View Poll Results: What did Uncle Sam Squeeze Out of You This Year?
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< $5,000
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18 |
15.25% |
$5,000 - $9,999
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12 |
10.17% |
$10,000 - $14,999
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6 |
5.08% |
$15,000 - $19,999
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10 |
8.47% |
$20,000 - $24,999
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12 |
10.17% |
$25,000 - $29,999
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10 |
8.47% |
$30,000 - $34,999
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6 |
5.08% |
$35,000 - $39,999
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5 |
4.24% |
Over $40,000 (Ouch!)
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39 |
33.05% |
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Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
02-28-2007, 12:05 AM
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#1
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Dryer sheet aficionado
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 38
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Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
From prior polls it appears that quite a few high net worth individuals frequent this board. I'm curious how successful members are avoiding the tax bite. I had a good year in 2006, primarily because I worked for 8 months in Iraq. I just filed my return. Uncle Sam took a little over $35K out of my hide. My wife and I have no significant deductions and most of our income is from salaries, we find it difficult to avoid the bite.
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
02-28-2007, 01:33 AM
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#2
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,183
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
Do you want us to count federal income taxes only and to exclude Social Security, Medicare, state income, and state disability taxes? I am just trying to get a handle on the definition. For a self-employed person in my state, the latter taxes would typically be larger than their federal income tax bill unless they earned 6 figures.
Thanks,
Kramer
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
02-28-2007, 05:23 AM
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#3
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,677
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
I'm not even close to getting mine done yet but just from what I paid in estimated I know it's over $40k
__________________
Dogs aren't our whole lives, but they make our lives whole. - Roger Caras
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
02-28-2007, 01:48 PM
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#4
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 8,309
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
Alrighty, then..........feel better now...eff rate of 9.95% according to TT. Last year was 6.44%, so I was feelin blue before this poll.
__________________
...with no reasonable expectation for ER, I'm just here auditing the AP class.Retired 8/1/15.
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
02-28-2007, 02:30 PM
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#5
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Houston
Posts: 2,155
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
The absolute amount paid has little meaning.
2K paid by someone with a gross income of 40K is not the same 2K paid by another earning 100K. Anyway, my contribution to uncle sam's fund this year is 12% of gross income.
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
02-28-2007, 03:04 PM
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#6
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,880
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
It's pretty neat how retiring works with regard to taxes. I only paid 3.6% of my 2006 gross income in taxes. Over each of the next years I will convert to Roth an amount that puts me in the 10% or 15% tax bracket.
IIRC, we were in the 50% tax bracket for some of the years that we deducted IRA and SEP-IRA money (brackets were higher back then). Now I'll get much of it out at the 15% level, after it's compounded tax-free for many years. Cool.
__________________
Al
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
02-28-2007, 03:09 PM
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#7
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Houston
Posts: 2,155
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
Quote:
Originally Posted by TromboneAl
It's pretty neat how retiring works with regard to taxes. I only paid 3.6% of my 2006 gross income in taxes. Over each of the next years I will convert to Roth an amount that puts me in the 10% or 15% tax bracket.
IIRC, we were in the 50% tax bracket for some of the years that we deducted IRA and SEP-IRA money (brackets were higher back then). Now I'll get much of it out at the 15% level, after it's compounded tax-free for many years. Cool.
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Stop bragging Seriously, I will be in your shoes in a few years. However, my estimate tax rate will still be higher than yours, 6 to 8%. I guess it's because my income will be mainly from tax deferred accounts.
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
02-28-2007, 03:31 PM
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#8
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 11,317
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
While DW keeps working our Fed tax is almost as big as our retirement budget. I guess that is a good thing.
__________________
Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre -- Albert Camus
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
02-28-2007, 03:39 PM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,003
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
Quote:
Originally Posted by TromboneAl
It's pretty neat how retiring works with regard to taxes. I only paid 3.6% of my 2006 gross income in taxes. Over each of the next years I will convert to Roth an amount that puts me in the 10% or 15% tax bracket.
...Now I'll get much of it out at the 15% level, after it's compounded tax-free for many years. Cool.
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Yep, similar story here. Our taxes for this first year of retirement were 18% of what we paid my last year in the w*rking world. Poor Uncle Sam.
__________________
Numbers is hard
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
02-28-2007, 05:02 PM
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#10
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 655
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
We retired in the middle of 2006. Our federal taxes for that year were 32% of what we paid in 2005, the last full year that we worked. This percentage should look much better in 2007.
__________________
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately... and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."
--Henry David Thoreau
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
02-28-2007, 05:15 PM
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#11
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Losing my whump
Posts: 22,708
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
$2719.
HAH!
__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
02-28-2007, 06:58 PM
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#12
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 331
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
Apparently you guys know some tricks I don't Low six figure AGI, effective tax rate of 20.11% according to TurboTax.
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
02-28-2007, 07:06 PM
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#13
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 5,381
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
Quote:
Originally Posted by GMueller
I'm curious how successful members are avoiding the tax bite.
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Wage slaves, even high priced wage slaves, can not do much to avoid the tax man.
__________________
Retired early, traveling perpetually.
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
02-28-2007, 07:09 PM
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#14
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 4,459
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
Yup, having very little earned income helps a lot.
Actually, having just enough earned income to fully fund your and your spouse's IRA seems just about perfect.
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
02-28-2007, 08:40 PM
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#15
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Losing my whump
Posts: 22,708
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
Low earned income, high pre-tax contributions, lots of qualified dividends and long term gains, some old capital losses from the 2000 crash to judiciously offset bad tax years (LIKE THIS ONE COMING UP), and keeping yourself within the limits of the 5% qualified dividends/long term gains range. And my little 2 year old tax deduction is also paying off big
__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
02-28-2007, 09:00 PM
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#16
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Scottsdale
Posts: 60
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
Just a little over 2K and only a 3.3% tax bite according to Turbo Tax. Income was in the 70-80K range but a lot of it non-taxable and then with all the 401K deductions, interest on mortgage, and Roth IRA credits came out pretty good.
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
02-28-2007, 10:35 PM
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#17
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Dryer sheet aficionado
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 38
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
Hmmm . . . the median federal income tax bite appears to be roughly $25,000 for members of this board. I'd say we do our fair share to support Uncle's spendthrift proclivities.
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
03-01-2007, 08:44 AM
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#18
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,880
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
With 92 respondents, and making an assumption that the average tax paid by people in the >40K club was 70K, the average tax paid comes to $32,690.
__________________
Al
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
03-01-2007, 08:46 AM
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#19
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,003
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
Quote:
Originally Posted by TromboneAl
With 92 respondents, and making an assumption that the average tax paid by people in the >40K club was 70K, the average tax paid comes to $32,690.
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This is one of the few times in my life that I'm very happy to be well below average!
__________________
Numbers is hard
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
03-01-2007, 12:41 PM
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#20
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 17,203
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Re: Federal Income Taxes - How Much Paid
WOW....
A lot of people making a LOT of money on this board.... $40K and above means you are RICH,.... RICH I say.....
I remember way back when I did taxes and we talked among ourselves as to the hugh tax bills we would see (one guy paid $10 mill per QUARTER on estimated taxes)... most people would say "I would hate to have to pay that much"... I always said "I would LOVE to have to pay that much"... just think how much I would have earned in order for me to pay it!!!
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