Originally Posted By fkurucz <<Car Tax is an interesting one - we pay $480 a year per car tax. And there is 80% tax levied on fuel - so we pay about $2.16 a liter for diesel.>> Car taxes vary widely in the US, depending on which state you live in. Some states just charge a low flat fee (say $40). In other states, like California, it varies by the car's value and can be quite high. I recall a friend telling me that he paid over $1000 a year on his brand new pick up truck. We pay about $250 on each of our cars (both about 2 years old). Gas (petrol) and diesel are around $3 a US gallon (3.785 l) in Colorado, so that would be about $0.75 a litre. Now if we could only get paid in Euros or Pounds Heck, even the Canadian Loonie is looking better than the greenback these days.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <Then Factor in House Tax - $240 per month on a $250,000 home< You're paying 1.3% tax on your home. In my area we pay $1300/month on a $600K home - almost 3%.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <The Feds also provide a child credit, about $1000 per child under 17. This is a credit, not a deduction. You also get a deduction ($2500?) for each dependent, including yourself and spouse. < the child credit is dependent upon family income - It is graduated and disappears completely after about $100K of family income... I have never seen a nickel for that benefit.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<In my area we pay $1300/month on a $600K home - almost 3%.>> That can vary widely depending on state and location. We only pay about .85% in property taxes. The majority of our K-12 school funding in Minnesota comes from the state, not from local property tax. Of course we have one of the highest state incomes taxes in the nation, so they get you one way or the other.
Originally Posted By Mr X **I have never seen a nickel for that benefit.** And you shouldn't. You make a lot more money than the average family.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 not complaining - but does that mean my kids are cheaper to raise ? funny how no one complans when I pay outrageous property taxes - that fund the public schools, but id I was going to get $1000 credit for my kids - ho boy - I only mentioned it because at $100K COMBINED income - which is where I believe the child tax credit shuts off - that's $50K per person working - not exactly outrageous - and considering all else gets shut off too - like ANY assistance with college. I admit - for people in the 35% tax bracket there likely are few complaints - for two workers who make $50K each - different story IMHO ( and trippy we have a 3.5% state income tax also) - pay the highest gas prices in the country ( due to taxes ) -
Originally Posted By Mr X Nope, kids ain't cheap. lol. Just thinking along the lines of "count those blessings"...or, as some friends of mine say, "if you're paying a lot in taxes, be happy about it".
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<( and trippy we have a 3.5% state income tax also)>> Pikers... Minnesota's is 8%.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <Just thinking along the lines of "count those blessings"...or, as some friends of mine say, "if you're paying a lot in taxes, be happy about it".< rarely complain when I never qualify for a cent to pay for college - or books - get any of the tax perks everyone talks about. My area pays outrageous property taxes - supposedly for our schools ( which is always a good thing) - but the state only returns 52 cents of each $1 of our education portion of the property taxes ( over 75% of total bill) - so fund all other state school systems. but I do understand we have it good - and growing up dirt poor, I understand the other side of it and how quickly things can change.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <<<( and trippy we have a 3.5% state income tax also)>> Pikers... Minnesota's is 8%. < and ours is just ' temporary ' - or so they told us about 25 year ago when it went into effect to help fix the roads ( I guess the toll booths ( also temporary as of 40 years ago ) - weren;t enough for that.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad <<<"if you're paying a lot in taxes, be happy about it".>>> Damn that my friend. I promise you that if you started making around $500K a year, in four or five years you would be singing a different tune.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad OOOOPS!!!! OMG that was supposed to say... DARN THAT my friend, of course implaying the way it was posted but not being so rude as to say it. My apologies Mr X, I got carried away with the typing fast thing. I will ask ADMIN to remove it.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Damn that my friend. I promise you that if you started making around $500K a year, in four or five years you would be singing a different tune.>> I doubt that. I'm not close to 500K, but our family income is more than I ever expected it would be. Every time we've had a significant bump in income we've pissed and moaned about the tax bite. But would I ever turn back the increase to save the taxes? No way in hell. Can you honestly say you would? I doubt it. I will gladly pay whatever taxes I need to pay to have $500K in gross income. Even with the high tax rate it would leave me with at least twice the after-tax income I have now. I think I could deal with that.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip By the way Dad, I do agree that you are getting screwed tax-wise. Most of us are. I would imagine that like our family, most of your family's income is either in wage income or profit from some type of family business. If so you, like the rest of us, are paying unfair taxes. Why is that? Because the TRULY rich... those making more than $10 million per year, rarely pay more than about 17% of their income in Federal taxes. And why is that? For the truly rich the great majority of their income comes from capital gains (can you say "stock options"?) Capital gains are taxed at a MAXIMUM rate of 15%. So... the super rich get richer and the rest of us get poorer. And that is not because of Democratic policy, it is because of Republican policy.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo So true Roadtrip, sooooo true. We have the same situation in the UK. The middle class "moderate wealthy" pay about 45% when their earnings reach about $66,000 which is the same tax rate as everyone else over that bracket - so Richard Branson of Virgin fame, or Sir Paul McCartney pay the same percentage as little old me. Then the percentage of sales tax is the same on any property worth over $500,000 (about the average price of a 4 bedroom 1250 sq ft house in an ok rural area, or a 2 bdrm appartment in a city) so a family home or a luxury mansion owned by the Beckhams is the same sales tax. So the very wealthy do not feel it, but professionals do.
Originally Posted By Mr X **I will ask ADMIN to remove it.** No need, I understand the tax stress sentiment too. We pay too much already. ;p
