Szerek
Posts:
4,747
Registered:
Aug 8, '00
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 4,343
User ID: 38,666
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
Can someone please tell me who these Americans are that pay no income tax?
I just did my daughters taxes. She made just over 10k last year. Her effective tax rate was 1.25%. She didn't pay much, but she did pay SOME income taxes. So, who are these nearly 50% who don't pay income taxes? Are they trying to tell us that nearly 50% of Americans make less than $10,000 a year? Or are there a large number of people from specific income ranges / age brackets, who are getting free rides? My daughter is 20 and made just over 10k last year and paid income taxes.
-----signature-----
"The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it."
"The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions."
- George Carlin
|
|
Link to this post
|
Ashmaele
Title: Pastor of Muppets
Posts:
19,662
Registered:
Jan 15, '02
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 15,903
User ID: 612,352
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
I read somewhere that like ~22% of those people are retired and on Social Security. Another pretty substantial percentage lives below the poverty level so they pay 0% effective rates.
If your daughter had a kid she'd be one of those folks.
-----signature-----
I had a dream. It was an incredible dream. When I awoke, I had a huge mess to clean up. 
|
|
Link to this post
|
Yukishiro1
Posts:
38,362
Registered:
Sep 20, '02
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 31,453
User ID: 718,633
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
Married people with household income below about 45k and multiple kids. Also, old people with no significant income besides social security. And kids. Add those three groups together and you get about 50%.
The number is deliberately misleading. The percentage of WORKING people who pay no income taxes is not that high. But only about 60% of Americans work. The 40% who don't are much more likely to not pay income taxes.
-----signature-----
(none)
|
|
Link to this post
|
Scarne
Title: Capo di Scientifico
Posts:
27,710
Registered:
Jul 23, '01
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 22,798
User ID: 272,061
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
Is your daughter still your dependent? Being able to claim herself or not could certainly make a difference here. 
-----signature-----
E Pluribus Unum
|
|
Link to this post
|
Szerek
Posts:
4,747
Registered:
Aug 8, '00
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 4,343
User ID: 38,666
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
Scarne posted:
Is your daughter still your dependent? Being able to claim herself or not could certainly make a difference here.
She is 20 and not in college and lives with her mother so no one can claim her but her.
-----signature-----
"The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it."
"The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions."
- George Carlin
|
|
Link to this post
|
silvadel
Title: MMRPG Expert
Posts:
21,637
Registered:
Apr 18, '01
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 16,288
User ID: 88,788
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
|
Were the taxes prepared correctly -- earned income tax credit and all?
-----signature-----
When you squash every flavor of the month all you have in the end is vanilla...
Endgame all too often = End of the game being fun
|
|
Link to this post
|
Tych2
Title: Obama Appointed Outpost Czar
Posts:
40,411
Registered:
Mar 1, '05
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 33,378
User ID: 1,032,223
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
Szerek posted:
Scarne posted:
Is your daughter still your dependent? Being able to claim herself or not could certainly make a difference here.
She is 20 and not in college and lives with her mother so no one can claim her but her.
If her mother is providing 51% of her support then her mother can could claim head of household. How much did your daughter actually make. If it's low enough she should have gotten some EIC as long as she made less than $13,800.
-----signature-----
We have enough youth. What we need is a fountain of smart.
Drill Anwar!
Kapie
Drevid in Tanks
|
|
Link to this post
|
Abaddon_Ambrosius
Title: Retired Theurgist TL
Posts:
25,187
Registered:
Dec 21, '01
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 25,057
User ID: 568,022
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
Ashmaele posted:
If your daughter was a f'kin entitlement-minded moron and had a kid or three at that income level and no committed partner, she'd be one of those folks.
-----signature-----
In the immortal words of Socrates - "I drank what?"
"God you guys suck at the internet - how can you fail to locate porn?!" - Eternal_Midnight
"Knowing means nothing." - Fat-badger
|
|
Link to this post
|
GrilledCheez
Title: The Lord's Balls
Posts:
37,872
Registered:
Mar 22, '06
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 26,537
User ID: 1,125,840
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
|
Why do so many people care about stuff like this?
-----signature-----
Another word for expensive is successful.
|
|
Link to this post
|
Abaddon_Ambrosius
Title: Retired Theurgist TL
Posts:
25,187
Registered:
Dec 21, '01
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 25,057
User ID: 568,022
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
GrilledCheez posted:
Why do so many people care about stuff like this?
Well, to be fair, only about 49% of people care about stuff like this...
-----signature-----
In the immortal words of Socrates - "I drank what?"
"God you guys suck at the internet - how can you fail to locate porn?!" - Eternal_Midnight
"Knowing means nothing." - Fat-badger
|
|
Link to this post
|
theredkay1
Posts:
6,731
Registered:
May 16, '08
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 6,729
User ID: 1,297,378
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
Abaddon_Ambrosius posted:
 damn poor people! they have it too good!
-----signature-----
(none)
|
|
Link to this post
|
Szerek
Posts:
4,747
Registered:
Aug 8, '00
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 4,343
User ID: 38,666
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
Tych2 posted:
Szerek posted:
Scarne posted:
Is your daughter still your dependent? Being able to claim herself or not could certainly make a difference here.
She is 20 and not in college and lives with her mother so no one can claim her but her.
If her mother is providing 51% of her support then her mother can could claim head of household. How much did your daughter actually make. If it's low enough she should have gotten some EIC as long as she made less than $13,800.
Dude, you do taxes for a living, you should know a 20 year old can't claim EITC. She doesn't meet the age requirement for qualifying child since she isn't going to college and she doesn't meet the income requirement for qualifying relative, so how could my ex claim HoH?
-----signature-----
"The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it."
"The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions."
- George Carlin
|
|
Link to this post
|
AzureTyger
Title: Awesome
Posts:
29,693
Registered:
Apr 1, '02
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 26,594
User ID: 663,926
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
GrilledCheez posted:
Why do so many people care about stuff like this?
The Kochs, CATO, Heritage Foundation, Fox News, Rush, Glenn Beck et al told them to be outraged about it.
-----signature-----
Using the mirror of ridicule to force conservatives to
confront their own stupidity.
|
|
Link to this post
|
GrilledCheez
Title: The Lord's Balls
Posts:
37,872
Registered:
Mar 22, '06
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 26,537
User ID: 1,125,840
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
Abaddon_Ambrosius posted:
GrilledCheez posted:
Why do so many people care about stuff like this?
Well, to be fair, only about 49% of people care about stuff like this...
I guess I just don't get it. Lots of people pay less taxes than me. most of them are a lot worse off than I am. I was planning a trip with my wife and I told her to stay within X dollar because I got a quarterly bonus that was pretty good and felt like if we stayed under that I wouldn't feel like we were wasting too much money. She laughed. And I asked if she felt like I was being to tight and she said "No it's just that I didn't even make that much a year when we got married."
Why would I care how much taxes someone pays who makes less to live on in a year than I make in a quarterly bonus? I can't really imagine something more petty than that.
-----signature-----
Another word for expensive is successful.
|
|
Link to this post
|
Szerek
Posts:
4,747
Registered:
Aug 8, '00
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 4,343
User ID: 38,666
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
GrilledCheez posted:
I guess I just don't get it. Lots of people pay less taxes than me. most of them are a lot worse off than I am. I was planning a trip with my wife and I told her to stay within X dollar because I got a quarterly bonus that was pretty good and felt like if we stayed under that I wouldn't feel like we were wasting too much money. She laughed. And I asked if she felt like I was being to tight and she said "No it's just that I didn't even make that much a year when we got married."
Why would I care how much taxes someone pays who makes less to live on in a year than I make in a quarterly bonus? I can't really imagine something more petty than that.
What prompted this thread was some republican talking head spouting that line on TV. If my daughter makes 10k a year and pays income taxes, just who are these 50% that pay none. Are they saying that 50% of Americans make less than 10k / year, or that 50% of Americans are making a lot more than 10k a year and pay no taxes while someone struggling, working a part time job because there is no full time work available, pays more than someone making, say, 50k per year?
-----signature-----
"The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it."
"The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions."
- George Carlin
|
|
Link to this post
|
Abaddon_Ambrosius
Title: Retired Theurgist TL
Posts:
25,187
Registered:
Dec 21, '01
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 25,057
User ID: 568,022
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
I totally understand where Szerek is coming from and it's a good point.
So good in fact that I won't dillute it with some parallel thoughts I've got on the matter. I'll throw those into another thread.
-----signature-----
In the immortal words of Socrates - "I drank what?"
"God you guys suck at the internet - how can you fail to locate porn?!" - Eternal_Midnight
"Knowing means nothing." - Fat-badger
|
|
Link to this post
|
Tych2
Title: Obama Appointed Outpost Czar
Posts:
40,411
Registered:
Mar 1, '05
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 33,378
User ID: 1,032,223
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
Szerek posted:
Dude, you do taxes for a living, you should know a 20 year old can't claim EITC.
You are correct she wouldn't get it for only being 20 yrs old without a child because of the requirement that you need to be between 25-65. I knew there was an age requirement, but I wasn't sure what it was so I had to look that one up quickly because I've grown lazy and let my PC do most of the work for me.
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=168160,00.html
Szerek posted:
She doesn't meet the age requirement for qualifying child since she isn't going to college and she doesn't meet the income requirement for qualifying relative, so how could my ex claim HoH?
You don't need to go to school or be a dependent to be use for HoH. She provide more than 50% of the support. I assume her mother owns her house and buys all the food and supplies all the utilities? It doesn't happen often, but I have a few clients this happens for.
-----signature-----
We have enough youth. What we need is a fountain of smart.
Drill Anwar!
Kapie
Drevid in Tanks
|
|
Link to this post
|
Sin_of_Onin
Posts:
35,113
Registered:
Jun 29, '05
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 23,763
User ID: 1,062,657
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
Szerek posted:
GrilledCheez posted:
I guess I just don't get it. Lots of people pay less taxes than me. most of them are a lot worse off than I am. I was planning a trip with my wife and I told her to stay within X dollar because I got a quarterly bonus that was pretty good and felt like if we stayed under that I wouldn't feel like we were wasting too much money. She laughed. And I asked if she felt like I was being to tight and she said "No it's just that I didn't even make that much a year when we got married."
Why would I care how much taxes someone pays who makes less to live on in a year than I make in a quarterly bonus? I can't really imagine something more petty than that.
What prompted this thread was some republican talking head spouting that line on TV. If my daughter makes 10k a year and pays income taxes, just who are these 50% that pay none. Are they saying that 50% of Americans make less than 10k / year, or that 50% of Americans are making a lot more than 10k a year and pay no taxes while someone struggling, working a part time job because there is no full time work available, pays more than someone making, say, 50k per year?
You were given your answer multiple times already, you just don't get it. The only reason someone making 10K would have to pay taxes is if they are a dependent. I know I had to pay taxes when I was still being claimed as a dependent and the benefit my parents got far exceeded what I had to pay.
-----signature-----
"Okay... I'm with you fellas" --Delmar
F is for Fake-believe
"We apologise for the inconvenience" --God
"What Jesus fails to appreciate is that it's the meek who are the problem"--Reg
Run, Forrest! Run!
|
|
Link to this post
|
Szerek
Posts:
4,747
Registered:
Aug 8, '00
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 4,343
User ID: 38,666
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
Tych2 posted:
Szerek posted:
Dude, you do taxes for a living, you should know a 20 year old can't claim EITC.
You are correct she wouldn't get it for only being 20 yrs old without a child because of the requirement that you need to be between 25-65. I knew there was an age requirement, but I wasn't sure what it was so I had to look that one up quickly because I've grown lazy and let my PC do most of the work for me.
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=168160,00.html
Szerek posted:
She doesn't meet the age requirement for qualifying child since she isn't going to college and she doesn't meet the income requirement for qualifying relative, so how could my ex claim HoH?
You don't need to go to school or be a dependent to be use for HoH. She provide more than 50% of the support. I assume her mother owns her house and buys all the food and supplies all the utilities? It doesn't happen often, but I have a few clients this happens for.
In order to claim HoH you need a dependent. That dependent is either a qualifying child, or a qualifying relative. My daughter meets the requirements for neither.
They rent an apartment together. They split all rent and utilities 50/50 and my daughter buys all her own food and clothing. There is NO WAY she can possibly meet the support requirement. Again, to claim HoH you must have a dependent. My daughter does not qualify as a qualifying child because she is 20 years old (older than 19 at the end of the year) and is not in college (which moves the age requirement to under 25 at the end of the tax year). She can not be a qualifying relative because she does NOT meet the income requirements of less than $3,600, nor would she meet the support requirement.
IRS Pub 17 Pg 26
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf
FFS SoO, how many times do I have to say, she is NOT a dependent.
-----signature-----
"The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it."
"The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions."
- George Carlin
|
|
Link to this post
|
GrilledCheez
Title: The Lord's Balls
Posts:
37,872
Registered:
Mar 22, '06
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 26,537
User ID: 1,125,840
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
If a kid is only making 10k a year and nto claimed by someone else as a dependent then they pay very little taxes. If they got ANY credit they would probably be negative. If they got no credit then they pay very very little. neither person is being taxed unfairly IMO. Paying 40 bucks a year in taxes and having no credits because you have no responsibility outside of yourself doesn't make you lots worse off than someone making more who pays negative 50 bucks a year in taxes because they have a kid.
The differences are slight, and worrying about them is stupid.
-----signature-----
Another word for expensive is successful.
|
|
Link to this post
|
Szerek
Posts:
4,747
Registered:
Aug 8, '00
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 4,343
User ID: 38,666
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
GrilledCheez posted:
If a kid is only making 10k a year and nto claimed by someone else as a dependent then they pay very little taxes. If they got ANY credit they would probably be negative. If they got no credit then they pay very very little. neither person is being taxed unfairly IMO. Paying 40 bucks a year in taxes and having no credits because you have no responsibility outside of yourself doesn't make you lots worse off than someone making more who pays negative 50 bucks a year in taxes because they have a kid.
The differences are slight, and worrying about them is stupid.
Again, I'm not worried about it. The talking head republican douchebag on TV was using this "nearly 50% of americans pay no income tax" as a statistic to put forth eliminating things like EIC and other low income tax breaks. Apparently these are the scum that are not paying any income tax and she should be sought out and eliminated. That is the kind of shit that pisses me off. He was implying that the 50% are people who claim the EIC and make thousands off of the credit, basically saying that we can increase revenues greatly by squeezing those who can least afford it.
-----signature-----
"The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it."
"The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions."
- George Carlin
|
|
Link to this post
|
GrilledCheez
Title: The Lord's Balls
Posts:
37,872
Registered:
Mar 22, '06
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 26,537
User ID: 1,125,840
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
/shrug.
Most people aren't big fans of welfare. I thought the dems took the wrong tact when they started using taxes to not only limit burdens on the poor and lower middle class but also pay them directly. Once that happened you had to know that the critiques on welfare would turn into critiques on tax shares.
the poor and the middle class will be best served all the way around by forcing the market to pay them a living wage. Then the rest of this becomes moot. Of course you can't do that while at the same time opening up your labor to competition from places where people can literally be treated and compensated like slaves. So the rich win and the poor lose I guess. Good game dems.
-----signature-----
Another word for expensive is successful.
|
|
Link to this post
|
Sin_of_Onin
Posts:
35,113
Registered:
Jun 29, '05
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 23,763
User ID: 1,062,657
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
GrilledCheez posted:
/shrug.
Most people aren't big fans of welfare. I thought the dems took the wrong tact when they started using taxes to not only limit burdens on the poor and lower middle class but also pay them directly. Once that happened you had to know that the critiques on welfare would turn into critiques on tax shares.
the poor and the middle class will be best served all the way around by forcing the market to pay them a living wage. Then the rest of this becomes moot. Of course you can't do that while at the same time opening up your labor to competition from places where people can literally be treated and compensated like slaves. So the rich win and the poor lose I guess. Good game dems.
Actually much of what makes our lives so good is a result of foreign trade.
-----signature-----
"Okay... I'm with you fellas" --Delmar
F is for Fake-believe
"We apologise for the inconvenience" --God
"What Jesus fails to appreciate is that it's the meek who are the problem"--Reg
Run, Forrest! Run!
|
|
Link to this post
|
GrilledCheez
Title: The Lord's Balls
Posts:
37,872
Registered:
Mar 22, '06
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 26,537
User ID: 1,125,840
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
Sin_of_Onin posted:
GrilledCheez posted:
/shrug.
Most people aren't big fans of welfare. I thought the dems took the wrong tact when they started using taxes to not only limit burdens on the poor and lower middle class but also pay them directly. Once that happened you had to know that the critiques on welfare would turn into critiques on tax shares.
the poor and the middle class will be best served all the way around by forcing the market to pay them a living wage. Then the rest of this becomes moot. Of course you can't do that while at the same time opening up your labor to competition from places where people can literally be treated and compensated like slaves. So the rich win and the poor lose I guess. Good game dems.
Actually much of what makes our lives so good is a result of foreign trade.
deflation or no inflation in certain areas has certainly been one good facet of globalization. but that's always true any time you squeeze labor.
-----signature-----
Another word for expensive is successful.
|
|
Link to this post
|
DemonicXH
Title: Camelot Vault Staff
News Editor
Posts:
3,822
Registered:
Dec 1, '03
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 3,766
User ID: 863,352
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
I know quite a few people who pay nothing in federal income tax, but that is majorly due to being single mothers.
When I got my first real job and made $30k a year, with no real write offs I pretty much got back everything I paid in.
As everyone else mentioned, that 50% is the elderly, those below the poverty line and single parents with kids.
-----signature-----
(none)
|
|
Link to this post
|
Sin_of_Onin
Posts:
35,113
Registered:
Jun 29, '05
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 23,763
User ID: 1,062,657
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
GrilledCheez posted:
deflation or no inflation in certain areas has certainly been one good facet of globalization. but that's always true any time you squeeze labor.
You have it backwards. Increases in production "squeeze" labor in the short run. This is the way it will always be but the fact that they are producing more will help increase wages in the long run. In fact continued increases in production rely on that happening. Ultimately that is what is hurting labor. The squeezing of Chinese consumption at the cost of US production and Chinese consumption.
-----signature-----
"Okay... I'm with you fellas" --Delmar
F is for Fake-believe
"We apologise for the inconvenience" --God
"What Jesus fails to appreciate is that it's the meek who are the problem"--Reg
Run, Forrest! Run!
|
|
Link to this post
|
Bonzoboy1
Posts:
7,090
Registered:
Aug 1, '08
Extended Info (if available)
Real Post Cnt: 7,015
User ID: 1,312,136
|
Subject:
Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax.
|
|
Everyone should pay something in income taxes, think how great it would be if the poor could trade service for their tax bills.
-----signature-----
Politicians are like diapers, they should be changed often and for the same reason.
|
|
Link to this post
|
