Feb
20th
2015
It's funny... · 4:45am Feb 20th, 2015
I get home after a long day of dealing with angry people upset about their taxes, and I find this being featured on the site. Isn't serendipity fun?
...
Look, I have nothing to talk about. I'm a lazy hack writer who hasn't written anything, so I can't talk about that. The latest issue of the comics is delayed because of a labor dispute, so I can't talk about that. I could regale you with tales of the people who think threatening to kill people will get them insured faster, but that's hardly newsworthy.
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I'm a horrible person, aren't I?
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InsertAuthorHere · 331 views
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No, you aren't a horrible person, but some of those people you seem to have to put up with probably are.
This too is hardly newsworthy.
Money.
No, you're not horrible, at all. Also, I thought you had been working on-and-off on Waning Moon?
I doubt that unproductively on Fimfic makes you a horrible person. It's not like you're MythrilMoth or RealityCheck. If you ask me, I think you're someone I can make comfortable small talk with.
I have to say, I'm one of those who complains about taxes. But it's because I'm self-employed, and therefore, although I live below the poverty line, I pay a 18-23% tax on my income. No tax return, nothing. Because if you're self employed, dependents, etc, don't count towards tax exemptions. Basically, you really get penalized for being a small-business owner. :pinkiesad:
Just because the vast majority of people are either terrible, stupid, or most likely both, does not make YOU one.
2813636
I thought the more exemptions you had, the smaller your return would be?
2813871
Wrong choice of words. I meant deductions, but was on my phone.
Anyway, the point is, all of that stuff gets applied before you work out the self-employment/small business section. So none of the deductions, tax breaks, etc, apply if you're a small business owner. It's hard to not feel like the government hates you when you're living below the poverty line and still being taxed almost 25% of your income just because you want to be an entrepreneur. Even if you work a second, normal job, you're still not going to see a return, because the SE tax sucks it all up.
Basically? America hates the small business owner, and it's getting worse every year.
Well, I don't think you're a horrible person. I think you are just overworked and overstressed and need an outlet, which you find here. And that's perfectly acceptable. If you need to blow off steam, there is probably ALWAYS someone here that will respond, most of the time to help.
-C.Storm
lol a hack writer who hasn't written anything , except for everything that you've written
yeah you probably are , but by the sounds of it you still haven't watched that video i posted to you....
I honestly don't see how your a horrible person at all.
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I'm somewhat confused here. The one thing I can recall as a hit self-employment faces is you end up paying the employer portion of SS/Medicare, but beyond that it shouldn't change relative to being an individual. You can still claim the standard deduction and so forth, so I'm curious where you're getting the 25% from.
The reason most people see returns, after all, is that they overpay throughout the year so a return is basically a no-interest loan to the government, and if you were min-maxing as much as possible you'd get a $0 refund each year.
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Just grabbed the forms so I could give you the exact numbers.
SE earned dollars are taxed separately on another from, which is then added to your total tax owed after all deductions are accounted for. This years tax is ... 15.3% of 92.35% of your total income, plus things like Social Security/Medicare which get tacked on afterwards. Unless you've earned over $117,000 this year, in which case your tax is 4% of 92.35% plus a flat fee of $14,508.
So depending on SS/Medicare, my total tax usually comes in somewhere around 18-25% of my total income, varying from year to year. It depends on SS/Medicare, and also on what the SE tax is that year. Also, how much I made (the less I make, the larger the SS/Medicare cut becomes).
Again, because of how self-employment tax works, all of this is applied after you work out your deductions, and since you can't owe less than zero before this, deductions count for squat.
I've actually got it alright. The self-run print shop I get my business cards from confided to me yesterday that their tax is roughly 33% a year.
Edit: Saying I've got it all right comparatively doesn't make me enjoy it any more though. Our tax system is pretty screwed up.
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I won't deny the corporate system is super screwed up, mostly due to the fact that larger corporations can offshore and thus never come close to the real tax rate; that at least is a recognized huge flaw on both sides, but acrimony is preventing them from doing anything about it, irritatingly enough.
Though I still think it may not be quite right. I've had to file SE taxes before and I could still claim the standard deduction & I believe the EITC on those. You're paying the SS/Medicare regardless, and anything state/local varies, but I recall the end total being in that 15-20% range, yes, with the bulk being SS/Medicare.
I think there should be a law requiring everyone to work either retail, comission, waiting, or service to A. Teach kids the value of PS education, and B. To get people off their high horses.
Could be worse...your department could lose funding by this Friday and still have to show up for work even though you won't be getting a paycheck...
That's the government for you.