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Owe taxes...UGH!!

LindaC781

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Anyone else in here from the States that owe money this year?? I waited till the very last minute to file....I thought I'd owe...and I did...ugh
 
I only owed once because I chose to not have taxes withheld on a W-4 form. It was a paltry amount.

However, both of my brothers have to pay a lot this year. I'm not sure why.
 
My husband didn't pay into taxes while he was getting unemployment....so now we're having to pay for it....ugh
 
I just came back from filing and saw this thread. They gave me a shirt that said "Uncle Same took the Shirt Off my Back so Liberty Tax Gave Me This One." I laughed when I got it. The tax preparer said this shirt is right for you. I have to pay back $7,000 and I am wondering what part of my body I could sell to get the money. If I was younger I could have gone to 42nd Street!!! Just kidding guys!!! But seriously, I knew I had to pay back and waited till the last week to file. This year I am doubling how much money I send to the IRS quarterly so I will not be in this terrible situation again.

Thanks for this venting thread. SIGH.
 
TarinJade said:
What do you mean exactly? I was on unemployment once and didn't owe for it.
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what she means that ,,when you collect unemployment the give you the option as to if you want them to withhold the taxes on the money that you are getting...just like they would if you were working at a job..ya know...your employer takes out taxes on your pay check...state tax..federal tax...Fica tax. Its the same thing when you collect unemployment. If you dont pay taxes when you are receiving it....then you have to pay those taxes when you file your taxes in April...like Lynda.
 
I owed and it sucked. It's always so much better to get back. It's crazy to ever have to owe anything to the government anyway, being that they tax us out the wazoo and and spend those taxes on ridiculous and unnecessary things.
 
Travis said:
I owed and it sucked. It's always so much better to get back. It's crazy to ever have to owe anything to the government anyway, being that they tax us out the wazoo and and spend those taxes on ridiculous and unnecessary things.
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That's pretty much my philosophy on it.
 
xthunderx2 said:
what she means that ,,when you collect unemployment the give you the option as to if you want them to withhold the taxes on the money that you are getting...just like they would if you were working at a job..ya know...your employer takes out taxes on your pay check...state tax..federal tax...Fica tax. Its the same thing when you collect unemployment. If you dont pay taxes when you are receiving it....then you have to pay those taxes when you file your taxes in April...like Lynda.
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I never knew we had to pay taxes on unemployment. They won't even give us a break when we are out of work. Well there is one thing we are sure of, like birth and death, and that is Uncle Sam has to be paid!!!
 
Americans pay very little tax compared to other countries I understand. I feel you pain, but I want to share my personal numbers to make you feel a little better: my husband pays 40% of his income and I'm only spared for paying more than 25 % because my business is younger than 3 years old. But I guess we get a little more out of our government than the average American does. Still, it hurts a bit.
 
OMG, Thanks everyone...Roosje, I don't feel so bad now!! 40% Wow!! Thats a huge chunk out of your earnings!!
 
I'm not in the US, I'm in the UK but I can KIND OF relate as we have this thing here called Council Tax that has to be cleared by a certain date every year otherwise you get a fine and court action. This is not usually too much of a problem if you keep up with your weekly/monthly installments but things like my boyfriend moving in last year and changing jobs etc made this a problem. I literally had until TOMORROW to pay the remaining balance OR ELSE but luckily I just scraped in with the remainder today (annoying but at least I have peace of mind now!)
 
L&L=L.O.V.E. said:
Taxes are stupid..
I'm not from the USA, just like Roosje from The Netherlands and taxes are hurting like hell..
My mom has to pay 52% tax of her income and where does the money goes to?
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College tuition and study embursement for students, rent subsidies, social benefits, free public transportation for students, health insurance, infrastructure, police, judiciary, bureaucracy, army, mortage interest deduction, etc. These things have to be paid for and that is where the vast chunk of tax revenues go to. Nothing is for free ;)

Roosje said:
^Nice fresh narcisses on every roundabout ;)
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Oh, and can't forget about that of course :p
 
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^This is why I'm actually quite pleased with our tax system. I appreciate that all important things are taken care for. Internationally though, we have one of the biggest governments with the highest taxes, so I understand it when people are surprised to read how much we pay. And I do think of taxes at every roundabout that grows fresh flowers every month and sometimes have horrible tin 'art' constructions in the middle. There are things we could do without, most notibly the army. It's not as if some JSF's will keep any country from overpowering us in a couple of days (like the Germans did in 1940) and if it's just for international purposes, things could be simplified immensly. What a waste of tax money. Education and health care (and of course infrastructure and safety) should never become purely commercial endeavors in my opinion, so for that I like our system.
 
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Roosje said:
^This is why I'm actually quite pleased with our tax system. I appreciate that all important things are taken care for. Internationally though, we have one of the biggest governments with the highest taxes, so I understand it when people are surprised to read how much we pay. And I do think of taxes at every roundabout that grows fresh flowers every month and sometimes have horrible tin 'art' constructions in the middle. There are things we could do without, most notibly the army. It's not as if some JSF's will keep any country from overpowering us in a couple of days (like the Germans did in 1940) and if it's just for international purposes, things could be simplified immensly. What a waste of tax money. Education and health care (and of course infrastructure and safety) should never become purely commercial endeavors in my opinion, so for that I like our system.
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I agree. I can understand when wealthy people (like L&L's mother) get frustrated when they have to hand over half their income to the state, but I come from a 'poor' family (my parents are divorced, my mother is disabled and on welfare, my father earns minimum wage) and without this social system, I could not have studied unless I worked three jobs or borrowed thousands of euros. So I'm very grateful for that. As they say, "there is the American Dream and the Dutch Reality" or something like that :p

I do think defense is a complete waste of money. In the extreme case that we would get attacked, we don't stand a chance anyway and there will always be other countries to help us out. I think the JSF thing is more for bragging rights. It's ridiculous.
 
Yes, I know that Linda;)
People are taken care off, but like giving 52% of your income to the goverment, to pay those who don't like to work so they receive still a loan to survive, is stupid...
The system is nice, we will always be protected and don't have to survive...But sometimes... sigh..
 
LindavG said:
College tuition and study embursement for students, rent subsidies, social benefits, free public transportation for students, health insurance, infrastructure, police, judiciary, bureaucracy, army, mortage interest deduction, etc. These things have to be paid for and that is where the vast chunk of tax revenues go to. Nothing is for free ;)


Oh, and can't forget about that of course :p
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Unless you are rich enough. What gets me is how is it that the rich can get away with paying little or no taxes. Ugh!

I didn't owe this year because I am still paying for my college loans. But my mom had to pay.
 
Roosje;3338631 said:
^This is why I'm actually quite pleased with our tax system. I appreciate that all important things are taken care for. Internationally though, we have one of the biggest governments with the highest taxes, so I understand it when people are surprised to read how much we pay. And I do think of taxes at every roundabout that grows fresh flowers every month and sometimes have horrible tin 'art' constructions in the middle. There are things we could do without, most notibly the army. It's not as if some JSF's will keep any country from overpowering us in a couple of days (like the Germans did in 1940) and if it's just for international purposes, things could be simplified immensly. What a waste of tax money. Education and health care (and of course infrastructure and safety) should never become purely commercial endeavors in my opinion, so for that I like our system.
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Here in the UK we pay 20% tax out of our earnings but other extras we have to pay as well. Like we must pay council tax, which is incredibly expensive. If you drive you must pay tax. We have an NHS that is paid for but higher education was made payable when Labour came into power in 1997. Now students must pay £9000 a year and that's for tuition only. You can get a government loan for living costs. Most dentists have now gone private and with things like eyecare once you reach the age of 18 you no longer get free eye tests or prescriptions for glasses. Some people are exempt from all this those like people on benefits and the elderly. Its all very expensive and very hard! Sadly we are becoming more like the US model of taxes but still paying 20%!
 
ginvid said:
Unless you are rich enough. What gets me is how is it that the rich can get away with paying little or no taxes. Ugh!
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That depends on where you live. In almost all European countries there is the principle of "strongest shoulders carry the heaviest burden" i.e. the higher your income, the higher your taxes. For example, in the Netherlands the lowest income group pays 33% income tax and the highest income group pays 52%. That may sound like a lot but we also get a lot of social benefits, so that evens it out. If you're a student like me you get 500 euros a month to pay for your studies (or 250,- if your parents are rel. rich) with the possibility to loan another 400,- or so against low interest. The college tuitions are max. 140,- a month for any university. Public transport (bus, train, metro etc.) is also free for students. So in that sense, we pay less and our disposable income is pretty equal to other rich countries despite much higher taxes. This system is similar in Scandinavian countries I think.
 
Oh sorry, I was talking about the US. Should have been clearer. Here there are so many tax loopholes, you can make a billion dollars and end up paying no taxes. How wonderful for them! *Sarcasm* Plus the education system is much different. You have to find some means to pay for your bloated college education prices. You start post college life, in the hole. And you get very little breaks at all.
 
ginvid said:
Oh sorry, I was talking about the US. Should have been clearer. Here there are so many tax loopholes, you can make a billion dollars and end up paying no taxes. How wonderful for them! *Sarcasm* Plus the education system is much different. You have to find some means to pay for your bloated college education prices. You start post college life, in the hole. And you get very little breaks at all.
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very true.
 
Taxes, what a horrible topic :bugeyed

So this 52% and whatever is on top of sales tax? Right?

Which means you get to keep what, a handful of change?:D
 
cinzia said:
Taxes, what a horrible topic :bugeyed

So this 52% and whatever is on top of sales tax? Right?

Which means you get to keep what, a handful of change?:D
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:D Yes, the 52% tax is with regard to income (from house and wages), which is apart from sales tax, shares tax or savings tax. But only the highest incomes are taxed with 52%, most people are below that (my parents pay 33%). But we get a lot of social benefits as well, the state pays for a lot of things esp. if you are a student (transport, tuition, study embursement etc.) or if you're relatively poor (you can get subsidies for sports, newspapers, health insurance, rent, you name it). Wealthier people get other benefits, like the mortgage interest deduction (if you buy an expensive house, the government pays you the interest over your mortgage, which you can use to pay off your mortgage). So in the end, we still have a pretty decent disposable income left :p
 
Petrarose said:
I never knew we had to pay taxes on unemployment. They won't even give us a break when we are out of work. Well there is one thing we are sure of, like birth and death, and that is Uncle Sam has to be paid!!!
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mmhmm...this is our great country..even tax the unemployed...its to bad really...nothing for free..:(. I have as of yet to file my taxes.:ninja:...I REALLY need to get on the ball and get this done pronto...hopefully I will not owe..but one never knows when it comes to income taxes. I will post back here when I get them done...."runs out of thread to call HR block"..................
 
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