the prez and taxes
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OK, first I am goning to admit to knowing very little about the ways you can hide money you earn to prevent paying taxes. I generally just go to the tax guy near where we live, have him fill in the form, and we get a bit of a refund. So, it was with a bit of surprise that I read this little statistic in the newest Time: President Bush and his wife made over $800,000 USD in 2002, and paid taxes of around 30-31%, or somewhere in the ballpark of $240,000 USD. Likewise, the veep and wife pulled in over $1,000,000 USD and paid around 29% in taxes. So my question is: is this not a little low? And if so, why and how are they getting aware with paying so little (percentage wise)? And please note, though I do not like Dubya and Co, this question applies to any of the high rollers out there doing this, not just them. ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)!
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OK, first I am goning to admit to knowing very little about the ways you can hide money you earn to prevent paying taxes. I generally just go to the tax guy near where we live, have him fill in the form, and we get a bit of a refund. So, it was with a bit of surprise that I read this little statistic in the newest Time: President Bush and his wife made over $800,000 USD in 2002, and paid taxes of around 30-31%, or somewhere in the ballpark of $240,000 USD. Likewise, the veep and wife pulled in over $1,000,000 USD and paid around 29% in taxes. So my question is: is this not a little low? And if so, why and how are they getting aware with paying so little (percentage wise)? And please note, though I do not like Dubya and Co, this question applies to any of the high rollers out there doing this, not just them. ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)!
Perhaps they gave a lot to charity and were able to deduct that from the total tax due? Plus, that is probably just income tax we're talking about. You know, if I made $1,000,000, I'd be pretty ticked off that I had to give the government 300,000 of it!
Jason Henderson
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi -
OK, first I am goning to admit to knowing very little about the ways you can hide money you earn to prevent paying taxes. I generally just go to the tax guy near where we live, have him fill in the form, and we get a bit of a refund. So, it was with a bit of surprise that I read this little statistic in the newest Time: President Bush and his wife made over $800,000 USD in 2002, and paid taxes of around 30-31%, or somewhere in the ballpark of $240,000 USD. Likewise, the veep and wife pulled in over $1,000,000 USD and paid around 29% in taxes. So my question is: is this not a little low? And if so, why and how are they getting aware with paying so little (percentage wise)? And please note, though I do not like Dubya and Co, this question applies to any of the high rollers out there doing this, not just them. ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)!
Don't forget to factor in deductions. The $800,000 probably wasn't his final adjusted gross income. I've seen figures that state even those in the 39% bracket rarely end out paying much more than 30%. My guess is because of deductions. BW "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
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OK, first I am goning to admit to knowing very little about the ways you can hide money you earn to prevent paying taxes. I generally just go to the tax guy near where we live, have him fill in the form, and we get a bit of a refund. So, it was with a bit of surprise that I read this little statistic in the newest Time: President Bush and his wife made over $800,000 USD in 2002, and paid taxes of around 30-31%, or somewhere in the ballpark of $240,000 USD. Likewise, the veep and wife pulled in over $1,000,000 USD and paid around 29% in taxes. So my question is: is this not a little low? And if so, why and how are they getting aware with paying so little (percentage wise)? And please note, though I do not like Dubya and Co, this question applies to any of the high rollers out there doing this, not just them. ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)!
First off, I'd question these figures. I find it hard to believe he paid 1/4mill in taxes. I strongly suspect this is a "pre-deduction" figure. Also keep in mind that federal employees don't pay into social security. I, however, have to pay into social security being self-employed, so my tax bracket is about 30%. One of the simplist ways of hiding your money is to start and off-shore company and pay "interest" to it, which is deductible. There's a couple other cool techniques too dealing with off-shore companies that I read about recently, but I can't find the link! Marc Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator.
Sensitivity and ethnic diversity means celebrating difference, not hiding from it. - Christian Graus
Every line of code is a liability - Taka Muraoka
Microsoft deliberately adds arbitrary layers of complexity to make it difficult to deliver Windows features on non-Windows platforms--Microsoft's "Halloween files" -
OK, first I am goning to admit to knowing very little about the ways you can hide money you earn to prevent paying taxes. I generally just go to the tax guy near where we live, have him fill in the form, and we get a bit of a refund. So, it was with a bit of surprise that I read this little statistic in the newest Time: President Bush and his wife made over $800,000 USD in 2002, and paid taxes of around 30-31%, or somewhere in the ballpark of $240,000 USD. Likewise, the veep and wife pulled in over $1,000,000 USD and paid around 29% in taxes. So my question is: is this not a little low? And if so, why and how are they getting aware with paying so little (percentage wise)? And please note, though I do not like Dubya and Co, this question applies to any of the high rollers out there doing this, not just them. ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)!
I have always wondered how people get away with paying high taxes. I use Turbo Tax to do my taxes and at the end it gives me a national average report. people at my income level pay significantly less taxes than I. I somehow can never figure out how. I own a house and my taxes have drastically dropped after the interest deduction. However, others still seem to pay less than I do. Making charitable donations may reduce your tax amount but it also reduces the amount of money you own. So it does not make much sense. Of course I would much rather pay for a worthy cause than for building nukes so that others can be denied the ability to build nukes....lol I have heard from a lot of folks as to how one can deduct a whole bunch of expenses as business and professional expenses. What the hell do you deduct? I did try that, based on techie books and software I purchased. But only the amount that exceeds 2% of your income is deductible. Thats a lot of books........ So in short, I find that I just pay a whole lot of taxes. :(
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OK, first I am goning to admit to knowing very little about the ways you can hide money you earn to prevent paying taxes. I generally just go to the tax guy near where we live, have him fill in the form, and we get a bit of a refund. So, it was with a bit of surprise that I read this little statistic in the newest Time: President Bush and his wife made over $800,000 USD in 2002, and paid taxes of around 30-31%, or somewhere in the ballpark of $240,000 USD. Likewise, the veep and wife pulled in over $1,000,000 USD and paid around 29% in taxes. So my question is: is this not a little low? And if so, why and how are they getting aware with paying so little (percentage wise)? And please note, though I do not like Dubya and Co, this question applies to any of the high rollers out there doing this, not just them. ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)!
"So my question is: is this not a little low?" Actually, most people pay a lot less (in percentage) than that. The more your report the more you will have to pay, note that it is not the same as the more you earn the more you will have to pay. How to earn a lot money without paying for taxes is the million dollar question. Some rich and not so rish people would say they paid more than their fair share of taxes. They believe or trying to make you believe that your income is your money and you are giving it away to support the government and the poor. But think about it, it is not and will never be your money, because you never have a choice on whether to pay it or not and you don't decide how much you are going to pay either, nor do you get more voting power in elections if you pay extra taxes. It's all politics driven by economics (greed).
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OK, first I am goning to admit to knowing very little about the ways you can hide money you earn to prevent paying taxes. I generally just go to the tax guy near where we live, have him fill in the form, and we get a bit of a refund. So, it was with a bit of surprise that I read this little statistic in the newest Time: President Bush and his wife made over $800,000 USD in 2002, and paid taxes of around 30-31%, or somewhere in the ballpark of $240,000 USD. Likewise, the veep and wife pulled in over $1,000,000 USD and paid around 29% in taxes. So my question is: is this not a little low? And if so, why and how are they getting aware with paying so little (percentage wise)? And please note, though I do not like Dubya and Co, this question applies to any of the high rollers out there doing this, not just them. ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)!
30% tax is low? :omg:
Regards,Rohit Sinha
...celebrating Indian spirit and Cricket. 8MB video, really cool!
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Perhaps they gave a lot to charity and were able to deduct that from the total tax due? Plus, that is probably just income tax we're talking about. You know, if I made $1,000,000, I'd be pretty ticked off that I had to give the government 300,000 of it!
Jason Henderson
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - GandhiJason Henderson wrote: You know, if I made $1,000,000, I'd be pretty ticked off that I had to give the government 300,000 of it! i'm in the 29% federal bracket. add the 6.5% state tax, 14% FICA/FUTA (self employed), various payroll, unemployment insurance and other taxes, i'm paying... that's right, close to 50% before i spend a cent of it. when i spend it, i pay 7.5% sales tax. then there's state property tax on cars and house. so, less than half of what i make goes to the people i buy stuff from. and for this i get no health insurance. yeah, bush has it rough. -c
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Jason Henderson wrote: You know, if I made $1,000,000, I'd be pretty ticked off that I had to give the government 300,000 of it! i'm in the 29% federal bracket. add the 6.5% state tax, 14% FICA/FUTA (self employed), various payroll, unemployment insurance and other taxes, i'm paying... that's right, close to 50% before i spend a cent of it. when i spend it, i pay 7.5% sales tax. then there's state property tax on cars and house. so, less than half of what i make goes to the people i buy stuff from. and for this i get no health insurance. yeah, bush has it rough. -c
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Chris Losinger wrote: so, less than half of what i make goes to the people i buy stuff from. and for this i get no health insurance. yeah, bush has it rough. I'm sure he's paying about that much if not more than 50%. That figure is probably just fed. income tax. Its highway robbery if you ask me.
Jason Henderson
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi -
OK, first I am goning to admit to knowing very little about the ways you can hide money you earn to prevent paying taxes. I generally just go to the tax guy near where we live, have him fill in the form, and we get a bit of a refund. So, it was with a bit of surprise that I read this little statistic in the newest Time: President Bush and his wife made over $800,000 USD in 2002, and paid taxes of around 30-31%, or somewhere in the ballpark of $240,000 USD. Likewise, the veep and wife pulled in over $1,000,000 USD and paid around 29% in taxes. So my question is: is this not a little low? And if so, why and how are they getting aware with paying so little (percentage wise)? And please note, though I do not like Dubya and Co, this question applies to any of the high rollers out there doing this, not just them. ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)!
Jim Crafton wrote: is this not a little low? No. In fact, its far too high. "My job is to protect America" George W. Bush.
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Perhaps they gave a lot to charity and were able to deduct that from the total tax due? Plus, that is probably just income tax we're talking about. You know, if I made $1,000,000, I'd be pretty ticked off that I had to give the government 300,000 of it!
Jason Henderson
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi -
Jason Henderson wrote: You know, if I made $1,000,000, I'd be pretty ticked off that I had to give the government 300,000 of it! You'd still have $700,000. Debbie
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Chris Losinger wrote: so, less than half of what i make goes to the people i buy stuff from. and for this i get no health insurance. yeah, bush has it rough. I'm sure he's paying about that much if not more than 50%. That figure is probably just fed. income tax. Its highway robbery if you ask me.
Jason Henderson
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - GandhiJason Henderson wrote: That figure is probably just fed. income tax. do DC residents pay state tax ? is GWB a DC resident ? Jason Henderson wrote: Its highway robbery if you ask me i'm happy knowing that all the federal taxes my wife and i paid last year was only enough to buy two JDAMs. the same site estimates we used approx 5000 of these on Afghanistan alone. -c
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Jason Henderson wrote: That figure is probably just fed. income tax. do DC residents pay state tax ? is GWB a DC resident ? Jason Henderson wrote: Its highway robbery if you ask me i'm happy knowing that all the federal taxes my wife and i paid last year was only enough to buy two JDAMs. the same site estimates we used approx 5000 of these on Afghanistan alone. -c
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Chris Losinger wrote: do DC residents pay state tax ? is GWB a DC resident ? Probably Texas. Chris Losinger wrote: i'm happy knowing that all the federal taxes my wife and i paid last year was only enough to buy two JDAMs. the same site estimates we used approx 5000 of these on Afghanistan alone. :omg:
Jason Henderson
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi -
Jason Henderson wrote: That figure is probably just fed. income tax. do DC residents pay state tax ? is GWB a DC resident ? Jason Henderson wrote: Its highway robbery if you ask me i'm happy knowing that all the federal taxes my wife and i paid last year was only enough to buy two JDAMs. the same site estimates we used approx 5000 of these on Afghanistan alone. -c
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Jason Henderson wrote: You know, if I made $1,000,000, I'd be pretty ticked off that I had to give the government 300,000 of it! i'm in the 29% federal bracket. add the 6.5% state tax, 14% FICA/FUTA (self employed), various payroll, unemployment insurance and other taxes, i'm paying... that's right, close to 50% before i spend a cent of it. when i spend it, i pay 7.5% sales tax. then there's state property tax on cars and house. so, less than half of what i make goes to the people i buy stuff from. and for this i get no health insurance. yeah, bush has it rough. -c
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Chris Losinger wrote: the 6.5% state tax Have you considered moving a few miles down (to Florida) to avoid this? Regards, Alvaro
When birds fly in the right formation, they need only exert half the effort. Even in nature, teamwork results in collective laziness. -- despair.com
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I have always wondered how people get away with paying high taxes. I use Turbo Tax to do my taxes and at the end it gives me a national average report. people at my income level pay significantly less taxes than I. I somehow can never figure out how. I own a house and my taxes have drastically dropped after the interest deduction. However, others still seem to pay less than I do. Making charitable donations may reduce your tax amount but it also reduces the amount of money you own. So it does not make much sense. Of course I would much rather pay for a worthy cause than for building nukes so that others can be denied the ability to build nukes....lol I have heard from a lot of folks as to how one can deduct a whole bunch of expenses as business and professional expenses. What the hell do you deduct? I did try that, based on techie books and software I purchased. But only the amount that exceeds 2% of your income is deductible. Thats a lot of books........ So in short, I find that I just pay a whole lot of taxes. :(
There are a number of ways to lower your taxes. One of the best is to start a business. Fix a few computers or write a couple of custom programs for resale each year - as long as it turns a profit in 2 out of each 5 years it is a business, not a hobby, and the expenses are deductible. The business can then buy your technical books, provide your computer and it's software, send you to training meetings, etc. Self-employed people who do not have medical insurance provided by an employer can also deduct 50% of any insurance premiums they pay for themselves. Charitable contributions are direct writeoffs, but what isn't widely known is that if you volunteer for charities, the miles you drive for that purpose are deductible. The miles you drive to go to the doctor, dentist, or simply to pick up prescriptions are all valid medical deductions. You can also deduct the cost of tools that you use at work if your employer requires them, but doesn't pay for them. If you have any self-employment income you can also start a Keogh plan for savings that are tax-free. IF you don't have a retirement plan at work, start an IRA and deduct up to $3000 a year from taxable income. Even without an IRA, investments in certain government securities are tax free. Buy a house, live in it two years out of five, and the capital gain on it when you sell is excluded from taxation. If you're paying off a student loan, the interest is deductible. Got kids you want to educate, or do you need a degree? The Hope Scholarship Credit gives a non-refundable credit of $1500 a year, per student in your household for the first two years of a degree program. Plus, the Lifetime Learning Credit gives up to $1000 per tax return forever. If you pay any daycare expenses for your kids, they're deductible up to a limit of about $2500 per kid. There's lots of ways to reduce taxes, but most of them are obscure, and all require record keeping that most people are too lazy to bother with. Rich people can afford to pay accountants to keep track of all the trivia, and are more likely to claim these credits. But if you're willing to keep a shoebox for receipts for everything and sort through it once a year you can do amazing things. Buy yourself a copy of J.K. Lasser's "Your Income Tax" Professional edition each year and read it. It's a great reference, though an incredibly boring read, and contains not just the laws but the court cases that have challenged the laws to help interpret them. Plus, it's deductible!:-D "Please don't p
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Chris Losinger wrote: do DC residents pay state tax ? is GWB a DC resident ? Probably Texas. Chris Losinger wrote: i'm happy knowing that all the federal taxes my wife and i paid last year was only enough to buy two JDAMs. the same site estimates we used approx 5000 of these on Afghanistan alone. :omg:
Jason Henderson
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi:omg: is right. at $18,000 a pop, we could be dropping fully loaded Honda Civics on them. of course, not even GWB's federal tax could have paid for a single cruise missile (.75 Mil each). -c
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Jason Henderson wrote: Tax season just makes me mad. i predict (using my crystal ball) that the Revolution will come in early April. -c
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Chris Losinger wrote: the 6.5% state tax Have you considered moving a few miles down (to Florida) to avoid this? Regards, Alvaro
When birds fly in the right formation, they need only exert half the effort. Even in nature, teamwork results in collective laziness. -- despair.com
Alvaro Mendez wrote: Have you considered moving a few miles down (to Florida) to avoid this? i'd rather go a few miles west (Washington). Florida is too hot for me. :) -c
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