah blah (none of which directly helps us fund the spiraling war costs, however).

6/23/2006 5:17:11 AM

'Bout oen third. One time payroll screwed up, skipped one pay period, and gave me two checks at the same time next pay period and it was closer to 40%.

6/23/2006 6:32:34 AM

Quote :

"first time ever this past year i owed...$60 for State taxes..."

Be grateful you owed a little money at the end of the year. That means:
1) You were able to have access to all of your money throughout the year so you could invest/earn interest.
2) You didn't owe so much as to incur the "we (the state) could have earned interest on your money" fee that always ends up equaling a percentage much higher than any return they really would have gotten.
3) You didn't get a refund, or even worse... a large refund. Every year the state of NC has, in my opinion, purposely drug their feet on processing any returns that indicate they owe money. It took them 90 days from the time they processed my return till the time they cut me a check. Probably to use that money to gain their own interest, because gaining interest for the entirety of all last year wasn't enough. They were considerate enough to give me $0.18 in interest for my trouble - never mind the fact that they would have slapped me with very hefty penalty had I owed them the amount of money that they owed me. It's best to owe a little each year. Keep NC waiting instead of waiting on them.
4) You got a $60 interest free loan from the state.

6/23/2006 7:31:20 AM

wow.

6/23/2006 7:55:54 AM

Quote :

"well if this is your first job, and your first paycheck, and they took out >30%, then consider yourself lucky because either 1) you're making serious $texas anyway because the 33% tax bracket starts at ~$95k, or 2) your employer is seriously overestimating your yearly taxable income (which should be in the 25% or 28% bracket for most new grads) and you'll get a hell of a return next year."

ok, well I meant overall, fed + state + SStax (BS) + medicare = 36%

Yeah, I didn't mean just Federal. Looking at the chart, i'm in the third tax bracket, and based on the calculator, I should be paying at least $360 in fed taxes every two weeks, but I'm actually paying $414. So i'm not sure if that has to do with the way I filed (1 on fed, 1 on state).

But yeah, that's why I'm now a republican. I actually used to not really care about politics that much, but I believe I'm going to take an interest now that most of my money is going to it.

6/23/2006 7:58:45 AM

I would be surprised if you ever paid more in taxes than you received from the gov't.

6/23/2006 8:42:30 AM

yes.... well.
that's refreshing to hear that your desire for money was the turning point in finally making a political decision for yourself. I'm glad you weren't swayed by propoganda about social responsibilities, civil rights, environmental protection, healthcare and education, or any gay ideas like that in the first 23 years of your life.

6/23/2006 8:45:40 AM

after 401k and employee stock purchase plan i get 65%

6/23/2006 8:55:29 AM

Quote :

"yeah, that's about right welcome to the real world "

Breaking into that higher tax bracket is fun isn't it...

6/23/2006 10:32:41 AM

For 2004 I had to pay NC taxes. My job: student. I made somewhere between 10,000-12,000 thanks to my TA job. I had zero exemptions and I fucking owed the state money. How fucked up is that. I can live below the standard poverty level in terms of income and have to pay money. At least I got money back from the feds.

6/23/2006 10:43:15 AM

12k is not below the poverty line for a single student, who probably still has some support from parents.

6/23/2006 11:51:41 AM

^ that's gotta be close if parents aren't paying. 12k wouldn't begin to pay for school, rent and bills throughout the year. It'd pay for school, and maybe rent and bills if you're really skimping on stuff, for the 9 months you're in school. You'd have to make overall closer to 18k a year if you comfortably, but without extra luxuries and unnecessary items, want:
An apt where you pay ~$300/mo
cable + internet
phone
cell phone
utilities
food, clothing
car

[Edited on June 23, 2006 at 11:59 AM. Reason : ]

6/23/2006 11:58:05 AM

Nobody likes paying taxes. They take about 40% of my check. But the reality is most of us received more from the gov't than we've payed in taxes. Consider the following that we've received:

13 years of public education
4+ years of college + Financial Aid
Roads
Police/Fire/EMS
National Security
FEMA
Museums/Parks/Landmarks
Insurance (i.e. safety net)
Social Security and Medicare

Nothing to bitch about really.

[Edited on June 23, 2006 at 12:12 PM. Reason : ?]

6/23/2006 12:04:06 PM

Quote :

"^ that's gotta be close if parents aren't paying. 12k wouldn't begin to pay for school, rent and bills throughout the year. It'd pay for school, and maybe rent and bills if you're really skimping on stuff, for the 9 months you're in school. You'd have to make overall closer to 18k a year if you comfortably, but without extra luxuries and unnecessary items, want: An apt where you pay ~$300/mo cable + internet phone cell phone utilities food, clothing car"

He didn't mention that he gets his tuition and medical insurance paid for in addition to that 12k. Plus, chances are he has a car+insurance paid for (or at least subsidized) by parents. You can't use poverty, cell phone, and cable tv in the same arguement.

The reason you owed taxes despite having a low income is that your parents are getting your tax credit.

[Edited on June 23, 2006 at 12:10 PM. Reason : ?]

6/23/2006 12:07:56 PM

That's why I said closer to 18k would cover the list - not poverty.

I don't know his situation, but I do know that at one point in school I was getting close to 12k in financial aid since my parents couldn't pay for a single thing, and I worked parttime for around 5-6k/year and still had no car since I couldn't pay for insurance, and no health insurance. So that's why I was discussing it in the first place - I've been in that situation (although not necessarily his situation if he's getting some stuff covered from other sources).

I'm definitely not looking forward to getting such a high % of taxes taken out of my paycheck, but hopefully I'll have free benefits, since my husband's require payment out of his paycheck of around $200/month for both of us to have medical insurance.

I have to agree with your list of stuff we get back from the government. I don't mind contributing to the financial needs of the country but it still sucks to have a high percentage taken out, especially if part of it is for SS, which many predict will be bankrupt or nearly so, by the time we're retired. However, it would really suck if you had to depend on SS when you retire.

6/23/2006 12:22:35 PM

Oh, and doesn't no exemptions mean you don't get much taken out of your paycheck? I get hardly any taxes taken from my parttime NCSU job, so if my husband hadn't had a lot taken out of his we probably would have had to pay taxes last season.

6/23/2006 12:24:09 PM

After all the different taxes, I get to take home about half of my pay.

6/23/2006 12:32:04 PM

http://www.fairtax.org

6/23/2006 12:35:02 PM

Not to sound harsh, but ^ seems kind of dumb, unrealistic.

[Edited on June 23, 2006 at 12:36 PM. Reason : ]

6/23/2006 12:36:17 PM

^unrealistic, maybe; the best plan, definately.

6/23/2006 12:38:26 PM