question about salary after taxes ... seems like they literally take almost half?

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: cHeeZeFacTory

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: cHeeZeFacTory
yea the tax i'm seeing is crazy

I'm got a job that paid 20K+ more than my old job. After taxes I'm making only ~11K more. Somehow my california state tax tripled.

The highest marginal federal rate is 35% and the highest marginal California rate is 9.3%. A total of 44.3%. Are you in the 35% federal income bracket?

35% from 336,550 to unlimited so you would need to make above $336,550 "before" your raise to receive only 11k of your 20k raise.

I'm making no where near 300k. I'm still in the same 25% fed bracket as before. But comparing my post tax pay of my old job and new job, I'm only making 11-12k more.

It may be because i currently have 0 exemptions on fed, 0 in state, whereas in my old job I had 1,1 for fed and state.

They may be holding out that much but you most certainly are not paying (after filing your taxes) 45% in state and federal income taxes.

Edit: After thinking of it, you might be close in ALL taxes (state, federal, SS/Medicare and local). At 25% federal and 9.3% state, throw in 7.65% SS/Medicare and a few % (assumed) local tax and you would be in the 44% rate (overall including all taxes withheld from your check).

Keep forgetting about that damn 7.65% SS/Medicare payroll tax!

 

[Sukhoi]

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: phatj
ok from taxes.yahoo.com i was looking at the different federal and state tax brackets

it looks like my wife and I will be taxed federally at 33% and state at 7.5%....

So that is a total tax of 40.5%.

Now still being a student i never really noticed being taxed much ... in fact i always looked forward to april 15 cuz i knew i'd be getting a tax refund.

so when i get my real job... i'll be taxed 40.5%. Now I know there are a lot of things you can "deduct" for to lower how much of your salary you actually lose.

So I assume that most people don't lose the exact amount of their tax bracket to taxes? Realistically -- and again im not familiar with different kinds of tax deductions but i assume -- if i am buying a house and investing into retirement and investing into college funds for my children etc -- should I really expect a total tax rate close to 40%? Or can people lower that drastically most of the time?

EDIT: im not complaining about the taxes... just asking questions cuz im curious

Actually, after deductions (and you will have deductions), you will pay the following tax percentages:

10% on the first $15,100 of income
15% from 15,100 to 61,300 of income
25% from 61,300 to 123,700 of income
28% from 123,700 to 188,450 of income
33% from 188,450 to 336,550 of income
35% from 336,550 to unlimited


You will not average 33% federal tax unless you get well into the millions and the 35% tax bracket to bring your average up.

Not advocating taxes here, just pointing out the obvious.

Is that for everyone regardless of income? I just started my first permanent job, and I remember seeing some chart that I pay XX% federal tax on income up to around $27,900, and then YY% above $27,900. There were other values on the chart but that was the important one for me this year. How do those numbers relate to what you posted?

 

[theeedude]

Originally posted by: AgentJean

Originally posted by: smack Down

it looks like my wife and I will be taxed federally at 33% and state at 7.5%....

So that is a total tax of 40.5%.

33% $154,801-336,550 $188,451-336,550 $94,226-168,275 $171,651-336,550

Ugh whiny little bitchs complaining about taxes when your pay is almost 200k.

Uh and your not really paying 33% you pay 33% on every dollar you earn over those amounts and upto those amounts you pay less.

Shut up you communist. Everyone should be taxed at the same percentage. You want equality after all don't you?

On yeah, I forgot, Communism is a different standard of equality for different people.

Everybody is taxed at the same percentage in each bracket. A person making 20K pays the same tax on the first 20K of his income as a person making $200K.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: phatj
ok from taxes.yahoo.com i was looking at the different federal and state tax brackets

it looks like my wife and I will be taxed federally at 33% and state at 7.5%....

So that is a total tax of 40.5%.

Now still being a student i never really noticed being taxed much ... in fact i always looked forward to april 15 cuz i knew i'd be getting a tax refund.

so when i get my real job... i'll be taxed 40.5%. Now I know there are a lot of things you can "deduct" for to lower how much of your salary you actually lose.

So I assume that most people don't lose the exact amount of their tax bracket to taxes? Realistically -- and again im not familiar with different kinds of tax deductions but i assume -- if i am buying a house and investing into retirement and investing into college funds for my children etc -- should I really expect a total tax rate close to 40%? Or can people lower that drastically most of the time?

EDIT: im not complaining about the taxes... just asking questions cuz im curious

Actually, after deductions (and you will have deductions), you will pay the following tax percentages:

10% on the first $15,100 of income
15% from 15,100 to 61,300 of income
25% from 61,300 to 123,700 of income
28% from 123,700 to 188,450 of income
33% from 188,450 to 336,550 of income
35% from 336,550 to unlimited


You will not average 33% federal tax unless you get well into the millions and the 35% tax bracket to bring your average up.

Not advocating taxes here, just pointing out the obvious.

Is that for everyone regardless of income? I just started my first permanent job, and I remember seeing some chart that I pay XX% federal tax on income up to around $27,900, and then YY% above $27,900. There were other values on the chart but that was the important one for me this year. How do those numbers relate to what you posted?

The chart you saw was probably before deductions and assumed standard deductions and exemptions (so many dependants, etc). The above number are AFTER Deductions federal marginal tax rates.

Example:

I make $25,000 after deductions. I would pay 10% on the first $15,100 and 15% on the remaining $9,900. Just because you have a marginal rate (ending rate) of a certain percentage does not mean that you pay that rate over your entire income.

 

[Sukhoi]

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: Sukhoi

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: phatj
ok from taxes.yahoo.com i was looking at the different federal and state tax brackets

it looks like my wife and I will be taxed federally at 33% and state at 7.5%....

So that is a total tax of 40.5%.

Now still being a student i never really noticed being taxed much ... in fact i always looked forward to april 15 cuz i knew i'd be getting a tax refund.

so when i get my real job... i'll be taxed 40.5%. Now I know there are a lot of things you can "deduct" for to lower how much of your salary you actually lose.

So I assume that most people don't lose the exact amount of their tax bracket to taxes? Realistically -- and again im not familiar with different kinds of tax deductions but i assume -- if i am buying a house and investing into retirement and investing into college funds for my children etc -- should I really expect a total tax rate close to 40%? Or can people lower that drastically most of the time?

EDIT: im not complaining about the taxes... just asking questions cuz im curious

Actually, after deductions (and you will have deductions), you will pay the following tax percentages:

10% on the first $15,100 of income
15% from 15,100 to 61,300 of income
25% from 61,300 to 123,700 of income
28% from 123,700 to 188,450 of income
33% from 188,450 to 336,550 of income
35% from 336,550 to unlimited


You will not average 33% federal tax unless you get well into the millions and the 35% tax bracket to bring your average up.

Not advocating taxes here, just pointing out the obvious.

Is that for everyone regardless of income? I just started my first permanent job, and I remember seeing some chart that I pay XX% federal tax on income up to around $27,900, and then YY% above $27,900. There were other values on the chart but that was the important one for me this year. How do those numbers relate to what you posted?

The chart you saw was probably before deductions and assumed standard deductions and exemptions (so many dependants, etc). The above number are AFTER Deductions federal marginal tax rates.

Example:

I make $25,000 after deductions. I would pay 10% on the first $15,100 and 15% on the remaining $9,900. Just because you have a marginal rate (ending rate) of a certain percentage does not mean that you pay that rate over your entire income.

Ah, I think I understand now. I currently have it setup to dump 25% pretax into my 401k, which will keep my year's income just below that $27,900. Previously I had thought that the ending tax rate was applied to the entire income, but obviously it isn't. Thus it makes no sense to do what I'm doing with my 401k, and I'm probably much better off getting my higher interest rate school loans paid off ASAP by only putting 10% or so into my 401k.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: I Saw OJ

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
I just got bumped into a new tax bracket this year so im getting 25% taken out for being single...it stinks!

oh give me a break...

u only get taxed at 25% for the amount that put you over the 25% bracket. the rest gets taxed at the lower bracket. that's why it's called graduated

as for the op, stop whining about your $150k+/yr salary

25% is 25% thats still a lot since I dont really make that much in the first place.

Is the 25% "total tax" or JUST "income tax"?

Firrt of all, 7.65% will be withheld for FICA/Social Security. Then you have fed income, state income (if applicable), City or other local income (if applicable).etc So, 25% may not be very high.

 

[AgentJean]

Originally posted by: smack Down

Originally posted by: AgentJean

Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
I just got bumped into a new tax bracket this year so im getting 25% taken out for being single...it stinks!

More the reason to support the FairTax.
Ignore what the communists say. You will infact have more money. I did the math with my budget and I'd come out about 200+ each month. That's another 200 bucks I can blow on blow.


J/K, about the blow but there would be more money for me to spend.

Well then chances are you either really rich or did the math really wrong judging by your comment about saving 200 a month I would guess the latter.

Nope. Didn't do my math wrong.

See unlike most people my age(early 20s) I don't blow every dollar I earn. A large part of my pay check goes into a savings account(about 1/3 of my paycheck). That money won't be subjected to federal taxes, hence leading to more dollars in my pocket which means I can buy more things and fueling the economy more.

BTW my calculations do not include the rebate checks for taxes paid on food, clothing and medicine. So I'm sure that number would be higher.




ETA- I just took my monthly expense calcuations and added 30% to them then subtracted that from my Gross pay. Even more money left over than I previously stated. And this doens't even factor in the rebates.

 

[SoulAssassin]

This is not the place to ask for financial/tax advice, 8 out of 10 answers provided will be flat out wrong...look elsewhere.

 

[theeedude]

Originally posted by: AgentJean

Originally posted by: smack Down

Originally posted by: AgentJean

Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
I just got bumped into a new tax bracket this year so im getting 25% taken out for being single...it stinks!

More the reason to support the FairTax.
Ignore what the communists say. You will infact have more money. I did the math with my budget and I'd come out about 200+ each month. That's another 200 bucks I can blow on blow.


J/K, about the blow but there would be more money for me to spend.

Well then chances are you either really rich or did the math really wrong judging by your comment about saving 200 a month I would guess the latter.

Nope. Didn't do my math wrong.

See unlike most people my age(early 20s) I don't blow every dollar I earn. A large part of my pay check goes into a savings account(about 1/3 of my paycheck). That money won't be subjected to federal taxes, hence leading to more dollars in my pocket which means I can buy more things and fueling the economy more.

You won't be able to buy more things since the tax on those things will be much higher.
It won't change one thing. You'll have more money in your savings account, but that money will buy you less due to higher sales taxes. So in the end you will be where you started.

BTW my calculations do not include the rebate checks for taxes paid on food, clothing and medicine. So I'm sure that number would be higher.

Except you already get a standardized deduction on income taxes to spend on these things. And on top of it, sales taxes on other items would need to be raised to pay for rebates on those necessities.

ETA- I just took my monthly expense calcuations and added 30% to them then subtracted that from my Gross pay. Even more money left over than I previously stated. And this doens't even factor in the rebates.

It's a completely unworkable system, unless you want to turn the US into a police state where the government tracks your every purchase. There will be huge underground economy if there is a 30-40% combined federal and state sales tax. Are you kidding me, if I want to buy a used car, and it's $10000, and I gotta pay $3K tax on it, I am gonna tell the guy, put $5K as the price on the receipt or I walk

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
This is not the place to ask for financial/tax advice, 8 out of 10 answers provided will be flat out wrong...look elsewhere.

There are at least 3 people on this board whose tax knowledge I take as unfallible...filter out the fluff and you can get some great advice on this board

 

[Evadman]

Originally posted by: randomlinh
welcome to the real world

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: BigToque
There should be no income tax, only consumption tax. You shouldn't be punished for what you earn.

Nah, I think we should all be treated like corporations. Tax only the "profit". For example, if you earn $100K/yr and spend all of it, then you don't owe anything.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: BigToque
There should be no income tax, only consumption tax. You shouldn't be punished for what you earn.

Nah, I think we should all be treated like corporations. Tax only the "profit". For example, if you earn $100K/yr and spend all of it, then you don't owe anything.

LOL, most Americans would get back more than they would ever pay because they spend more than they make!

 

[Bryophyte]

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: shadow9d9
Move to a state without a state income tax, like Florida : ).

Don't states like that have higher real estate taxes which means only those who own real estate (richer people) are taxed?

Keep dreaming. Assuming you mean property taxes when you say 'real estate taxes', everyone pays them. It doesn't matter whether you rent or own your home. Do you think that the owner of an apartment building pays the property taxes out of his/her own pocket without getting it back? No, they work it into the rents. If you rent a home or apartment, you pay the property taxes on it, through your rent.