[TheIglu]

Originally posted by cyberxen
I think that we should be able to deduct the sum total of sales tax (especially significant if you buy a car) and gas tax that we have paid throughout the year off of that years taxable income. I hate the way we get double and triple taxed....

Actually, there is. If you paid over a certain percentage on sales tax, it can count as a deduction. Take this from the person who made a mistake and got all taxes back that he paid at first. I claimed that I spent 34700 on sales tax. That works out to be about $680,000 in taxable purchases. Ooops, amendment here we come....

[ChrisNoF4i]

Originally posted by TheIglu
Actually, there is. If you paid over a certain percentage on sales tax, it can count as a deduction. Take this from the person who made a mistake and got all taxes back that he paid at first. I claimed that I spent 34700 on sales tax. That works out to be about $680,000 in taxable purchases. Ooops, amendment here we come....

Do you mind if I share that one with my colleagues?
Actually, the sales tax deduction is no good in MASS (or NH) unless you made a huge purchase during the year. You have the option of deducting state income tax or sales tax & income tax is usually far more.

[oreo_n2]

i think that if everyone did their own taxes and actually saw teh numbers that has to come outta there check...
... there would be a revolution tomorrow!

[TheIglu]

Originally posted by ChrisNoF4i
Do you mind if I share that one with my colleagues?
Actually, the sales tax deduction is no good in MASS (or NH) unless you made a huge purchase during the year. You have the option of deducting state income tax or sales tax & income tax is usually far more.

Feel free!

I paid taxes on $34700. The TurboTax for the web confused me. It asked for the total amount and the tax rate. It said it would calculate how much tax I paid 'for me'. Idiots.....

[dhuze]

Hey I'm getting back $8.00 from the state of rhode island and it only cost me $9.95 to file .

Then I get a bill for $1500 from the good ole U S of A from "an error " they found in my 2002 return with penalties and interest applied. Funny how they can't find these things when you file , but only years later.

Oh and my choices are pay and i cannot dispute it later. Or keep collecting penalties and interest while we try to figure out who is right or wrong

[odduc]

Oh and my choices are pay and i cannot dispute it later. Or keep collecting penalties and interest while we try to figure out who is right or wrong

Yeah, more incompetence and ineptitude at our expense. Again, the only solution for the great bureacracy is to collect more from the good citizens.

I have a hard time understanding why more people are not really angry about this stuff.....

[ChrisNoF4i]

Originally posted by lrrs167
I have a hard time understanding why more people are not really angry about this stuff.....

Death and taxes, brother. Death and taxes.

[odduc]

Death and taxes, brother. Death and taxes.

I hear ya, man. And I have no problem paying taxes. My problem is with the never ending stream of taxes that we must pay. A flat tax or a use tax would be fair for all, but the way we must pay one tax on top of another is out-fucking-rageous!!!!

I will never solve all of the problems that exist within our current tax system through my rantings on a message board. I only hope that, someday, enough people will take it seriously enough to demand reform.

I am writing letters to Senators, Congressmen and the President. I encourage all to do the same.

[ChrisNoF4i]

Are you trying to put me out of a job?!?!
Before you get all crazy... think of the strippers!
If I lose my job, who will contribute to the single-mom fund?

[odduc]

Are you trying to put me out of a job?!?!

How would you lose your job by expressing your discontent with the tax system to your elected representatives???? Do you work for a politician????

[twrayinma]

pretty clearly, he's an accountant.

[Honclfibr]

Originally posted by lrrs167
Remember that slogan, "no taxation without representation"? Aren't we at that point, again?

How are we at that point?

If you have a magic fairy tale solution to cut everyone's taxes and keep everything the same, I'm sure your local representative would love to hear it.

In fact, you'd probably get elected to the senate.

Otherwise, what exactly are you so pissed off about?

[odduc]

Ah yes, honclfker chimes in with the condescending, smart-ass comments.

Obviously, we cannot cut everyones taxes and keep everything the same. We need to cut the many bogus programs that are of no benefit to 99% of the population. We need to eliminate programs that the government has no obligation to provide under the Constitution. Cutting these programs would free up, literally, billions of dollars. And, you know the types of stuff I'm talking about, so leave your smarmy comments in your head.

If you can't figure it out why I and many others like me are angry about our current tax structure, I can't help you if you can't see the obvious.

[Honclfibr]

There are four areas of the budget that together make up nearly 2 trillion dollars: Social Security, Interest on the Debt, Health and Human Services, and National Defense. Each is around 500 billion.

If you're going to make changes I suggest you start with one, or all, of these programs. Everything else is chump change.

But you can't cut social security, because there are people who have paid into it already and they expect to get it back. Sure you can begin the process of privatization but you won't see the benefits (if there are any) of that for at least 30 years so you can forget that as far as paying for your duc bling.

You can cut national defense but it's such a huge program that you're going to give yourself a brain tumor trying to figure out where that 500 billion goes and how to trim the fat. Same with H&H services.

Looks like it's national debt payments then. Oh but you won't like the solution to that one. It's called, RAISE taxes, pay down the debt, get rid of burdensome interest payments to foreign interest, and cut almost 20% of our budget right there.

[odduc]

Hey, howabout this for a solution:We, as taxpayers, demand strict accountability. That, in and of itself, would solve all of the problems without having to change anything. That is my WHOLE point, accountablilty!!!!

[TheIglu]

So who is to be held accountable for our huge budget deficit?

[odduc]

Looks like it's national debt payments then. Oh but you won't like the solution to that one. It's called, RAISE taxes, pay down the debt, get rid of burdensome interest payments to foreign interest, and cut almost 20% of our budget right there.

This is the thinking that really pisses me off. Why, when our government mismanages our tax money, are we told that the only solution is to pay more taxes? Why does that not make you angry, also? Are you so benevolent that you're content to keep throwing more money at the problem and hope that it will just go away? That's another big part of the problem; the more money that is dumped into the government machine, the bigger the problem becomes.

[odduc]

So who is to be held accountable for our huge budget deficit?

We can begin by asking our Senators and Congressmen. I see where you're going here, and I agree that our current President has done his part to add to the problem. But, on the other hand, he understands that working people deserve to have more of the money they earn stay with them and not get arbitrarily dumped into government coffers.

[benVFR]

It is fine and dandy to be mad that the government has screwed up so badly... everyone agrees with you there.

But saying you gotta drop tons of taxes right away is not going to help at all... we realistically need to cut tons of spending and keep the taxes the same or higher to pay off the debt, etc..

[bnstruck2]

Have large corporations pay their fair share like they used to would contribute greatly to lessening the tax burden on ordinary citizens.

http://www.ctj.org/corpfed04pr.pdf

[Honclfibr]

Originally posted by lrrs167
This is the thinking that really pisses me off. Why, when our government mismanages our tax money, are we told that the only solution is to pay more taxes? Why does that not make you angry, also? Are you so benevolent that you're content to keep throwing more money at the problem and hope that it will just go away? That's another big part of the problem; the more money that is dumped into the government machine, the bigger the problem becomes.

I'm not saying throw more money at the government, I'm saying fiscal responsibility. You want lower taxes? Great, I'm all for it, I'd love a bigger paycheck. But I'm saying that money has to come from somewhere, we're running the largest deficit EVER thanks to a combination of tax cuts and increased government spending. That's fairytale accounting right there.

So in short, you want lower taxes? Great, me too. But unless you can find 600 billion dollars of deadweight in our current federal budget, I don't see how you're going to do it. And if you can't do that, I don't see why you're so pissed off that noone else has.

[richw]

Embarrased Republican

I am gonna stay a Republican but I now know that spending like a drunken sailor is what the party in power does.

The 40 years republicans called for less government it is now obvious they really just wanted their turn at the trough.

Now the end of Bankruptcy so no more safety net.

[Stoneman]

Don't feel like sifting through the entire thread, Jon. But you say your wife did your taxes? Is she a CPA? Accountant? Work for H&R Block or anything? If not, I'd suggest having a CPA take a look for you...

You own property, right? Did you file the right forms & schedules?

My wife & I make roughly what you & yours do. My wife works for herself as an accountant (READ=gets fucked on taxes). We managed to get a bit over $500 back. Granted, it's no windfall. But it sure beats paying...

Yeah, we get credit for two children, one in daycare. Other than that, I'd say we're both pretty much in the same position. But owing that kinda loot seems a bit outta line...

[Rye]

People are missing the point with SS funding. It is not a funding issue. Current rates will suffice for SS. The issue is demographics. The retiring baby boomers are the cause. You now have a huge portion of the CURRENT workforce that will be retiring and calling on benefits within a few years. The rate of replacement in the workforce does not equate to the rate of outflow. If it were graphed you would see a major spike in the near future with a steep drop off soon after to a more normalized rate. That suggests mortality rates. But even with this the issue does not solve itself. You can't tax the currrent wokforce for the difference. There will be too big of a shortfall for the current gen. to carry the load. Do yourselves a very big favor and increase your personal retirement spending. IRA's, max'ing 401k contributions, etc. I can tell you that I personally would not want to hear that I would have to work til I'm 70 before retiring after spending 50+ years contributing. I do believe that a highly regulated individually directed retirement account would be the answer. Passively managed, low-risk funds with low mgmt fees and a delayed pre-tax structure with higher annual contribution rates than a 401k. There should also be more reg. over corporate pension plans. If it's a benefit it should be treaqted as such. Ask Enron employees how they felt losing their corp. pension after years of service. But that is a completely separate battle. Point is, you can't afford not to think about your retirements NOW, don't rely on a gov't plan.

[Rye]

Originally posted by Stoneman
Don't feel like sifting through the entire thread, Jon. But you say your wife did your taxes? Is she a CPA? Accountant? Work for H&R Block or anything? If not, I'd suggest having a CPA take a look for you...

You own property, right? Did you file the right forms & schedules?

My wife & I make roughly what you & yours do. My wife works for herself as an accountant (READ=gets fucked on taxes). We managed to get a bit over $500 back. Granted, it's no windfall. But it sure beats paying...

Yeah, we get credit for two children, one in daycare. Other than that, I'd say we're both pretty much in the same position. But owing that kinda loot seems a bit outta line...

Jay's right! "Those who do their own taxes have a fool for a CPA". A $150 fee is more than offset by what you could potentially get back (even if they are just cutting down the amount you owe).