I hate taxes

$6400 due. Probably will end up having to scale back my rallying plans for the next few months. Going to have to come up with some 'ingenious' ways to get skid plates on the car and pay my entry fees for the first hill climb May 10-11. Pretty much out of things to sell for cash at the moment as well. Nothing like being 27 with only a rally car, some tools, and some kitchen stuff to your name.

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Grant Hughes

How on earth do you end up owing so much?

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Kirk Coughlin
Woodbury, MN and River Falls, WI

Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est.

If you're doing a bunch of freelance work, you have to -- HAVE TO -- sock away a third of whatever you're making there to keep the IRS from hurting you bad. More if you have state income tax.

Look into ways you can reduce that net income. Mileage for business related trips, office supplies, that computer you bought for business purposes, sponsoring a rally car (heh, heh)...talk to a tax professional after they come back from their post April 15 tequila binges.

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Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY

Yup. Did all that. Got it down from around $9500 at least.

I cashed out $10K in retirement income to buy a ring and pay for wedding stuff. Didn't know that on top of the normal tax, I'd also be paying a 10% penalty to the government.
Didn't realize I was going to have to pay an additional 15+% on all my earnings since I was self employed for Social Security and Medicare.
Those two right there were the big ones. I didn't pay in anything to taxes on my 1099 earnings, because I figured with getting married and wifey making very little money last year, the 20% I had paid on the retirement cash out, and my write offs I'd be okay. Unfortunately, now I'm filing individually, so no benefit from wife's low income nor do I get to deduct the $3000+ that I paid in tuition and student loan interest or apparently the $1000 I paid to have health insurance.
I've learned and this year will pay in a few thousand dollars when I can afford to to cover taxes next year. I really need to find a regular job too.

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Grant Hughes

Ouch. Cashing out retirement money hurts. A LOT. But you did it for love, not a @#%^@ HANS device.

The SS and Medicare pyramid schemes are also a bitch. Like you or I will see a penny of that.

I thought you could deduct health insurance if you had your own business, but I must be wrong. I leave all that to my tax guy, who is also my father-in-law. I just swear at QuickBooks a couple times a month, look at the the forms when I get them, then forget to sign them so the IRS sends me a nastygram and some affidavit to sign and have witnessed saying I did review my tax forms.

Regular jobs have their good points, like benefits and paying half your SS $$$, but that going in to the office thing sucks.

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Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY

Not if your married but filing seperately. The whole marriage thing isn't going so well. The retirement money had been pegged for a dogbox and finishing the car so I could race in 07. Then I had to fall in love and get married. But now I'm 'separated' and broke and even more in debt. I have the whole office job, just none of the benefits. The making my own hours and not working if I don't want to going for me though. There's a few jobs locally though that will pay 20-30% more than I'm making now available right now though that I'm applying for. That would help, but no more showing up to work at 10 or 11 if I got too drunk the night before, or leaving at 1 because it's nice out and I want to work on my car.

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Grant Hughes

I pay truly staggering sums in taxes.

But then again I do like roads, electrical grids, law enfocement, record keeping, Parks, Airports, etc.

At least my Mother in Law and Grandma in Law are getting Social Securtity so I can think our SS tax is going to pay them. (Between the two of them it is about = to what my wife and I pay)

Derek

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In the long run reality always wins.

The past three years I've had to pay out. It sucks. And the last two years I've had to send in quarterly state and federal estimated taxes since I'm a freelancer now.

But thanks to our lovely economy, I get $3200 back this year since all my investments were in the crapper over the past 10 months or so.

Time to buy some new tools.

Bob

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Opel is a 4-letter word...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10498579@N07/sets/

derek Wrote:
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> At least my Mother in Law and Grandma in Law are
> getting Social Securtity so I can think our SS tax
> is going to pay them. (Between the two of them it
> is about = to what my wife and I pay)

So am I, so thank you very much. (Betchya don't hear that everyday!)

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Kirk Coughlin
Woodbury, MN and River Falls, WI

Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est.

Taxes stung a LOT this year.

Grrrrrr.....

If only our 'Friends' in Government would spend our money on things such as effective schools, roads, national defense rather then so much of the bullshit that they do!!

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JohnLane

Overkill is consistently more fun

For fun read the budget...

Our fed government spends money on defense and taking money from the working and giving it to the not working.

Every thing else (Schools, roads, research, space programs, environment, parkes, etc) is a rounding error.

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In the long run reality always wins.