Trump tax a bust

originally posted by: infolurker
a reply to: interupt42

The problem is our elected politicians are paid by lobbyist for a few things but none are greater than forking out taxpayer money and creating favorable tax and regulatory laws for their donors.

If there was a no deductions flat tax, congress would lose 50% of their power and donors.

That is the bottom line.

Yes, that is so true.

a reply to: interupt42

If you are basing that on the return alone then you are misguided. You paid less in taxes throughout the year.

My tax return was the same this year as every year, but even though I made an additional $3k I paid 25% less in taxes than compared to 2017.

So what on Earth are you talking about?

Working great for me first time in ages that I actually got a refund federal and state!!!!!!

originally posted by: interupt42
a reply to: Lumenari

It may because you can't do basic math.

Right I only have an engineering degree and a minor in math. Besides that I use accountants.

But go ahead and spin it all you want.

Personally, I am paying 3,600 less a year. But hey.. maybe I'm the 1% now?

Glad it worked out for you but for me and several other hardcore republican friends it did not. if you are the 1% with those number than I'm the .00001%


Look I have no grand delusions of the left and I'm thankful that Hillary didn't win , but this tax cut was a joke and certainly nothing to celebrate about as some major win.

I just looked at my taxes and my wife's taxes from 2016, 2017, and 2018 .. we both had about a 25% federal tax reduction in 2018.

Don't look at your refund, look at how much tax you actually paid. If it did not drastically decrease maybe look at another accountant.

originally posted by: starlitestarbrite
Working great for me first time in ages that I actually got a refund federal and state!!!!!!

I got no refund this year. I paid way less in taxes though. Refund just means you overpaid taxes throughout the year, I try to keep my refund to zero.

originally posted by: interupt42
Well not surprisingly trump stuck it to me like Obama and every POTUS before him.

Apparently even my other republican buddies have come to that realization.

I have said it before and will say it again , if we don't get a flat tax type system with NO deductions then the majority of middle class Americans will continue to get screwed.

Years ago when the flat tax debate was raging I heard someone from a red state say a flat tax was not fair because their taxes would go up. And then I heard someone from a blue state say a flat tax is unfair because why should they pay $100,000 in taxes when the average person only pays $20,000.

The American people have the government they deserve. Basically a banana republic dropping 30,000 bombs in the ME every year. This country is weak because everyone has so much debt. RIP.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04

originally posted by: interupt42
a reply to: Lumenari

It may because you can't do basic math.

Right I only have an engineering degree and a minor in math. Besides that I use accountants.

But go ahead and spin it all you want.

Personally, I am paying 3,600 less a year. But hey.. maybe I'm the 1% now?

Glad it worked out for you but for me and several other hardcore republican friends it did not. if you are the 1% with those number than I'm the .00001%


Look I have no grand delusions of the left and I'm thankful that Hillary didn't win , but this tax cut was a joke and certainly nothing to celebrate about as some major win.

I just looked at my taxes and my wife's taxes from 2016, 2017, and 2018 .. we both had about a 25% federal tax reduction in 2018.

Don't look at your refund, look at how much tax you actually paid. If it did not drastically decrease maybe look at another accountant.

Your numbers jive with H&R block.

H&R Block data shows taxes down 25 percent due to TCJA impact

Not much to argue with there. Some people just need the forced savings plan of paying too much ahead for the big return and get bitter when the government takes less and they have spent all of the difference.

a reply to: Halfswede

Cool thanks for that link. I had no idea what the actual value would be, I thought it would be 10%. I was very pleasantly surprised when I saw a 25% reduction.

a reply to: interupt42

LOL, 90% of middle income people got a tax cut. How about you post your taxes from last year and this year for us to take a look through. I would bet you got a tax cut. Even if you paid more in taxes (because you made more money).

The NYT had an article specifically for people like you. People who complain they didn't get a tax cut, but really did.

To a large degree, the gap between perception and reality on the tax cuts appears to flow from a sustained — and misleading — effort by liberal opponents of the law to brand it as a broad middle-class tax increase.

In other words, the NYT is admitting they've brainwashed the masses and they are so dumb they ignore the evidence of their actual taxes in favor of the propaganda the media filled their minds with because.... reasons?

That said, I'm all for a flat tax, but that has never been a republican position. It's a libertarian one.

Less refund but more every month that more than makes up for the smaller refund. I would say close to $10k more bring home.

originally posted by: interupt42
a reply to: ketsuko

refund,

hahaha what is that thing you call a refund?

The cut was realized in less withholding from your actual paycheck. We made more each month instead of getting more back after filing.

I compared it to what I paid overall last year to what I'm paying overall this year irregardless of the withholding.
withholdings is just playing with numbers .

without revealing your personal info, could you offer an example of how much you paid last year, as opposed to how much you paid this year? ( and take into account how much less was taken from your regular paycheck)

Not looking for a fight or anything, but without context, your rant seems a bit empty.

a reply to: ketsuko

I have never understood the obsession with a tax return. All that means is the government took too much of my paycheck during the year. It isn't some free amount of money you get for just existing. I would much rather have my full paychecks than the government giving what portion of my wages they feel I deserve back.

Either keep all the money or don't take it out.

a reply to: Halfswede

I really feel sorry for the tax accountants trying to explain the difference. My husband who is a biased democrat was very obstinate. She and I went line for line comparison to show him how we did so much better with the tax cuts.

His company only began the tax change in payroll starting in October that coordinated with the raise he actually received at that time. We just assumed the increase was all the raise. It was but payroll also adjusted the tax withholdings at that time too. We paid and are paying less taxes each payday now.

Tax cuts were a win for us! More in each paycheck and our fed refund was basically the same as last year.

Edit add: bonus too: with his pay increase and bonuses received...we thought we would be boosted into a higher tax bracket..but thankfully by doubling married couple exemption from 6,000 to 12,000 was a tax savior for us too!

originally posted by: CriticalStinker

originally posted by: ketsuko

originally posted by: interupt42
a reply to: drewlander

Flat tax? What did Bezos make last year? 81k, right?

Thats income. You base the flat tax based on earnings not just income.

He earned more than his 81K salary. Granted we need to clarify the earnings part.
He is not paying for his 100M house and other extravagant things with a 81K a year salary.

So you want to tax retirement savings accounts that people have already paid taxes on once already? Why do you want to make grandma eat cat food?

Odd response to a post addressing Bezos.

I think when we discuss induviduals who have more capital than North Korea, it's safe to say we're not trying to double jeopardy citizen taxes.

I'm not saying we get to bend him over, I'm saying maybe he has to pay his cut.

Because if you tax all earnings, then you hit grandma living off her retirement savings just as much as you hit Bezos.

Soaking the rich never actually happens. I'm surprised by now you don't get that. All that slogan is is a way to make you hate people like him and support measures you're told will really "make him pay". It fosters your sense of greed and entitlement that he has what you don't and shouldn't. But in the end, the people those measures really are after are the average Joe retirees in the middle class whose accumulated net savings are far, far more than Bezos would ever have himself but who individually would suffer greatly having to be taxed a second time on that wealth they spent their working years carefully accumulating to see them through their retirement life.

You know ... fixed income and all that, but let's tax the fixed income.

At this point, I'm convinced that if they passed a law where there were no wthholdings and the actual rate was only 10% across the board and we all were responsible to pay that 10% by April 15. People would be whining about the massive tax increase.

a reply to: ketsuko

All that slogan is is a way to make you hate people like him and support measures you're told will really "make him pay". It fosters your sense of greed and entitlement that he has what you don't and shouldn't. But in the end, the people those measures really are after are the average Joe retirees in the middle class whose accumulated net savings are far, far more than Bezos would ever have himself but who individually would suffer greatly having to be taxed a second time on that wealth they spent their working years carefully accumulating to see them through their retirement life.

I didn't say anything hateful about him, I said when discussing individuals worth more than North Korea, that's a bit different than the average Joe.

I also said we shouldn't bend him over (meaning be unfair to him), but he should pay his cut.

To be fair, I don't know anything about his personal taxes, I merely pointed out the contrast between him and the rest of society.... But if we look at how Amazon is run (by his direction) and the way they dodge taxes, it would be fair to question if he does similar practices.

Let's say he's a Johnny do right on personal taxes, the benefits Amazon get from underpaying on taxes builds the companies net worth and stock value which bolster his wealth.

As far as average Joe's and their retirement... I don't ever remember saying we should double tax their nest egg. It's also no taxed as a whole.... You either contribute to it with income that has already been taxed, or pay income tax each year you withdraw from it.

originally posted by: Gothmog

originally posted by: interupt42
a reply to: ketsuko

refund,

hahaha what is that thing you call a refund?

The cut was realized in less withholding from your actual paycheck. We made more each month instead of getting more back after filing.

I compared it to what I paid overall last year to what I'm paying overall this year irregardless of the withholding.
withholdings is just playing with numbers .

Go back to school for a refresher.
Seems as if you missed some valuable math lessons there.

Again with these stupid math comments. The taxes were done by a professional tax account with 20 plus years and previously worked for the IRS .

Sorry but the tax reform just wasn't that impressive. I expect better from a group of republicans who constantly complain about gov't wasteful spending and taxes.

I see no big improvement in either gov't wasteful spending or tax reform,

a reply to: interupt42

Again with these stupid math comments. The taxes were done by a professional tax account with 20 plus years and previously worked for the IRS .

You did hear that not even the "professional tax accountants with 20 plus years and previously worked with the IRS" got their "ducks in a row" with the new tax codes in time , yes ?
You didnt , did you ?
All over the news...

a reply to: network dude

Not looking for a fight or anything, but without context, your rant seems a bit empty.

Its not a rant, its just my anecdotal experience I had this year and so have my friends and I'm not looking to fight either or prove anything to anyone.

IMO I don't see this tax reform as anything worth getting excited about. I'm not saying its worse its just meh.

a reply to: interupt42

For the same reason some folks praised Obamacare as a big win: ignorance bleated forth from a flock of sheep.

Its not about truth, fact, right, wrong...any of that. Its only about which side you are on and how clean you can lick the boots of your side.

There are pros/cons to just about any tax system. But a flat tax seems to be the easiest and would allow for the abolishing of the IRS as we currently know it.