It will also be money that you cannot put into a retirement fund or a fund for the children’s college education. A big part of that check will represent money that the government believes it can spend better than you are capable of spending it. This remains true even when wasteful spending by the government is exposed year in and year out.
We pay taxes to the federal government, the state government as well as to our local governments. We even pay taxes to help the governments of many other nations so that they can waste it on things they should be paying for themselves. The thing is, that all of these governments are spending your money faster then you can make it.
What makes it even worse is the fact that there are many who are not helping you to support all of this government spending. This would indicate that the number on that check is far higher than it really should be. If someone was ambitious enough to add up the number of persons who are not helping you but should be helping you there is no doubt in my mind that the numbers would be mind boggling. The number is growing larger every year when it should be growing smaller.
Before you send in that check try a little experiment. Take the tax bracket that you are in then add 15.5% (social security tax) to that. Now, if you pay state income tax add that percentage on. If you own a home figure out what percentage of your gross income that your property tax is and add it on. Now, for those who live in states that imposes a sales tax you can add that percentage in.
Once you have done this you will have an approximate idea of how much you are giving to the government to spend as it wills. You will also see an approximate idea of how much you were allowed to spend on your loved ones. You’ll be surprised but I do not believe it will be a pleasant surprise.
If you really care about how much the government takes, you can then add up all the taxes that are disguised as fees like the registration costs of your vehicle or vehicles along with the taxes you pay at the gas pump. Then you have what is called hidden taxes that you pay. These are taxes paid by businesses and considered as a part of the cost of a product but are passed along to the consumer when they buy the product.
It is you, the citizen of this nation that is burdened with the support of your governments. Remember this, as the nation becomes more socialistic in its economic system the greater the burden of taxes will befall upon your shoulders and the shoulders of your children.
So, now go ahead, send that check in to the IRS. Remember, as Harry Reid was quoted as saying, paying those taxes is a voluntary act. By sending that check in you are reaffirming just how much you trust people like him and others of his ilk to be able to spend that money better than you can.
But then again, that is the only reason you work so hard to earn that paycheck, so that it can be spent, isn’t it? So, show just how lazy you are by giving it to the government to spend for you? Keeping it so that you can spend it wastefully on your family wouldn’t be right and far too much work when we have governments that is willing to work so hard day in and day out for you and can waste it so much easier and better as well as faster than you can.
As you think on this, you might also think about that tea party that is being given near you. You probably could stand for a spot of tea by now.
You might just jog along over to Tim's place too. He has some exciting news that might bring your spirits back up too. Sounds as if Texas has decided to become a State again instead of being just a state. Go, Cowboys. :)
HAPPY TAX DAY, ALL
15 comments:
boy you sure wanted your readers to feel moody today hehehe...there is always the other way to see things too like if the goverment does not have money there is not much they can do for peoples..(smile) but meanwhile you guys comment on this end taxtime i think i will go back to work since i got two weeks left on our taxtime..
bye for now dear Griper
sha
Death & Taxes: I've never had a problem with taxes, but death...
It is instructive to study the Fed lower & upper rate through the years. We find that we are relatively low now. But, in addition to the various other taxing entities you noted, as well as the hidden varieties, we now face ridiculous complexities. Deductions, dividends, charities,
subtracting line 18a from line 13.
We also pay FICA and medicare right along with the income tax.
I was rather fascinated with the
FlatTax proposal until I calculated it would triple mine!!
..and I admit, I may be one of the
0.00003% that doesn't mind. :)
shucks sha, i was just trying to help those that have to pay their taxes see it in a humorous way, as a way to show how lazy they were. lolol and think of this sha, you're getting paid to help people be lazy too.
for the rest of my readers, sha is one of those "very nice" tax persons up in Canada where they get an extra couple of weeks before they need to pay their taxes. i recommend her to everyone that decides to emigrate up there.
BB,
i agree with you on the complexities of the tax code. as you know i'm a skeptic of the intent of any gov't idea so when i see that the first thing that comes to my mind is that gov't is trying to mislead people about how much they actually owe and pay in taxes.and it makes me even more skeptical when you hear all the arguing over who should be paying how much taxes all the time.
as for the flat tax idea, i'm no fan of the income tax in the first place. as i said in my post it leaves too many persons who should be helping not paying any tax as well as others cheating on taxes. Obama exposed that all too well in his appointments.
Well said in the entirety of your piece Griper. I'll have to read this more than once to absorb your points - bravo!
Thankfully, I got a nice refund. :-) I didn't work for a few months because I had to do a teaching internship... funny how the less you work, the more you get back.
Speaking of 'lazy' and 'taxes', I like Karen got a huge refund. When I retired, I had a number of
asset/payouts wherin I witheld at the high rate I was earning. The paperwork was too daunting, so I continued high withholding. True, the gubmint gets the interest, but
it is like 'windfall profits'. So,
one year it is a new roof, another a big vacation...this year all new
energy-efficient windows. Gotta admit though, Griper..if I didn't have taxes...could have done all those things in ONE year! :)
and i always took the opposite approach, BB. i made sure that i had no withholdings at the beginning of the year then doubled the withholding at the end of the year to make up for it.
never did get much back, even paid in a few times but not much. paid a few dollars on the interest i earned but always took the attitude that any interest i earned lowered my tax bill.
now, i'll admit i don't know if i would have been able to do that with a family. but will also admit i found out i could live a whole lot cheaper at the end of the year then i thought i could.
If I was feeling better I would walk to work tonight and forget about the gas.. But the rest of it I know exactly what you mean.. We have already filed and the Federal has taken most of there money this year. We owe them like 400 dollars yet.
To echo Karen's point I also get a nice tax refund every year. The state refund is small but the fed one ain't bad and that's because I work a lot but not too much. I'm a part-timer that gets his hours in but just short of full-time but I once caught a glimpse of the butcher's check and OMG the taxes taken out!! He might have earned over a thousand dollars last week but will be taking home about six hundred which calls into question the wisdom of the old maxim the harder you work the better off you'll be. Geez if they offered me full-time I'd really have to think about that one.
Griper,
We do not pay taxes because we trust the Government. We do it because we are compelled to against our will.
Only Democrats trust the Government, the rest of us only tolerate their continuous wasteful stupidity.
I agree that taxes are far too high right now and Obama is really bad news in this department.
BB,
The Flat Tax is something that I've always considered an Extreme Republican Idea. As a Liberal, I am really surprised that you're not opposed to it.
It's better if you can save that extra money, rather than having it with held, but sometimes this is hard to do.
....funny how the less you work, the more you get back....
and if you take that to the extreme, you make out real well, just ask the millions who pay NO tax and are going to get even more tax credits this year!
Great post Griper!
I got mine the first week of Feb. I have it for a trip in May.
No I don't feel guilty I worked for it!
Griper,
As I was thinking about this Post a little more, I realized that even though you may have been a little light hearted in your intent, there is truth to your statement about Laziness. We are not so much Lazy because we are allowing the Government to "Spend" the money for us, but because some of us are not willing to "Help Out the Poor", but would rather the Government do that job for us.
Please don't take offense, Griper. What I just said is not necessarily directed at you, but instead at who ever it happens to apply to.
You said to BB that you are "no fan of the Income Tax", yet in your next Post up, you say to me that "It is much easier to raise the Income Tax then it is to raise the Sales Tax.".
Dcat,
Why would anyone feel guilty about getting money back from a very greedy Government?
what i said to BB and what i said to you is reconcilable, lista.
i just didn't word it as clearly as i should have for you.
what i should have said is that it is easier to impose a higher income tax upon the people than it is to impose a higher sales tax.
reason; a politician can declare he will impose a higher income tax onto the people but promise only a portion of the people will have to pay it. he can even promise to lower the income tax on the rest of the people. this was Obama's strategy on taxes.
a sales tax is imposed on everybody equally thus any promise to raise the tax there affects everyone. this includes the poor as well as the rich. not very good strategy for a politician if he wants to be elected.
Griper,
Your change in wording from "Raise" to "Impose" really doesn't change the statement that much, yet your explanation does because it points out that the Imposition of Income Tax can be done in an Unequal manner. Your explanation also shows why the Fair Tax is just as "Fair" and Equal as the Flat Tax is.
The only difference is that the fact that the purchase of Necessities is not Taxed does give a break to the poor, yet in a way that the Rich are not likely to complain so much about. It's actually a pretty good Compromise I think.
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