Today I Learned...

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

amirite

TIL That Ultra has a very good memory!

[cjd]

Originally Posted by Spuds

Yeah, our situation is a bit different. My wife has some confidence issues we need to overcome, so we aren't likely to be dual income for a while at least.

Brackets are graduated though. They only apply to the money in excess of the lower limit of the bracket. So if it bumps you over slightly the higher rate should only apply to the amount you are over. Paying less taxes at the end of the day is better, but if it's the right time to sell, it's the right time to sell. I'd be more concerned about what's long term capital gains vs short term myself.

<<(Not a tax professional or financial advisor)

At this point confidence is starting to surface here too. It really sucks.
And, I'm hoping to avoid *any* at the higher bracket. Also there's AMT to worry about. It'll be all income no matter what, and even if I sold to cover the amount of income tax won't change. But I'd be left holding a single stock.

Deductions are a joke now. I love paying taxes on my taxes.
Could pay down the mortgage, it's tempting. At 3% and making extra payments it's pretty well in hand. Might save $10k in interest, but attempting to get things rolling so I can afford my next car means I'll try investing. Probably will beat 3%. "Lost" $15k failing to sell last week. Blah. Gambling sucks. I should pay off the house and put the rest under my mattress. I probably won't be able to afford TP let alone ever buy a car again.

[soundman98]

a little good news, despite the fact that it has little bearing on any of us.

today i learned that britany spears conservatorship was dissolved.
https://apnews.com/article/britney-s...830f2cb001d74c

an article i saw earlier on bbc said that her dad had a salary of $16k/mo as the conservator, while britany was given an allowance of $2k/mo.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53494405

my hope is that conservatorship is a little easier to dissolve for others now with some sort of precedent, but i think the numbers/fame involved here are too big to really be of much use anywhere outside of the fantasyland of celebrities...

[Sapphireho]

I was an accountant. I never did tax work in my career, but I did have tax in college, and passed the CPA exam, so I know a little. So few people understand anything about tax. Too frustrating to try to educate. I refuse to engage anymore. Just smile and "how bout them Giants!"

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

I was an accountant. I never did tax work in my career, but I did have tax in college, and passed the CPA exam, so I know a little. So few people understand anything about tax. Too frustrating to try to educate. I refuse to engage anymore. Just smile and "how bout them Giants!"

i know better. i just find the guy that seems to know the most about it, and let them do my taxes.

oh, a totally completely unrelated question, what are you doing around late january?

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by cjd

At this point confidence is starting to surface here too. It really sucks.
And, I'm hoping to avoid *any* at the higher bracket. Also there's AMT to worry about. It'll be all income no matter what, and even if I sold to cover the amount of income tax won't change. But I'd be left holding a single stock.

Deductions are a joke now. I love paying taxes on my taxes.
Could pay down the mortgage, it's tempting. At 3% and making extra payments it's pretty well in hand. Might save $10k in interest, but attempting to get things rolling so I can afford my next car means I'll try investing. Probably will beat 3%. "Lost" $15k failing to sell last week. Blah. Gambling sucks. I should pay off the house and put the rest under my mattress. I probably won't be able to afford TP let alone ever buy a car again.

I think it's just the standard deduction that increased with the tax changes didn't it? I don't think any regular deductions decreased.

Idk. Good luck?

[FR-S2GT86]

TIL the US tax system is doing exactly what it has been designed to do by the ultra-rich banking elite: Confuse the American consumers so much that they simply give up and let a "tax professional" complete their taxes for them.....so that we can focus on more important things like catching Pokemon, crushing candies, and voting for the next American Idol.

Folks, there's a reason why the Internal Revenue Code is 10,000 plus pages long, growing every year, filled with double-speak legalese and forcing you to constantly turn (virtual) pages chasing code references back and forth just to find out how to report that penny that you found on the ground while walking through the park the other day.

Nobody will EVER have enough time in their life to read and comprehend EVERYTHING in the code, and that's exactly what they wanted when they wrote it.

Every American should read these three books, and if not all three, then at least the one on the right:

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by FR-S2GT86

TIL the US tax system is doing exactly what it has been designed to do by the ultra-rich banking elite: Confuse the American consumers so much that they simply give up and let a "tax professional" complete their taxes for them.....so that we can focus on more important things like catching Pokemon, crushing candies, and voting for the next American Idol.

Folks, there's a reason why the Internal Revenue Code is 10,000 plus pages long, growing every year, filled with double-speak legalese and forcing you to constantly turn (virtual) pages chasing code references back and forth just to find out how to report that penny that you found on the ground while walking through the park the other day.

Nobody will EVER have enough time in their life to read and comprehend EVERYTHING in the code, and that's exactly what they wanted when they wrote it.

Every American should read these three books, and if not all three, then at least the one on the right:

Attachment 206914

I think you are overreacting, but sure, tax code is unnecessarily complicated. IMO, part of the problem is the patchwork nature of updates. That itself is caused in part by clever tax professionals finding ways for rich people to avoid taxes. When too many people start doing it too (less rich people) someone makes a patch that targets that specific hole. Then the cycle repeats.

I do know people that file all their taxes by hand every year. I pay for the convenience of Turbo Tax software to do mine. For the average person, it really isn't all that complicated.

[cjd]

Originally Posted by Spuds

I think it's just the standard deduction that increased with the tax changes didn't it? I don't think any regular deductions decreased.

Idk. Good luck?

I no longer am able to deduct all my state income tax and property tax due to the 10k ceiling. That seems to have been a ploy to hurt those living in the large urban centers experiencing massive growth (also, from what I can tell, all politically similar so it may have been intended to target that base, as well.) It doesn't make sense to me otherwise.

And at this point mortgage interest doesn't help either, so really no value keeping the mortgage other than to maintain a banked cash buffer. We've managed to avoid dipping into it to make ends meet with some creative juggling just after all the lock-downs hit and it became clear the job search would be slowed... never imagining it would be this difficult to find a job! Some savings toward a bit of renovation went to the mortgage instead, then a recast. Cash buffer let me pay cash for the unexpected replacement BRZ a few years ago (since repaid); also made sure we could pay for the new HVAC we needed this summer - stuff like that. I'll take the loss in potential revenue (and the lack of risk) against the lack of headache... even though "we could be doing something with that money"

I think this will be the last year with stock on a foreign exchange - huge headache on the taxes, but I think no gains so there's that.
This is why I pay someone to do the paperwork now, though.

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by soundman98

i know better. i just find the guy that seems to know the most about it, and let them do my taxes.

oh, a totally completely unrelated question, what are you doing around late january?

Smart. Many times I've had people say, "you're an accountant, I've got xyz happening this year, how do I do this on my taxes?". My answer is always the same, " I am Not a tax accountant, you need a tax accountant. "


Not sure about late January. Might go to Austin early January. Why do you ask?

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

Not sure about late January. Might go to Austin early January. Why do you ask?

Ugm, because he thinks you're a tax accountant?

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by cjd

I no longer am able to deduct all my state income tax and property tax due to the 10k ceiling. That seems to have been a ploy to hurt those living in the large urban centers experiencing massive growth (also, from what I can tell, all politically similar so it may have been intended to target that base, as well.) It doesn't make sense to me otherwise.

Yeah I forgot about that part. If one looks at it another way, it is a ploy to prevent certain states/cities from adding to their revenue by taking away from the federal revenue. Sucks for many of the individuals caught in the middle regardless.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Spuds

Yeah I forgot about that part. If one looks at it another way, it is a ploy to prevent certain states/cities from adding to their revenue by taking away from the federal revenue. Sucks for many of the individuals caught in the middle regardless.

Georgia has a rural healthcare credit where you can donate up your full state tax liability to a specific named hospital treating rural areas for a tax credit (as long as a statewide threshold for donations has not been met).

I've been doing that. The first two years it was great because it was also a federal tax deduction as a charitable contribution, so you really ended up with no Georgia tax (although you still were out the money) and a refund from the Feds, meaning you got back money you had not spent.

Feds caught on after two years though and now it is no longer a federal tax deduction.

I still do it though, because one of the hospitals is in the health system where I work. Technically doesn't cost me anything and is a great benefit to them.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Georgia has a rural healthcare credit where you can donate up your full state tax liability to a specific named hospital treating rural areas for a tax credit (as long as a statewide threshold for donations has not been met).

I've been doing that. The first two years is was great because it was also a federal tax deduction as a charitable contribution, so you really ended up with no Georgia tax (although you still were out the money) and a refund from the Feds, meaning you got back money you had not spent.

Feds caught on after two years though and now it is no longer a federal tax deduction.

I still do it though, because one of the hospitals is in the health system where I work. Technically doesn't cost me anything and is a great benefit to them.

That's actually really cool. Probably saves overhead on an otherwise state run distribution. I don't think it would work well in Maryland, not enough truly rural area for that. But maybe something similar for specific urban public schools? I could get behind that.