Taxes

[RCBH928]

Hello

I want to talk about taxes. I am not sure if this is good or bad, but I don't pay taxes. No one in my country pay taxes for anything. They just take out like 5% out of your pay so once you retire they turn it into your monthly salary. There was lately a 1% deduction to pay as fees for those who are unemployed (fair enough?) . I also think this applies only to government jobs. So private sector pay maybe 0 tax.

I was talking to my friend the other day and I just noticed how taxes sucks big time in the USA+UK. He said that they take out like 40% out of your pay as taxes, honestly is making business even worth it with such a high taxes? Then there is some weird stuff like double taxation, now I understand why this happens, but the government got its tax of my company doing business why do you tax me on that same amount again? Also paying taxes for dying? that is inhumane . How can an inheritance with money that has been taxed each year, gets like 50% tax because you died?!

So my friend says that it is worth it, because USA is a huge market, he says that if you make it there you will get a lot of income . For example, if your company make an annual income of $100 million you still can keep $60 million , so he says that is worth it(yeah,but they still took $40 million!). Plus, how many people really make it that big?

The other thing that gets on my nerves is how it is calculated. Buy a T-shirt, its $20. Go to the counter its $30 all of a sudden! Why don't you just make it illegal to separate tax from the price, and tell us we have to pay $30 to start with instead of acting in a sly way and making things sound cheaper than they are. That will save a lot of trouble .

One more thing is , I do not understand why should I pay taxes on things I own? I worked for 15 years to buy that home, now I should enjoy it, not work for the nest 50 years in my life just to keep it. I already paid taxes on it when I bought, why should I pay taxes on it just standing there. Everything else too, my boat, my car, I bought all of that. I worked for it, and paid tax when I bought it. I agree on taxing anything generating income like owning a rented real estate(because that is doing business) but my home is my home. Now I understand why a lot of foreigners think we are rich. with an income of like $2700 a month, you can afford a Lexus, BMW, or whatever you like easy.

Another amazing thing, how is it that any government can keep track of the incomes and taxes for 250+ million people? that is like impossible. I bet it is impossible to track 1 million people. Also among all those calculations something must go wrong due to human error, will I be put in jail for fraud even if it was an honest mistake?

Opposite from what you read above, I do agree to the tax system, I think it is great. If everyone(population) chips in, we can get great public facilities like in Europe and America. Stuff like public parks, roads, hospitals, schools. But within acceptable range, something between 5%-10% based on how much you make, excluding my personal properties which I bought for myself and worked for and maybe paid taxes on when I bought it. Taxes should be included in price too. A car should be listed as $12, 000 not $10,000 and once you get there they tell you there are $2000 in taxes.

and since we are talking about taxes. Can any one tell me how is VAT different than taxes?
I know VAT is something when you buy stuff from london, you can get it back in the airport. I tried to understand it, but it was too complex. I charge some one to pay tax on a product, then that person charge that same tax to the next person?

[Incognito D]

What country do you live in? It sounds good.

I don't pay taxes because I'm still a student, but IMO the worst thing about them isn't how much they are, but what the government chooses to spend them on, i.e.:

- giving money to junkies, chavs and illegal immigrants who have no intention of ever getting a job or contributing anything to society.
- expensive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan which the vast majority of the population disagrees with.

The other thing that gets on my nerves is how it is calculated. Buy a T-shirt, its $20. Go to the counter its $30 all of a sudden! Why don't you just make it illegal to separate tax from the price, and tell us we have to pay $30 to start with instead of acting in a sly way and making things sound cheaper than they are. That will save a lot of trouble .

I've never heard of this. Where I live anyway, if something says £20 on the tag, that's what you pay at the till. Maybe an American thing?

I'm not too sure, but I think what VAT is, is that the government add 17.5% tax onto everything that you can buy. Naturally, the shops pass this onto the consumer by making everything 17.5% more expensive. At the airport duty free, this VAT tax doesn't apply so that is why stuff is cheaper to buy there. I think...

[Curlypaul]

Thats right VAT is the tax that the government add to virtually everything that the can but. Its illegal in the UK for shops to not include the tax on the price label, but I think some countries can get away with not including it. That is not very fair. Airports are classed as international ground so British laws on adding tax to products dont apply, hence cigarettes, booze and other luxoury items are a lot cheaper.

How does your government fund itself if you dont pay them any tax? I agree with the tax system in general, even with using the money to pay for people who are having a tough time like addicts or refugees although I also dont agree with spenging the money on wars that we have no business being inlvolved in and inheritance tax is the most unfair thing in the whole world. I wish they would scrap that.

Income tax here is up to 40%, you only pay that much if you are earning over £35k a year. I 'm not sure what the tax rates are for businesses but there is a sliding scale and I dont think you start paying tax until the business earns £50k so its not like its impossible to get a business started.

I met a guy from Denmark a while ago who told me the tax there was a flat 55% across the board, rich or poor. Which sounds high but they do have the best schools, hospital and police in europe which I guess is the pay off.

[wilsona26]

I just go on deployments overseas, so I dont have to pay any taxes then. I know how you feel. No taxes is a great thing. I almost cry when I pull back into port and my paychecks start getting smaller the next month.

[Anayo]

Kingmohd84, what country are you from? No taxes sounds nice.

[gtmtnbiker]

In the US, most states have a sales tax and some areas (NYC) have a city tax. There are some things not taxable (usually clothing, food, for instance). There are some states without a sales tax. In Massachusetts, it's around 5% but going up to 6.5% tomorrow.

Most states have an income tax. In Massachusetts, it's around 5%.

In most towns, there's a property tax. This is to fund town government/services/schools. Some towns have higher taxes and some have lower ones. It's different from town to town. My town has few businesses but lots of services. So we have high property taxes. It's computed on the value of your home (e.g, $17 per $1K value).

In Massachusetts, there's also an excise tax on cars/boats. This is based on the value of those items and decreases every year. It's also based on the cheapest class of that car. For instance, you can buy the car fully loaded with the biggest engine. But the tax is computed on the cheapest version of that car. It's based on 25$ per $1000 value of the car but the value is depreciated very quickly.

Finally, there's a Federal Income Tax. It is computed on your adjusted gross income and can range from 0% to a high of 36%. The amount I pay for property taxes, state income taxes, and excise taxes are deducted from my income calculation. But it's a sliding scale where the first x dollars is taxed at the lowest rate, the next y dollars at a different rate, etc.

From my salary, I have to pay 6% for Social Security, 1.5% for Medicare. My company matches the 6% for Social Security.

I would have to sit down and calculate but I'm guessing that I pay around 40-45% of my income in taxes.

The state of Alaska has no income tax and it will pay each resident money. I think it's around $18K per year but I could be mistaken. This is the resident's share of the money from oil/gas.

So when you mention that you get 2700 per month, this is from your oil profits, right? Enjoy it while you can!

[Incognito D]

The state of Alaska has no income tax and it will pay each resident money. I think it's around $18K per year but I could be mistaken. This is the resident's share of the money from oil/gas.

What's the downside? There must be one, right? Otherwise everyone would live there. In fact, how would I go about moving there??

[Erik_Twice]

And how does your country pays for healthcare, police, public transport, museums, army and such?

[gtmtnbiker]

The state of Alaska has no income tax and it will pay each resident money. I think it's around $18K per year but I could be mistaken. This is the resident's share of the money from oil/gas.

What's the downside? There must be one, right? Otherwise everyone would live there. In fact, how would I go about moving there??

It looks like I'm way off on the amount they receive. Looking at the Google results, it seems to be around $2K.

The drawback of Alaska is that it's very cold and everything is more expensive up there. But if you like the outdoors, you definitely have to visit the state sometimes. I've been there twice and love it. If you're a woman, it might be a good place to find a mate because there's a lot more men than women in the state.

[gtmtnbiker]

And how does your country pays for healthcare, police, public transport, museums, army and such?

They rake in billions of dollars from oil/gas revenue.