do you pay taxes?????

[junker]

saw a article on taxes....stating that almost 1/2 of us dont pay ANY federal taxes......so whats the problem.....why are we all filing bk????? or are you the other 1/2 that ARE paying to support those of us that arent paying taxes?? i am guilty as i dont pay any federal OR state taxes....and buy MOST everything online or private party so i really dont pay ANY taxes if i can avoid it......heres a excerpt....

WASHINGTON - Tax Day is a dreaded deadline for millions, but for nearly half of U.S. households it's simply somebody else's problem.

About 47 percent will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009. Either their incomes were too low, or they qualified for enough credits, deductions and exemptions to eliminate their liability. That's according to projections by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington research organization

[blessed]

We've only paid federal taxes one year that I can remember. It was the year we got married, 2.5 incomes and no kids to claim.

[frogger]

The advantages to owning a small business. I haven't paid any federal taxes in 10+ years. But don't worry, the feds are getting it coming and going on everything you buy and sell.

[BCA2009]

I would have to go back and look at my tax returns to get the exact number, but I have paid more than 150K of federal taxes in the last 10 years.

I have a problem with so many people not paying taxes. Once you have over half of the voting population not paying any taxes, of course thay are going to vote for more benefit programs and to raise taxes on those who do actually pay into the system.

[junker]

i googled to find out exactly what this is. taking from rich and giving to the poor...ie socialism, communism, marxist? but all that comes up is obamaism..dec 21, 2012..getting closer and closer.....

[nc73]

i googled to find out exactly what this is. taking from rich and giving to the poor...ie socialism, communism, marxist? but all that comes up is obamaism..dec 21, 2012..getting closer and closer.....

I thought it was robinhoodism? no? In any case when I was in the UK I ended up getting money back. If you don't want to give to the poor, don't become rich.

[FLBK7]

i googled to find out exactly what this is. taking from rich and giving to the poor...ie socialism, communism, marxist? but all that comes up is obamaism..dec 21, 2012..getting closer and closer.....

The ONLY years where I didn't have to pay taxes were the 2 years I was unemployed or underemployed --- which eventually led to my BK in 2004.

In a nutshell: I'm in my 60's and I've paid taxes regularly for at least 42 years. This covers many administrations, both Republican and Democrat. So I don't think any previous or current president's economic policies or administrations have anything to do with it. I've ALWAYS paid income tax!

Doesn't everybody??? Unless you are self-employed or have a small business and a lot of tax loopholes? Or unless you are disabled and receiving disability payments? What about that old but supposedly true adage that the only 2 true things in life are, death and taxes?

I even have an accountant --- a CPA who happens to be my cousin. So this post really puzzles me!

[fltoo]

Unbelievable, but true. Just under 50 percent pay no income tax and the numbers are growing.

I never complain about paying income taxes cause the alternative is.... making no money. But, I do complain about the "welfare" credits that are built into the tax system these days. A person pays no taxes and then gets thousands of dollars in the form of a refund.

Again, I don't mind paying for welfare, but stop calling it a tax refund!

I also do not begrudge the rich people. Most of the self made millionaires work more hours in a week than most people do in a month and they pay the bulk of the income taxes.

[FLBK7]

Maybe I think differently from the norm, but income taxes aren't my pet peeve. What really irks me is the way our "other" taxes keep increasing, often with no logical explanation. Phone/cell phone bills and cable/U-Verse bills are an example. The taxes are just way out there in another planet.

And what about expressway tolls?? A toll that used to cost 10 cents 28 years ago is now $1.25! Even with inflation, that's an exorbitant increase. And worse than that, there's new construction going on to install sensors/collecting machines (or whatever the heck they call them) for yet another sector of what is now a short and free extension of the expressway to the train station and US 1.

[WhatMoney]

It is standard deductions and child tax credits (or Earned Income Tax Credits) that account for much of middle and lower income families no longer paying Federal income tax. The credits are not refunds, but credits, given only to those who are working but have qualifying children and lower incomes. I don't call that welfare. You don't get any tax credits if you are not working.

From the AP article:

In recent years, credits for low- and middle-income families have grown so much that a family of four making as much as $50,000 will owe no federal income tax for 2009, as long as there are two children younger than 17, according to a separate analysis by the consulting firm Deloitte Tax.

They explained the above example of a $50,000 income family paying no income tax here:

Here's how they did it, according to Deloitte Tax:

The family was entitled to a standard deduction of $11,400 and four personal exemptions of $3,650 apiece, leaving a taxable income of $24,000. The federal income tax on $24,000 is $2,769.

With two children younger than 17, the family qualified for two $1,000 child tax credits. Its Making Work Pay credit was $800 because the parents were married filing jointly.

The $2,800 in credits exceeds the $2,769 in taxes, so the family makes a $31 profit from the federal income tax.

Families with children have always had tax breaks. Maybe they just don't realize how much.

The entire article is here:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Nearly....html?x=0&.v=1

[fltoo]

No argument here, families with children IMO should get tax breaks. They are the ones rearing the future doctors, nurses, teachers, etc.

The EIC was set up just for that purpose, to encourage those families with kids to work.

I just have a problem with filers thinking they are getting a tax "refund" when they pay no taxes and then complaining about the "rich" people who are paying the credits as welfare.

Off topic, but most people I know making over 200K a year are hard working, honest people who devote their time and energy to their businesses, employ people and pay high taxes. They take more risks and have more headaches than the average Joe. They are tired of being perceived as the "rich" when they know the sacrifices they made to become successful and honestly, I never hear them complaining about paying income taxes.

Woe the day we make the entrepreneur stop dreaming.

[banca rotta]

This is actually another myth. Everyone especially the poor pay taxes in the form of inflation.

This is reason number one why when I see all the "poor obama supporters" this bunch are the biggest suckers on the planet and the wealthy are laughing at you everyday.

The govt does not take in enough in taxes to pay it's bills nor does it get enough borrowed money to fill the gap.

It prints the currency and it's always the banks, the large federal contractors and the rich in general that get the newly counterfeit currency which has value. They mostly buy up appreciating assets which makes them richer.

By the time this currency makes it to the poor, elderly and any other steriotypical "little guy" it has a lot less purchasing power.

This my dear friends is how it's done and this is why the "little guy" will be even poorer in a few more years all in the name of the govt helping the little guy.

A good start in fixing this is to shutdown the fed and tax everyone and everyone will get more politically involved once they pay higher taxes.

[junker]

i just missed getting the 6500 tax credit for buying a another home, because i bought a couple of months before nov 6, the cutoff..i dont pay ANY federal tax, BUT.. the way i read it, i would have gotten the 6500 cash back anyway...even without paying any taxes, had i waited a couple of months....that is just wrong....

[OregonMom]

We are a family of 4 that makes less than 50 grand a year so we usually don't have to pay federal taxes but the state of oregon gets us every year! Every year I have to pay them more and more and we are getting less and less. I wish we had a sales tax instead of getting taxed yearly, that way everyone has to pay.

[banca rotta]

We are a family of 4 that makes less than 50 grand a year so we usually don't have to pay federal taxes but the state of oregon gets us every year! Every year I have to pay them more and more and we are getting less and less. I wish we had a sales tax instead of getting taxed yearly, that way everyone has to pay.

Soon enough we will have a sales or vat tax where everyone has to pay. The problem is it will be in addition to the current taxes and not "instead".