never mind
never mind
Last edited by Scout; 10-07-2006 at 12:06 AM.





it's because people are used to the idea of employer and employee being two distinct entities. when they happen to be the same person, it somehow feels to many people like double-dipping, though of course it isn't (technically, the very best kind of correct!)
also, plenty of people are like 'i'm not getting SS and such when i'm old, let me keep it now!', which is perhaps not a bad way to feel about the situation.





^^^ technically speaking, 'employees' wind up having 7% of their gross pay withheld for Social Security, plus another 1/2% or so for medicare tax. In addition, the 'employer' must also pay another 7% plus 1/2% tax on 'behalf' of the employee, which is essentially figured in before the employer determines the employee's actual rate of pay (and sets that rate of pay 7 1/2% lower than it otherwise might have been).
Self-employed persons are required to pay the entire 14% Social Security tax plus 1% medicare tax. The total amount of tax paid in either case is the same. However in the case of a 'self-employed' person the total size of the tax is readily apparent, which prompts many 'self-employed' persons to be unhappy with the politicians that established / raised this tax. However, in the case of 'employees', most people only see the one half of the tax withheld from their paychecks, and are oblivious of the other one half of the tax that their employer is paying on their behalf (in the form of a reduced paycheck). As a result, these people tend to blame employers for paying low wages rather than blaming politicians who have managed to tax away 7 1/2% of their pay by total 'stealth' before their employer ever prints up their paycheck.





Hehe. I knew you'd chime in with that mel.![]()
But the thing is, self-employed people pay the 15.3% on their NET income while employees pay the 7.65% on their GROSS income, AND self-employed people can deduct half of the SE tax from their AGI. So theoretically the self-employed folks wind up paying about the same as an employee with similar net income![]()
And why is it, everytime I try to type SE I put SW and then have to correct?





^^^ yes it is supposedly 'revenue neutral' in regard to employer plus employee combined paying the same amount of SSI and Medicare tax as an 'independent contractor' pays via the SE tax. As I said, what is 'not' equal is the fact that 1/2 of the employee's SSI and Medicare tax is collected by 'stealth' from the employer before the employee receives their paycheck, whereas the 'independent contractor' sees the entire amount of the tax.
As to SE versus SW, what can I say !
In my original post, I was griping about how it seems unfair that a self-employed person earning $50K/year pays about $6,300 for the self-employment tax while a self-employed person earning $90K/year pays only about $2,400.
It seems that any self-employed person earning $50K or less feels the biggest tax crunch. A person earning $50K keeps about 63% of her income (in Georgia) while a person earning $90K keeps about 70%.
$70K seems to be the marker where taxes are not a burden.
BTW, I hate self-employment tax because I, my parents, and my family will never receive a benefit that justifies the amount we have paid and will pay.
I have no problem paying any of the other taxes because we need to keep this country running.
^ Heh blame Bush or others for the tax cuts given to the wealthy. But that's a different subject altogether.
My city of Philadelphia has one of THE highest self-employed tax rates in the country. I can see why a lot of people use their alternate suburb address when doing their taxes, or avoid getting their business license so they don't have to pay the self-employed tax. Not that it's right or legal, but with the way my city keeps raising taxes without putting much back into the community, I can see how someone would feel spiteful enough to avoid paying it.
This is why you invest your money. Its called tax shelters. The more money you make, the more you sock away so that it cannot be taxed...let it earn you money, reduce your tax bracket and be happy.Originally Posted by Scout
My mom consistently votes Republican because she thinks that one of these days, her tax rate will be reduced. She earns $45K.Originally Posted by PhillyDancer1982
Yep. Already on it, Venus.Originally Posted by VenusGoddess
Right now, I am in a "good" tax bracket. If I have tons of legitimate deductions making my taxable income about $50K, would that put me in the "bad" tax bracket?
EDIT: Yes, it does put me in the "bad" bracket, but I would get to keep A WHOLE LOT MORE of my income.
Last edited by Scout; 10-07-2006 at 08:06 PM.
why dont you just work more so you are over the 70k tax bracket?
I was under the impression that when your income went up you paid more taxes. I think in 2004 I made about $50k and I paid about 25% of my net in taxes.





^^^ that's because Florida doesn't have state or local income taxes !
yeah, florida doesn't, but now I'm moving back to Louisiana. Lucky me. i'll forever be trying to catch up with my taxes.
There are to many fucking taxes in this country.
I seem to remember a little war about being over taxed.
That is where the King George fucked it up. Every single colonist was aware of the stamp for this and stamp for that because they paid it themselves. If he made it so the merchant was forced to pay a stamp for each item sold then we may very well be a colony today.
I pay my people 50/hr or better - so you can only imagine the amount of income for the company is dedicated simply to pay off the new crown so they won't come putting padlocks on my doors.
If the government sent out a bill every month to each person in the country saying "These are the taxes you owe." Even better, multiple bills each month from states, counties, fed, townships, etc. saying "This is how much you owe" - I bet we would have far fewer taxes.
what sucks is that I pay all these friggin taxes and can't even get decent healthcare because I'm self employed.
Originally Posted by FrustratedBunny
Oh ain't that the truth.





yes, exactly ... thinking the employer's 'share' of SSI and medicare tax, thinking the 64 cents per gallon road tax on gasoline, thinking 'excise' taxes on utility bills, and a host of other 'stealth taxes' that tend to make people think that the product is too expensive rather than realizing that it is being taxed.That is where the King George fucked it up. Every single colonist was aware of the stamp for this and stamp for that because they paid it themselves. If he made it so the merchant was forced to pay a stamp for each item sold then we may very well be a colony today.
With health care, the gov't has been even more 'stealthy' by forcing health providers to provide care to indigents / illegal aliens / medicaid patients with no hope of reimbursement for the full actual costs of providing that health care ... and then allowing those health providers to 'overcharge' for the health care provided to 'private patients' in order to cover the shortfall. Again because this cost subsidization is being done by 'stealth', most 'private patients' think that the product is too expensive rather than realizing that it is being heavily 'taxed' to subsidize the unreimbursed costs of providing health care to someone else !Health insurance cost is fucking ridiculous. "But we have the best quality healthcare in the world" --- Yeah sure, that's why more than half the country can't even use it
And of course people who have 'straight jobs' that provide medical insurance only see perhaps 20% of the actual costs themselves, with perhaps 80% being transferred to the medical insurance company ... which then introduces yet another layer of 'stealth' as their employer is hit with higher costs for next year's employee medical insurance coverage such that no employee pay raises can be granted ... which of course is usually blamed on the employer being a cheap bastard, rather than realizing that the employer is actually paying 50% of the costs of providing medical care to indigents / illegal aliens / medicaid patients who don't work for him via those increased medical insurance premiums !
My taxes are paying for the damn medicaid that I can't even qualify for.





^^^ actually, you're paying for other people's medicaid benefits twice ... once through your federal income taxes, and again by being charged higher than necessary prices by doctors and hospitals when you need medical care yourself. But look at the bright side ... in states like NY and CA we pay for it a third time via state income taxes and sales taxes !
well, I'll be moving to Louisiana where the sales tax percent is 9% and I'll be paying state income taxes. So yeah, I'll be dumping more money into that b.s. And even though we have a "charity" hospital there, besides the fact that it's gross, if you aren't dirt ass poor they send you a bill. So wtf is the "charity" in Charity?
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