Just heard back from my accountant...

[Nolaphoto1]

Just heard back from my accountant and after this years filing, I understand why the guy in Austin was so upset. I don't agree with his actions, but I understand his frustration.

My wife and I are both college graduates and since we were both born sans silver spoons, we both took advantage of the federal student loan program. Prior to our marriage, we could each claim the interest on our loans. However now that we are married, we can only claim one.

My wife, in addition to her current job, performs legal research on a contractual basis. Thus, she has a separate business. In addition to my regular job, I also started a small business. However, the whole married filing jointly thing cancels out my business expenses because of her self employment taxes. This was my first year and my expenses were greater than my revenue.

Why does the federal government punish us for being married? You are better off if you stay single and die alone. Why does the federal gov't punish you for becoming a functioning part of society and trying to better yourself financially?

Like I said, while I don't agree with his violent method of protest, I do understand his frustration. Perhaps we should encourage our elected officials to get behind the flat tax idea. Something's gotta give.

[Eddie N]

It's the feds' way...punish success, reward failure (or laziness)

[pinecone70]

The government also punishes us when our parents die, they want a chunk of the proceeds from that as well.

[Insulation Tim]

Originally Posted by pinecone70

The government also punishes us when our parents die, they want a chunk of the proceeds from that as well.

Gotta taker care of the users/loosers that make up the Democratic party.

[Trouble 45-70]

Maybe you should ask Barny Frank. This may be his way of punishing married couples for not supporting gay marriage and wanting the Defence of Marriage Act. He has a much larger constituency than his Mass. district.

We the taxpayers are the lifeblood of Govt. and special Interests are the lifeblood of a corrupt Congress. The IRS are the enforcers for that bunch of thieves.

Just my opinion.

[Terry_P]

Or to look at it another way her taxes were lowered by your Sch C loss? I know how you feel as my wife and I were both professionals before we retired. We made roughly the same each and together we were in a nasty tax bracket. I know it won't make you feel any better but the tax rates are a lot lower now than they were several years ago. The best thing you can do is to make maximun use of any legal loopholes you can use.

[walien]

Why did you bring this up with your accountant after the fact? Why didn't you plan this before hand. Your financial situation is complicated enough such that you need an accountant.

Did you talk to your accountant about incorporating yourselves? It seems taking some personal responsibility beforehand would have been helpful. All of these rules existed before you got married.

[Bobitis]

Not to go off topic, but why does the government get involved in marriage anyway?
It's a religious ceremony. People complain about the separation of church and state, then turn around and give them carte blanche when it comes to marriage. I need the governments approval to get married?

I need a license to get married and a license to have a pet. But none is required to have kids? That's messed up.

And ya'll don't forget to report all the barter and trades you've made.
It's taxable ya know.

My neighbor is a carpenter and I'm a mechanic. He remodels my kitchen, and I rebuild his motor. The government seems it should get something out of the deal?
Splain that one to me.

I suppose if they can tax ya when your dead, they can tax ya for anything.

I paid the sales tax on my cell phone when I bought it. I pay 7 different taxes every month on my bill. Two of those are sales taxes!
Squeeze ME?
The land line is a whole other story.
Federal excise tax. Not sure what the heck that is.
Telephone assistance program. I have to pay for your phone bill now?
TRS excise funds federal ADA requirements tax? What on earth is that about?
If I'm disabled I wish someone would let me know.

Better stop now. Rant off.....

[larryg]

The FairTax may not solve everything but it will go a long way towards that goal.

[walien]

Not to go off topic, but why does the government get involved in marriage anyway?
It's a religious ceremony. People complain about the separation of church and state, then turn around and give them carte blanche when it comes to marriage. I need the governments approval to get married?

Realistically, marriage is actually a legal contract between two people. The OP could have just had a religious ceremony done and not filed anything, not been legally married and he wouldn't have any of these issues.

Of course, it begs the question of why people would get married in the first place. I'm sure he had a great relationship before hand.

You don't need the government's approval except that you have to be of a legal (able to agree to binding contract) age to get married. It's not 20 or 30 or x number of years ago where the government would have to ok that you weren't of different backgrounds, religions, races, etc.

It's funny though, you're pissed that the government has to 'give approval' to get married, but I'll bet $5 that you're against a gay couple getting married.

Yes, you have to pay taxes on bartered goods. Before we had currency, this is how all commerce was done. The cash exchange is just an aggregation of the barter. You are getting a financial benefit from the transaction, so it is taxable.

[Terry_P]

Originally Posted by larryg

The FairTax may not solve everything but it will go a long way towards that goal.

I disagree. The fair tax alias a national sales tax (from 27%-35%) unfairly burdens seniors who have paid their fair share all their working lives and now have to help pay your fair share and p-l-e-a-s-e don't give me the line you just don't have to buy anything. I'm 62 and will need much before I pass on to that tree stand in the sky.

[Bobitis]

Originally Posted by walien

Realistically, marriage is actually a legal contract between two people. The OP could have just had a religious ceremony done and not filed anything, not been legally married and he wouldn't have any of these issues.

Of course, it begs the question of why people would get married in the first place. I'm sure he had a great relationship before hand.

You don't need the government's approval except that you have to be of a legal (able to agree to binding contract) age to get married. It's not 20 or 30 or x number of years ago where the government would have to ok that you weren't of different backgrounds, religions, races, etc.

It's funny though, you're pissed that the government has to 'give approval' to get married, but I'll bet $5 that you're against a gay couple getting married.

Yes, you have to pay taxes on bartered goods. Before we had currency, this is how all commerce was done. The cash exchange is just an aggregation of the barter. You are getting a financial benefit from the transaction, so it is taxable.

Where did being gay come from?

[ponycar17]

Oh, don't worry. If the Bush-era tax cuts are not renewed by the end of 2010, your filing for the 2011 year will look VERY, VERY BAD!!!

Here's my explanation...

The Bush-era tax cuts expire at the end of 2010 and there has been no effort to revive them. There are lots of people who have been conned into believing that these cuts only helped the wealthy. There was also a huge supply-side stimulus that was offered as part of these cuts which rapidly helped us emerge from the recession that began following the tech stock bubble burst in the last quarter of 2000. You know, under Clinton's watch... Anyway, I did some research a couple of years ago to determine how taxes for most of us were really effected from 1999 until 2007. Here is what I found. From 1999 until 2007 the personal exemptions went from $2,750 per qualifying dependent to $3,500 per qualifying dependent. The standard deduction went from $4,300 to $5,350 for single tax filers and from $7,200 to $10,700 for married payers filing jointly. Also, the child tax credit was introduced which offered a CREDIT (not a deduction) for every qualifying child. So, I put this together in a table and you can see it attached below. For a married couple with a total household income of $60K, they saw a cut of 27% in their tax from 1999-2007 if they claimed a standard deduction (deeper if they itemized but that depends on each person's situation). If they had just one qualifying child, they would have seen a decrease of over 41%, and deeper for additional qualifying children. So, if this administration who's 'working for the middle class' doesn't renew Bush's tax cuts expect to feel some pain for the 2011 tax year. Did you vote for change? That might be all you're left with...

On top of all this, companies are unsure how tax changes might affect them and so they are not hiring now. If taxes do go up on employers the logical effect will be that they will cut their head count because of the increased operating cost from taxes. So, even if your taxes don't go up, it may not matter since you might not be employed anyway.

Attached is a chart demonstrating how much we benefited from the Bush cuts. It doesn't take much imagination to see how badly we'll hurt from a failure to renew them...

I don't really understand the guy's actions in Austin and certainly don't condone them but I foresee many more people with sticker shock in the coming years.

[bcj1755]

Originally Posted by ponycar17

Oh, don't worry. If the Bush-era tax cuts are not renewed by the end of 2010, your filing for the 2011 year will look VERY, VERY BAD!!!

Here's my explanation...

The Bush-era tax cuts expire at the end of 2010 and there has been no effort to revive them. There are lots of people who have been conned into believing that these cuts only helped the wealthy. There was also a huge supply-side stimulus that was offered as part of these cuts which rapidly helped us emerge from the recession that began following the tech stock bubble burst in the last quarter of 2000. You know, under Clinton's watch... Anyway, I did some research a couple of years ago to determine how taxes for most of us were really effected from 1999 until 2007. Here is what I found. From 1999 until 2007 the personal exemptions went from $2,750 per qualifying dependent to $3,500 per qualifying dependent. The standard deduction went from $4,300 to $5,350 for single tax filers and from $7,200 to $10,700 for married payers filing jointly. Also, the child tax credit was introduced which offered a CREDIT (not a deduction) for every qualifying child. So, I put this together in a table and you can see it attached below. For a married couple with a total household income of $60K, they saw a cut of 27% in their tax from 1999-2007 if they claimed a standard deduction (deeper if they itemized but that depends on each person's situation). If they had just one qualifying child, they would have seen a decrease of over 41%, and deeper for additional qualifying children. So, if this administration who's 'working for the middle class' doesn't renew Bush's tax cuts expect to feel some pain for the 2011 tax year. Did you vote for change? That might be all you're left with...

On top of all this, companies are unsure how tax changes might affect them and so they are not hiring now. If taxes do go up on employers the logical effect will be that they will cut their head count because of the increased operating cost from taxes. So, even if your taxes don't go up, it may not matter since you might not be employed anyway.

Attached is a chart demonstrating how much we benefited from the Bush cuts. It doesn't take much imagination to see how badly we'll hurt from a failure to renew them...

I don't really understand the guy's actions in Austin and certainly don't condone them but I foresee many more people with sticker shock in the coming years.

I had my taxes done yesterday, and I asked about how bad it will be next year when those tax cuts expire. I was told it's going to be very very bad indeed.

[ponycar17]

Originally Posted by bcj1755

I had my taxes done yesterday, and I asked about how bad it will be next year when those tax cuts expire. I was told it's going to be very very bad indeed.

But just think about how patriotic you'll feel paying those added taxes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCqgNWRjmAc

[bcj1755]

Originally Posted by ponycar17

But just think about how patriotic you'll feel paying those added taxes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCqgNWRjmAc

Oh yeah, I'm already all tingly just thinking about it

[walien]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009...s-health-care/

Yup, just think about it...

"The budget outline calls over 10 years for $637 billion in higher taxes on the estimated 5 percent of taxpayers with annual adjusted income of $250,000 or more. For taxpayers who earn less than that, the budget seeks $770 billion in tax cuts or tax refunds. "

Then again, Fox are just figureheads for news spread by the Obama and the Democrats.

Where did being gay come from?

You were complaining about the government having to give permission to people to marry, but then you most likely want the government to deny this in the case of gay people. I figured you could make the reach there.

[ponycar17]

And walien, even the $250K figure has floated wildly. I've heard from $150K to $250K. I've not seen a solid answer yet, and the legislation to expand the tax cuts has yet to be passed. I've now seen that $85K is the new rich cutoff as the limit for expanding child dependent care deductions. Perhaps when everyone loses their income as a consequence of taxing business and increasing their costs, $40K will be 'rich'...

[Old Grump]

Originally Posted by ponycar17

But just think about how patriotic you'll feel paying those added taxes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCqgNWRjmAc

Of course if you are patriotic and pay your taxes you are by definition a terrorist and as a taxpayer ineligible for any top government job in this administration.

Don't forget our alien in chief and current white house resident promised to not raise taxes. When the Bush cuts end it will be Bush's fault not the Democrats if the economy doesn't immediately recover. Don't make sense to me but then I am not the leader of a nation that according to Obama is no longer a Christian nation. That doesn't make sense to me either but I only claim to be good looking not smart.

[Nolaphoto1]

I think I want to move to Petoria. (you Family Guy fans will get it.)

[Terry_P]

Originally Posted by bcj1755

I had my taxes done yesterday, and I asked about how bad it will be next year when those tax cuts expire. I was told it's going to be very very bad indeed.

The tax cuts expire but the withholding is less so we will all owe a bunch of money. With our National Debt at close to $13 trillion is there anyone that doesn't think their taxes aren't heading higher? Obozo appointed a deficit commission so he can break his campaign promise and raise taxes on everyone and then blame the commission. That will be Obozo's "read my lips no new taxes" and will insure he is a one term wonder.

[pinecone70]

Originally Posted by Terry_P

...will insure he is a one term wonder.

I certainly hope so....

[Helix_FR]

Until my wife and I had kids we got screwed every year and we didn't have any of that complicated BS that your going through, back then. I have it now, its pretty easy for me to figure out. I would try doing it yourself and see what happens. Just b/c they are an accountant doesn't mean they are a good one or that they are doing it right. The company that I work for had a really lousy accountant for the first 4 years of business, he screwed all sorts of stuff up including deductions.
Also her self employment tax has nothing to do with your business unless she pays you to help her and vise versa. Soul Proprietor businesses shouldn't interfere with each other tax wise.

[larryg]

Originally Posted by Terry_P

I disagree. The fair tax alias a national sales tax (from 27%-35%) unfairly burdens seniors who have paid their fair share all their working lives and now have to help pay your fair share and p-l-e-a-s-e don't give me the line you just don't have to buy anything. I'm 62 and will need much before I pass on to that tree stand in the sky.

Terry, While I do agree that it is not as good for seniors as others it is not as bad as it seems. There is a prebate of the taxes up to the poverty level which should cover all the essential expenses. Also competition will lower most prices as businesses are no longer paying income tax so prices will probably stay the same to 15% higher.

I truly believe the current tax system is unworkable and the FairTax is the best alternative.

[Terry_P]

In a joint return her self employment tax that she owes will offset any refund he is getting on the combined 1040. I think that is what he is talking about. They are both Sch C filers and then those filters into their joint 1040.