Bush tax cut: Did your taxes go down?

[Chicago526]

Originally posted by AirForceRocks
A single filer, no kids, with a $40,000 income, taking only the personal exemption and standard deduction would see his or her taxes go from $5589 in 2000 to $4841 in 2003. An annual savings of $748.

Maybe that's not much to some people, but I certainly wouldn't call it nothing.

Ah, but I do have deductions, I own my home and deduct taxes and interest. I also make LESS than $40,000. Actually it was around $35,000 for 2002, I think-I'd have to go back and check. My deduction was around $9,000 total. My taxes did NOT go down $748, I can tell you that much right now! If it had, I wouldn't have posted this to begin with. I'm telling you my taxes went down about $14 a month, or $168 a year. Yes, it is lower than before, but in the bigger picture, is not enough to effect my standard of living the way Bush says in his speaches.

Someone else posted that the $14 a month is withholding and doesn't completely effect what I pay at tax time, and that's true. I'd have to go back and look at the tax charts for 2002 and 2003 to compare, and I don't have those handy. My Turbo Tax program did tell that I paid more taxes in '03 than '02, but only by a little and that's mainly due to an extra bonus I got. At the end of the day, I paid about the same percentage of my income in both years, so I didn't see a huge drop. Therefore, I'm sticking with the $14 a month figue to give credit to Bush for a slight, but not signifigant, drop in my taxes.

 

[Bob Slydell]

Originally posted by Chicago526
Ah, but I do have deductions, I own my home and deduct taxes and interest. I also make LESS than $40,000. Actually it was around $35,000 for 2002, I think-I'd have to go back and check. My deduction was around $9,000 total. My taxes did NOT go down $748, I can tell you that much right now! If it had, I wouldn't have posted this to begin with. I'm telling you my taxes went down about $14 a month, or $168 a year. Yes, it is lower than before, but in the bigger picture, is not enough to effect my standard of living the way Bush says in his speaches.

AGAIN, like I said before, if anyone bothered to read my post, I'm currious if anyone has seen their taxes go down, because mine did not. If families recieved the bulk of the cut, I wouldn't know, cuz I don't have kids and have no other way of comparing the effect of the cut.

I read your post, a couple times. You're not reading other people's responses. There's more to "taxes" than withholding taxes. Total tax liability has to be considered -- not just what's coming out of your paychecks.

 

[AirForceRocks]

also make LESS than $40,000. Actually it was around $35,000 for 2002, I think-I'd have to go back and check.

If you're comparing 2002 to 2003, then of course there wouldn't be much difference - most of the cuts that would affect you took place PRIOR to 2002.

All I'm saying is that you can't really know what you've saved due to the tax cuts by simply looking at withholding amounts.

AGAIN, like I said before, if anyone bothered to read my post, I'm currious if anyone has seen their taxes go down, because mine did not.

AGAIN, if you had bothered to read what I've written, you really don't know how much the tax cuts saved you. Which is fine, if you really don't care one way or the other, but since tax cuts seem to be an issue for you, I would think that you would be interested in finding out the facts rather than just making invalid assumptions.

 

[WDWHound]

Yup, our taxes went down by quite a bit,

 

[Chicago526]

Okay, lets start over!

I didn't want to debate if MY taxes went up, down or stay the same. What I wanted to know is if OTHER people saw their taxes go down. Many replies said they did, one or two said no or said no change. I like those replies, because they answered my question. Hey, if the tax cut really did put money back in taxpayers pockets, then I'll give Bush credit for it, even though I don't like him. I'm really, really trying to be fare here!

I also don't want to debate if the cut was good, bad or indifferant to this country, that will take years to see if it did or not in both the long and short term.

All I want to know is if others saw a change. That's it. No more.

 

[DrCavin]

Originally posted by goudaman40
The kicker of military pay, is that the tax payers dollars pays the military salary, but then the military member is taxed again on the already taxed money.

UM.. NO..... You are not taxed again....

 

[InDueTime]

Yes, could not wait to get my tax refund check.

 

[goudaman40]

Then explain to me what pays a military members salary???

The tax payers money - so the salary that Military member A makes comes from Joe Schomo's taxes - then Military member A pays taxes on taxed money from Joe Schomo. Taxed again!

 

[DrCavin]

You come to my office & pay for services. Do you think I have to pay taxes on the money you paid me? YES.. no different than you collecting a paycheck from the Military.. Does that count as paying taxes again?

 

[jrydberg]

Originally posted by goudaman40
Then explain to me what pays a military members salary???

The tax payers money - so the salary that Military member A makes comes from Joe Schomo's taxes - then Military member A pays taxes on taxed money from Joe Schomo. Taxed again!

Joe Schmo is taxed once and Military Member A is taxed once.

It's not fundamentally different from my paycheck being taxed, then I buy a new TV and the TV salesman pays tax on his commission. Money circulates. It just happens to circulate through the Federal government in the case of members of the military.

 

[DrCavin]

Originally posted by jrydberg
Joe Schmo is taxed once and Military Member A is taxed once.

It's not fundamentally different from my paycheck being taxed, then I buy a new TV and the TV salesman pays tax on his commission. Money circulates. It just happens to circulate through the Federal government in the case of members of the military.

Correct, but you are not taxed again.. you said the "military member is taxed again"... implying that you are paying taxes twice

 

[goudaman40]

I'm sorry that I didn't use the right context - I meant that the money, not the person was taxed again.

 

[jrydberg]

Originally posted by DrCavin
Correct, but you are not taxed again.. you said the "military member is taxed again"... implying that you are paying taxes twice

Nope, not me. I'm not making that argument I'm saying it's no different than anyone else's paycheck being taxed.

 

[caitycaity]

nope. i also don't have kids and we don't own a house.

 

[jrydberg]

Originally posted by goudaman40
I'm sorry that I didn't use the right context - I meant that the money, not the person was taxed again.

But that's no different than money anywhere else. All sources of income get taxed. My money goes to someone else's pocket when I buy goods or services, shows up as income and gets taxed. They spend and it gets taxed again, etc, etc. Nothing at all unusual about military pay in that regard.

 

[AirForceRocks]

Originally posted by caitycaity
nope. i also don't have kids and we don't own a house.

Are your taxes the same now as they would have been in 2000 on the same amount of money?

If they are lower, then it would seem pretty obvious that the tax cuts did save you money.

 

[caitycaity]

Are your taxes the same now as they would have been in 2000 on the same amount of money?

yep pretty much. that's why i said we didn't get any benefit from it.

 

[AirForceRocks]

Originally posted by caitycaity
yep pretty much. that's why i said we didn't get any benefit from it.

Hmmm...so the addition of the 10% and 25% brackets, the reduction of the marriage penalty did nothing for you guys?

 

[Galahad]

Originally posted by AirForceRocks
Hmmm...so the addition of the 10% and 25% brackets, the reduction of the marriage penalty did nothing for you guys?

So you're FEDERAL taxes are the same now with all of your income and other circumstances the same?

 

[caitycaity]

Hmmm...so the addition of the 10% and 25% brackets, the reduction of the marriage penalty did nothing for you guys?

as i said, not really.

should i quote bush the elder and say "read my lips" not really?