What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

[TSTR]

It is really, really sad that public school teachers in our state have to do this, BTW...Not only does this state - which once prized public education - now pay its public school teachers less than almost every other state in the country, it has also slashed education budgets to the point where, to obtain basic supplies like paper and pencils, teachers have to purchase them out-of-pocket (despite our "education" lottery).

I have a friend who is a teacher. He is looking to get out mainly for these types of reasons.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Of course, but he made a comment about the 1% and their taxes. This is one way they get them so low, by claiming as many deductions as possible.

While I think that the deductions in our tax code should be restructured, I expect everyone to take as many deductions as possible. (In other words, I do not expect anyone to overpay his or her taxes, and I do not think there is anything wrong with taking full advatage of the tax code.)

I am mostly just lamenting the public schools in North Carolina and the current state of our legislature. (Let's face it...this is pretty much the worst.)

[ElkinFencer10]

Yep, claimed $164 in medical expenses, $114 in vehicle taxes, $1,192 in student loan interest payments, and $192 in out-of-pocket classroom supplies. I still owe a total of $429. I squeezed every deduction I could; that's the only reason I don't owe $600 something.

[Ack]

No home office or anything? Did you have to travel for any kind of work training or conferences?

[Tanooki]

I'm curious how taxes will go this year. NOthing changed as far as intake really, and with the kid, it hopefully will be similar as the wife wanted to travel out west again, take the kid to Disneyland and see some family.

As far as taxes/politics go, the GOP as far as I can recall didn't raise anything. The issue though is that as taxes on the book go, they have to be renewed. Years ago there were Bush Tax Cuts that Obama was no fan of, but each set would expire at differing times, and some he annoyingly(to him and the DEM congress then) renew due to how bad the economy goes. As it stands now sure congress could re-pass them, but the president would have to sign off or veto it (which he would) and then they'd have to override which the votes are not there for. I imagine what you're seeing since the taxes owed/refunds this year are for the previous is that some tax measure (cut) expired if you're just not missing something.

I'm going to have to see if I can dig up the medical bills for last year as there's more than enough to get something of a cut.

[mjmjr25]

Teachers in Minnesota are also responsible for stocking their classrooms. However, we adapted to less funding. In Minnesota we run a program where the families supply all the paper, glue, markers, folders, scissors, etc.

Each grade is given a list of things to bring on the first "meet the teacher night". The schools work with local retailers (wal-mart, Target) to have them out and easy to find.

For example - my 2nd grader had to bring (6) sharpies, (4) rolls of clear tape, (4) bottles of glue, (3) rolls of paper towel and (3) boxes of Kleenex. Times that by 90 kids in 2nd grade and you have enough of those items for the entire school. It costs us about $20 per kid each year. They money is always going to come from somewhere. In this case instead of from the teacher, or from our taxes, it comes direct from the kids using it.

There is no reason a program like that can't work in every state - it takes the right person to propose it and sell it. I imagine most families would agree the teacher shouldn't by their supplies - so have your superintendent, principal, or even you as a teacher - propose this idea at a PTA meeting.

Also - I understand the gripes, but keep in mind - it is generally us, the voters, who approve or don't approve the increases to our property taxes to allow for better schools, and better compensation for teachers. We are the decision makers. Either through direct votes on a county / city level, or through the representatives we send to the state capitols and Washington.

[ElkinFencer10]

No home office or anything? Did you have to travel for any kind of work training or conferences?

The only conference I went to was fully paid for by the county including transportation and lodging.

It's not that I think my rate went up, but it does seem like a lot of exemptions and deductions that I had last year went away this year. That's all I can figure; my income only went up $2,000, and that shouldn't equate to an additional $1,100 in taxes.

[Ack]

No home office or anything? Did you have to travel for any kind of work training or conferences?

The only conference I went to was fully paid for by the county including transportation and lodging.

It's not that I think my rate went up, but it does seem like a lot of exemptions and deductions that I had last year went away this year. That's all I can figure; my income only went up $2,000, and that shouldn't equate to an additional $1,100 in taxes.

Maybe. It might be because the Tax Cuts for America Act of 2015 expired at the end of the year, and a bunch of other tax cuts expired at the end of 2014: http://www.thetaxadviser.com/newsletter ... elief.html. Maybe some of those affect you? You might also have hit a new tax bracket too, which could also explain the hike.

Either way man, sorry you're having this issue. A few years back my principal income was as a 10-99 employee. I ended up owing about $600 as a result, but I managed to secure a payment plan and got it all taken care of within a few months. Maybe you could look into that?

[ElkinFencer10]

Don't me wrong - I don't mind paying my taxes. What I hate is that a tiny bump in income (from $33k to $35k) also comes with (either directly or coincidentally) a huge (for me anyway; that's half a paycheck's worth) increase in taxes. I don't mind paying my fair share, but for how hard I work for the government for what I get paid, I can't help but feel that I'm paying far more than my fair share. Between state, local, and federal taxes, I end up losing a third of my salary; that seems excessive for my relatively low salary. An extra $429 may not seem like much to a lot of people, but that's a LOT of money for me. I mean, I can manage it, but I'm going to have several really tight months. It's just a lot of stress and financial pressure, you know? Especially since I really need to buy four new tires.

[MrPopo]

Each grade is given a list of things to bring on the first "meet the teacher night". The schools work with local retailers (wal-mart, Target) to have them out and easy to find.

I grew up in an affluent suburb with a very well funded school district and we still had something similar; each student was given a list of supplies they were expected to have (paper, couple of pen colors, pencils, etc). The teachers did have backup but if you had to use them you would get called out by the teacher.