This month's for you IRS

[MicroBob]

My Dad does my taxes for me because he's good at that stuff and I'm not.

We have been looking at how much I owe come March/April and it AIN'T PRETTY.

I guess I've just been (mostly) winning and winning and have been creatively letting myself forget that I'm going to owe a lot of this back in taxes at some point.

Well, that point has come....and I owe a LOT of dough (deductions or not).

I'm going to pay some of it now via my estimated quarterly-taxes (due Jan 15)...but when Mar/Apr comes around I'll be writing 2 hefty checks to the IRS for both the 2004 annual taxes that I have remaining as well as the quarterly taxes again for the first few mths of 2005.


I will be paying more on my quarterly taxes each time around in 2005 so as to avoid having a TON to owe at the end of the year in the future (I believe MSSunshine has recommended doing that too).


Obviously it's not that much different than having a regular job where they chop off 20% (or more) off of each pay-check.

For example: If my GF makes $45 or whatever as a nurse (I honestly don't know what her salary is) she will be paying a few thousand in taxes for the year too of course. But, it just happens a little bit at a time of course. She's not writing some check for $10k or whatever in one big lump to the IRS come April.


But, for me, I just wasn't having anything chopped-off and now I OWE OWE OWE big time!!


so...January....and probably February too...are dedicated to the IRS....because whatever I make in the next few weeks will probably be about the same as the amount I write in the little box on my big fat check to the IRS.


AFTER I get through this stretch (hoping I continue to win of course) I should be pretty much in the clear. Especially since I'll be more dutiful about my quarterly-taxes....but right now it kind of sucks feeling like I am playing not for ME but more for the Government.


Wasn't this country originally founded by a bunch of people who were sick and tired of paying excessive taxes?
Oh well....nothing I can really do about it right now....except try to make enough money to get past this crappy stretch.

[Sponger15SB]

If I'm not mistaken GoT's 10 week challenge was mostly to pay the IRS, and not cause he likes pimping it in alligator shoes and eating Outback every night with his entorage.

[MicroBob]

I haven't been following GOT's challenge.


Do you mean that the reason I'm in such a situation is because of my pimping good-lookin' gator-boots and nightly bloomin' onions??
guess I should have figured that out earlier.

[Sponger15SB]

[ QUOTE ]
I haven't been following GOT's challenge.


[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think he has either. Didn't he stop at like week 5?

[ QUOTE ]

Do you mean that the reason I'm in such a situation is because of my pimping good-lookin' gator-boots and nightly bloomin' onions??


[/ QUOTE ]

nightly bloomin onions? damn you must weigh 400lbs

[o0mr_bill0o]

[ QUOTE ]

Wasn't this country originally founded by a bunch of people who were sick and tired of paying excessive taxes?


[/ QUOTE ]

ahhhh! no, no it wasn't! sorry to go off topic here, but i hate this misconception. they were angry about the lack of representation not the excessiveness of the taxation. it was taxation without representation they were against, not the taxation.

/derailment

[MicroBob]

Well....I'm sure there were at least a couple of them who were angry about the mere excessiveness of the taxation.

The whole movement was "if we're going to get taxed this much we should at least have representation."

But maybe my relatives were the one's who were just along for the ride and said "hell....I don't care about whether I'm represented or not. I'm just sick of paying so damn much."


But your point is obviously correct.

[Lucien Jacky]

As an american living in Denmark I don't think our american taxation is particularly excessive while most countries taxs are progressive taxing the wealthy a higher precentage than the poor. Most americans pay more in payroll taxes social security and medicare than federal taxes which maxout for people making above 80k a year (to the best of my knowlage). The problem is that our rich and corperateratinons are being taxed at a rate so low where some don't even find it worth while to become tax exiles to the camans or other tax free paradises when it is so easy to write off every gambling junket and whore house visit as a legitimate buisness expense. The only people who seem to pay full rate are rappers who wont spring for an accountant. I pay around 45% right now and it is a lot but I get a great deal of services for that money health care, education (if I was younger and danish), care for the elderly/retired, etc. The problem with our american tax system is that we get too little in service and spend too much helping out the interests who get our officials elected. Well this is my slightly boozy ramblings and hell I could be wrong but

Cheers all.

Happy New Year

[MicroBob]

[ QUOTE ]
The problem with our american tax system is that we get too little in service and spend too much helping out the interests who get our officials elected.

[/ QUOTE ]



interesting perspective....and I do agree in general.

However, any time I get to whining (out loud...or just in my head) about taxes or other aspects of this country that I take issue with all I really need to do is consider my GF's perspective.

She is from a 3rd world south-american country and her parents worked extra hard to get over to the U.S. at 16 so that she could have a chance to have a better life than they had.
For her it's a dream just to get her permanent residency in the U.S. in spite of the various hassles and delays involved with INS and immigration, etc etc. In spite of having to travel all the back to Washington again to get her passport updated. On and on and on.

Fill out another form....ummm, we'll try to get back to you in a couple years.


She also is amazed at how the U.S. will fight for it's citizens who run into trouble in different countries....whereas many 3rd world countries simply don't have the resources to try to help improperly jailed citizens from their country, etc.
I really don't know much about it....but she informs me that the U.S. embassy's efforts to help you will be significantly more than a lot of other countries.


so...my complaints about taxes may sound like I'm taking the luxuries of my country for granted (and it's probably true that I actually am to a certain extent) but I do think I have just a little bit of perspective...although not nearly as much as many others.

[TheBeat]

Why pay taxes? tell them you made 20,000. Only morons pay taxes on poker cash that they will never say anything about.

[The4Aces]

A lot of people wuld only pay taxes on the stuff that the government can prove, however is it really worth not paying 10k when there is even a 1% chance that you may end up in jail? I dont think so.