PatsFanInVa

Hey poopoo heads. It's the last weekend before tax day, so a lot of youze have been looking at your W-2s lately.

With all the crying, whining, and gnashing of teeth over taxes lately, why don't we all talk about roughly how much of our check got withheld for federal taxes?

Mine's about 17%.

"Wahhhhh you didn't count social security, medicare, and state tax, wahhhhhh," you say?

All that adds up to another 13% or so for me. Wahhhhhhh that's 30% of my check I can't use on stuff I need (by the way, I do need stuff, and I'm not rich.)

Now, when you add in charity giving and retirement planning, my take-home pay is around 58% on the dollar -- and I'm not even close to maxing that out. Wahhhhhhhh I see less than 60 cents of every dollar I make!!! That must be because of my taxes... well, and my own voluntary TSP income deferment and DB pension contribution and automatic insurance deductions and charitable giving...

How about you guys? What's the federal tax load for you? What's the total tax load for you?

With all the crying I hear about federal taxes here, and all the complaining about the notion that the top earners might pay an extra percentage or two SOME TIME down the line, I'm curious to know how many of us stand any chance of paying that.

By the way: if we're serious about fixing our deficits, my numbers have to increase. I've accepted that. But I'd love to hear how many of us are tyrannically oppressed by the Feds, and what constitutes tyranny hereabouts. Percentages should be fine.

PFnV

Patsfanin Philly

If it were only Federal taxes, I might agree but you failed to include Medicare and Social Security taxes that are matched by your employer (7.65% by each total). If you are lucky enough to be self-employed, you pay both ends (15.3%). Tack on state taxes that can range up to 10% in high tax states like NY or NJ and local taxes which can be another 1% or more with 4% in Philadelphia proper. Some jurisdictions like mine add an occupational tax, a tax based on your job title that can be another $400 per year.
In my area they added an emergency Services fee of $52 per year. It sounds good and who could object, except the emergency services haven't seen a dime of the revenue. Throw in local property taxes and it becomes death by a thousand cuts. Add up all the taxes in aggregate sometime(and if you're a business owner, throw in the workman's comp which is a tax, unemployment and all the little nuisance fees like sign inspection fee, business privilege taxes of 0.5% of revenue ..etc) and it soon becomes an onerous burden with a larger share of the tax base being borne by a smaller percentage of the population with upwards of 50% of the population paying no Federal tax according to recent news reports.
One year I added it all up in total and as a percent of my income and it was staggering and sickening. We all owe our fair share, the question becomes what is a 'fair' fair share?
I'm not whining, just trying to give a different perspective.

wistahpatsfan

I have no moral objection to paying taxes when that's all we're talking about. I understand the need for community assistance and collaborative efforts like infrastructure and resource management, etc. My big problem is what government does with my taxes. The total percentage doesn't matter to me. It's the percentage of the total that the government shovels to corporate subsidies and their various methods of murdering people, imprisoning my fellow citizens at the highest rate in the developed world and destroying the environment.

I'd gladly pay 50% if I knew that our government was using that money to help those paying into it instead of redistributing the wealth upward toward those that already have plenty. And I don't fault those who have plenty and have worked hard or creatively for it. Good for us, right? But stop ripping me off and making laws that enable the ultra rich and their lawyers to siphon the wealth of this country into their off-shore accounts and tax shelters by putting themselves in control via campaing financing and lobbying without restraint. The First Ammendment wasn't made for the protection of corporate interests. Corporations are not people.

This is why I think our tax system is inherently unfair. I favor a consumption tax with an exemption limit up to a certain percentage (to be determined by anyone but me) and excluding food, clothing, medicine and a home-the basics for survival. It will help us re-assess our habits and help the environment. The government will have plenty to operate on. We can close our foreign bases and end the corporate wars.

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patsfan13

Now on top of this the administration is putting forward the idea of passing a VAT tax to 'lower the deficit' a la Europe, then on top of that they are looking to pass cap and trade with all it's taxes.

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"Some guys play in all-star games, some guys don't. I don't know who picks all those all-star teams. In all honesty, I don't know who picks the combine, for that matter," Belichick said. "How does (Miami-Ohio offensive lineman Brandon) Brooks not get invited to the combine? How did Vollmer not get invited to the combine? I don't know. We can't really worry about that. We just have to try to evaluate them the best we can."

Harry Boy

Your Tax Money:
To Bad Bush Is Gone They Would Love To Blame Him.........

The only “stimulus” this moonbat administration cares about is Big Government. Billions are sucked out of what remains of the economy’s productive sector to pay ever-more-outrageous salaries and benefits to politically correct layabouts who spend all day e-mailing one other and sharpening pencils, assuming they show up at all - a large assumption indeed
Dim bulbs at IRS let us eat cake - BostonHerald.com

What About "The Poor People" the loons favorite slobbering act.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/reg...ome&position=0

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Harry Boy (Genius)

In The Absence Of Law And Order Society Will Surely Destroy Itself

PatriotsReign

All I know is that's it nothing short of RIDICULOUS to have anything close to 50% of what we earn taken away from us. ESPECIALLY if you are just middle-class.

Never mind 401k deductions...add it ALL up. thinks sales taxes, state taxes, property taxes, excecise taxes, service taxes on your phone, internet and cable television....if it was possible to add it all up...it is absolutely unacceptable.

How can ANY middle-class American think or say it's ok for the gov't to take half of what YOU earn. I'd really love to know.

And NOW our phuggn' gov't wantes to INCREASE IT!!

I say, organize, protest, call, email and knock on the doors of your local politicians and tell them "Hell, no!"

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"No one walking this earth knows what is truly righteous"

patsfan13

We are they are called TEA Parties, the TEA stands for Taxes Enough Already.

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"Some guys play in all-star games, some guys don't. I don't know who picks all those all-star teams. In all honesty, I don't know who picks the combine, for that matter," Belichick said. "How does (Miami-Ohio offensive lineman Brandon) Brooks not get invited to the combine? How did Vollmer not get invited to the combine? I don't know. We can't really worry about that. We just have to try to evaluate them the best we can."

PatriotsReign

Maybe I'll join so when people call me a racist, I can smile widely and flip them the bird!

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"No one walking this earth knows what is truly righteous"

Harry Boy

The Tea Party's are starting to do just that, but always remember anything at all you do to show your disaproval of the Goverment under this adimistratiom they will eventually find a way to accuse you of "Racism"

THE RACE THING IS THEIR FAVORITE WEAPON

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Harry Boy (Genius)

In The Absence Of Law And Order Society Will Surely Destroy Itself

wistahpatsfan

Join what? Who do you call? Is there a form? Some group you donate to? What is it besides a Glenn Beck marketing tool?

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