Taxes are to high!
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@scottalanmiller said:
What's amazing from living abroad is how you see corruption. In the US we point to places like Italy and their crazy levels of corruption - and it is bad enough that it really causes problems. But it is really, really obvious and in your face. Need a permit, you slip someone $50. Everyone knows exactly who is corrupt, how and how it works.
In the US people often say that there is so little corruption that you never even see it happen. The problem is, the corruption is so intense and so big that we don't see it any longer. We are conditioned to a level of corruption that makes "corrupt" countries look downright forthright. But it isn't your local mailman expecting an extra dollar for delivering the mail, it's in big government and huge businesses paying people off and stuff like that. It's massive money on a massive scale and it is so mixed into the whole thing that we stop seeing it.
Imagine a sound so loud that you stop hearing it because you go deaf. That's how the difference feels.
I think a difference there is the little man can't see that - he doesn't play in the same sandbox so he can't see the huge payoffs to the political powers, etc.
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Looking at the UK at a similar £40k salary just 24% tax on that and healthcare is included. sure vat is higher at 20% but it's already calculated into the costs for goods and food is 0 rated along with a bunch of other stuff.
the value I get here for the tax I pay is like I've won the lottery compared to when I was in the us. and saying that, the lottery winnings here are 0 rated too - no taxes to pay if you win it big.
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@travisdh1 said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@travisdh1 said:
@scottalanmiller said:
What's amazing from living abroad is how you see corruption. In the US we point to places like Italy and their crazy levels of corruption - and it is bad enough that it really causes problems. But it is really, really obvious and in your face. Need a permit, you slip someone $50. Everyone knows exactly who is corrupt, how and how it works.
In the US people often say that there is so little corruption that you never even see it happen. The problem is, the corruption is so intense and so big that we don't see it any longer. We are conditioned to a level of corruption that makes "corrupt" countries look downright forthright. But it isn't your local mailman expecting an extra dollar for delivering the mail, it's in big government and huge businesses paying people off and stuff like that. It's massive money on a massive scale and it is so mixed into the whole thing that we stop seeing it.
Imagine a sound so loud that you stop hearing it because you go deaf. That's how the difference feels.
I realized that without having to leave the country to do it.... not that it's not blindingly obvious to anyone with a little sense.
I guess the question is not do people realize that there is corruption (in surveys, most Americans say that there is so little as to be a non-issue) but do Americans feel that places famous for corruption are more or less corrupt than the US is?
Like... I've been shaken down for cash by a Nicaraguan cop. But in day to day life, I feel corruption affects me more in the US.
Oh, I know the vast majority of people would say that the US has very little corruption. Guess I'll just have to continue playing the modern Jeremiah.
that's because the corruption isn't at the level of normal people - it's so far removed as to be nearly non existent.
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@larsen161 said:
Looking at the UK at a similar £40k salary just 24% tax on that and healthcare is included. sure vat is higher at 20% but it's already calculated into the costs for goods and food is 0 rated along with a bunch of other stuff.
the value I get here for the tax I pay is like I've won the lottery compared to when I was in the us. and saying that, the lottery winnings here are 0 rated too - no taxes to pay if you win it big.
You realize that £40k is $57K in the US - that's quite a difference.
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@Dashrender said:
@travisdh1 said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@travisdh1 said:
@scottalanmiller said:
What's amazing from living abroad is how you see corruption. In the US we point to places like Italy and their crazy levels of corruption - and it is bad enough that it really causes problems. But it is really, really obvious and in your face. Need a permit, you slip someone $50. Everyone knows exactly who is corrupt, how and how it works.
In the US people often say that there is so little corruption that you never even see it happen. The problem is, the corruption is so intense and so big that we don't see it any longer. We are conditioned to a level of corruption that makes "corrupt" countries look downright forthright. But it isn't your local mailman expecting an extra dollar for delivering the mail, it's in big government and huge businesses paying people off and stuff like that. It's massive money on a massive scale and it is so mixed into the whole thing that we stop seeing it.
Imagine a sound so loud that you stop hearing it because you go deaf. That's how the difference feels.
I realized that without having to leave the country to do it.... not that it's not blindingly obvious to anyone with a little sense.
I guess the question is not do people realize that there is corruption (in surveys, most Americans say that there is so little as to be a non-issue) but do Americans feel that places famous for corruption are more or less corrupt than the US is?
Like... I've been shaken down for cash by a Nicaraguan cop. But in day to day life, I feel corruption affects me more in the US.
Oh, I know the vast majority of people would say that the US has very little corruption. Guess I'll just have to continue playing the modern Jeremiah.
that's because the corruption isn't at the level of normal people - it's so far removed as to be nearly non existent.
Exactly it impacts them every day, in every paycheck. It's SO palpable, they've just been conditioned to ignore it.
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That's not far off what you'd pay in Canada, though our sales tax is nearly double that.
Edit: as a straight up single income no deductions for anything at all (aka me)
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@Dashrender sure, that's if you're converting like for like currency at an exchange rate today. live here and that isn't the best way to compare what we're discussing. Look at the US and UK minimum wage, the US is only 8% higher. £40k is more similar to $43k.
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@larsen161 said:
@Dashrender sure, that's if you're converting like for like currency at an exchange rate today. live here and that isn't the best way to compare what we're discussing. Look at the US and UK minimum wage, the US is only 8% higher. £40k is more similar to $43k.
When I worked for a major bank, they were willing to give me a promotion but with the promotion my $200,000 US salary would become a £45,000 one. Um.... not comparable
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@scottalanmiller said:
@larsen161 said:
@Dashrender sure, that's if you're converting like for like currency at an exchange rate today. live here and that isn't the best way to compare what we're discussing. Look at the US and UK minimum wage, the US is only 8% higher. £40k is more similar to $43k.
When I worked for a major bank, they were willing to give me a promotion but with the promotion my $200,000 US salary would become a £45,000 one. Um.... not comparable
Psst - I think you left a zero off
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@larsen161 said:
@Dashrender sure, that's if you're converting like for like currency at an exchange rate today. live here and that isn't the best way to compare what we're discussing. Look at the US and UK minimum wage, the US is only 8% higher. £40k is more similar to $43k.
When I worked for a major bank, they were willing to give me a promotion but with the promotion my $200,000 US salary would become a £45,000 one. Um.... not comparable
Psst - I think you left a zero off
Nope, they expected me to drop from $200K to £45K in exchange for an official "Senior VP" title.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@larsen161 said:
@Dashrender sure, that's if you're converting like for like currency at an exchange rate today. live here and that isn't the best way to compare what we're discussing. Look at the US and UK minimum wage, the US is only 8% higher. £40k is more similar to $43k.
When I worked for a major bank, they were willing to give me a promotion but with the promotion my $200,000 US salary would become a £45,000 one. Um.... not comparable
Psst - I think you left a zero off
Nope, they expected me to drop from $200K to £45K in exchange for an official "Senior VP" title.
I was kidding, I know you didn't.. clearly someone was just high that day.
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I should clarify as we have a sliding scale:
30k salary, $26,184 take home
40k salary, $34,122
50k salary, $41,481
60k salary, $48,511
100k salary, $75,294
200k, $131,858
500k, $294,458
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@MattSpeller said:
I should clarify as we have a sliding scale:
30k salary, $26,184 take home
40k salary, $34,122
50k salary, $41,481
60k salary, $48,511
100k salary, $75,294
200k, $131,858
500k, $294,458
Yeah, you take home WAY more than we do.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Yeah, you take home WAY more than we do.
If you have kids, RRSP, those can hugely alter your taxes (give you back $$$$$$$)
Also remember that our sales taxes are eye watering, 13% on average for most provinces.
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@MattSpeller said:
@scottalanmiller said:
Yeah, you take home WAY more than we do.
If you have kids, RRSP, those can hugely alter your taxes (give you back $$$$$$$)
Also remember that our sales taxes are eye watering, 13% on average for most provinces.
It's like 13% in Las Vegas..
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@MattSpeller said:
Also remember that our sales taxes are eye watering, 13% on average for most provinces.
That's not that high. Lower than in Europe and only 4-5% higher than the US. I'd take that any day compared to the income tax difference! That's nothing. Just back ground noise in the big tax picture.
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@MattSpeller said:
If you have kids, RRSP, those can hugely alter your taxes (give you back $$$$$$$)
Yeah, I used to make $200K and have a take home of like $96K, with kids! Then 8.25% sales tax on top of that, which isn't bad, but isn't good.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@MattSpeller said:
If you have kids, RRSP, those can hugely alter your taxes (give you back $$$$$$$)
Yeah, I used to make $200K and have a take home of like $96K, with kids! Then 8.25% sales tax on top of that, which isn't bad, but isn't good.
Is that after health insurance or just taxes? How did you have 52% rate??!?!?!!!
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@johnhooks said:
No one would think that's reasonable. Around here, you can figure around 80% is take home, until the next tax bracket.
Unless you plan on making triple what you make now, the "next" nominal bracket is the 28% one. And that rate is only for the money made after that threshold. I'm deep into that bracket.
Let's break down what someone should be seeing in a paycheck. To make this simple, let's assume state income tax out of the equation, because they vary from flat 3.75% in Illinois, a progressive scheme of up to 5.25% in Oklahoma to 0% in Texas. We will also assume you work for a company, so standard W2 wages and we will assume they are cheap ass bastards who went "hurr durr obamacare" and refuse to offer health insurance. Medicare is 1.45% flat, no matter how much you make. FICA is 6.2% up to $118K, then it's nothing. Federal taxes are a progressive tax system, from 10% up to 39.6%. Consult your local tax professional for more info.
If you are making $40K flat, single, taking the standard deduction, your AGI would be ~34K. $2480 would go to SS, $580 would go to Medicare. The 34K would put you in the 15% tax bracket, 10% up to $9K then 15% on the rest, $3716, for $4638 total. If you set up your W4 correctly, you should have ~$620 a week net on $769 gross, or 19%.
These calculations change with your situation. I make a lot more than $40K, my tax deduction is 24% per paycheck with an effective rate of around 19% after all my deductions and such.
If you ever hear people quoting some crazy numbers on taxes, always break it down on them to find out exactly what they are getting. You will find that most people are talking out their ass.
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@Jason said:
I don't think you can count all deducations since some of those you opt into. Mine would be really high with all the Retirmenet, Company stocks etc I do.
I Pay 18% in State Income Taxes and 28% in Federal so 46% of my pay goes to taxes.
Do you live in NYC? That's the only place that would come even close to the local taxes, and that's only 16%. And to get in at 28% effective rate you would be talking about a pretty high level nominal tax rate. So, you making half a mil?
