I think my parents' contribution was $16. That's how much gas it took to drive the truck and horse trailer to haul all of my stuff to campus. It was a one-way trip, lol.

 

I voted the same way - before I read all the hand-wringing over definitions.

Living here in the gloriously over-priced and over-taxed Northeast, I seem to make a good buck but get to keep a pretty small chunk of it. We're in our 50's and saving carefully so that we can(hopefully) continue to eat and live indoors when we retire. The expense of a more upscale car toy isn't justified.

Besides, on a practical note - I'm past the point to think a Porsche is going to get me laid.

 

so wait, you included your spousal income? if it was just yours, would it change the category? adding my wife in would definitely bump me up a bracket. it doesn't intimidate me at all that she works for what some here would call a "liberal hippie nonprofit" and may out-earn me within 5 years.

I drive a miata because 11 years go when I got it, it was the perfect "new and reliable" way to complement a modded wh0re of a celica alltrac turbo.

now the tables have turned and the miata is the modded wh0re of a car. naturally we bought something new again.

I wonder what the Countryman will look like in a decade after I get my hands on it. Either lifted safari wagon or dropped tarmac rally car... who can say?

 

if i was including my wife i'd bump up my bracket as well, two to be exact.

 

While on the topic of taxes.

My CPA sends out a new comic page every year to all his clients.
I finished my taxes last month and received my new comic for this year.

I thought it would fit here.

 

See, this is what I don't understand. And I'm not pointing fingers at you, this is more of a general observation.

I just don't see why this idea exists that filing your income tax is difficult.

My Federal tax package for this year consisted of Forms 1040 and 2210, Schedules A, B, C, D and SE, and Publications 463 and 1542. And even that wasn't exactly difficult. No calculus, no linear algebra, just a bunch of simple fixed-point addition and subtraction. Basically mathematics at a second-grade level.

Can people really not follow simple instructions and add?


(Also specific gravity is a measure of density, so like all planets with atmospheres, the specific gravity of the Jovian atmosphere is not a constant- it varies with altitude. You'd think that the writers of editorial cartoons would have a better grasp of basic physics.)

 

What is second grade mathematics to someone such as you or I, Joe, can be horribly trying and complex to someone who never uses math in their daily life, and never took math classes beyond bare minimums required.

I only wish I was joking.

 

But that's what I'm talking about. Addition and subtraction are well within the bare minimums for anybody who was raised in a country with a basic compulsory education law. They covered this stuff just after shapes and colors.

 

I think you would be surprised at the results some of the forum gets with your mathematics just after shapes and colors, Joe.

And that's for forum members, not the population as a whole. At least I try to convince myself the forum has a higher-than-typical intelligence of the US.

 

maybe they need these:

 

I know my biggest problem when filing taxes is knowing which numbers go on which forms. I was given some investments by grandparents and relatives, and some send me a statement, others do not. I never know what to claim and what to ignore. Once I figure out what to put in the boxes, the math is the easy part.

 

we do it multiple times on mulitple platforms to make sure it comes out right. it doesn't always.


it's not simple. especially for a high roller baller like me.

 

I am assuming you are implying you do your own taxes.


I run a small business with about 1.5M-4M in sales annually.
Its not really about how easy or hard it is, its about the liability.
I pay $700 to have my CPA take care of everything, and that lets me sleep knowing I didn't miss anything.

Well worth it.

 

i feel bad for the non-english speaking people who go to places that work on comission, get crap tons in returns, leave very happy, then wonder why the irs is knocking on their door next year saying they took more in returns than they made in a year

 

LOL at having to fill out your own tax forms. I have my accountant do it all. She also pays for the walls that I tear out of the hotels I live in, but that is neither here nor there.

Commoners.

I also assumed that it was combined income for both myself and my wife. I could do it separately, but then I would have to allocate investment income separately since it is all commingled.

 

And how much time did you spend doing this that could have been more fruitfully applied? How about the time spent learning about the deductions, reviewing tax court decisions and getting up to speed on year to year changes? To really understand the tax code is hard work. Guess wrong and give yourself the benefit of the doubt and you can get into some serious trouble. Go conservative, and you're likely to overpay.

My biggest beef is just how inefficient the taxation process is.

My second beef is that the tax code is a playground for Congress. They can reward cronies and supporters with tax breaks and it really doesn't rise to the level of scrutiny involved in passing a law. It's just squirelled away.

All in all, I am not a fan and I think it is much harder and less efficient than it should be.

OTOH, when going against the likes of Al Capone's lawyers, income tax evasion may be all you can get.

 

I always go with the most simple form possible. Probably miss out on some money, but I can get that ---- done in about 5 minutes and move on with my day. Though this year I e-filed, and got both fed and state filled out in about 20 minutes, and had my refund in my bank account in about 10 days.

 

And then there are others who slept through grammar class.

 

And Mg, perhaps unknowingly, proves my point. I'd lay no small amount of money on there being very few people who can correct me grammatically - and actually be right about it.

 

Yes, removing her income would drop me down one bracket. We have flip-flopped "top income earner" position over the years and last year she made about 65% of what I made. I expect her to close that difference over time and would be thrilled if we both made the same (or she made more than me).

That's why I said we should just ban the OP and start over again.