Post by thread:Re[2]: [OT] Space flight denied because of taxes

I was more referring to the contention by some that income tax is not constitutionally sound, and therefore illegal according to certain interpretations of law. I certainly advocate learning as much as one can about their tax laws. The trick is to have enough deductions and tax-free expenses that you don't have to pay income tax. So far if you have lots of kids it can work out pretty well with the $1,000 per child direct tax deduction currently in force. I was surprised to learn that while the government won't pay you if you owe "negative taxes" according to their own accounting and deduction rules, they will refund some of your social security taxes if you owe negative income tax. For a variety of reasons (four kids, mortgage, charitable donations, careful tracking of medical expenses, etc) we have received a larger refund for federal income tax over the last few years than we paid (ie, social security tax was reduced, income tax was 0). I expect that to change once the duplicrats choose not to extend a variety of middle-upper class tax cuts created by the replicons. -Adam On 1/29/07, Dumitru Stama <spam_OUTlistTakeThisOuTmirosat.com> wrote: > MAD> I don't think you want to start a list topic about income tax in the > MAD> USA. You are in a maze of twisty tax code clauses, all alike. You > MAD> are likely to be eaten by a grue. > > No, my country is closely following the big boss (USA) and i want to > know what to expect in the nearest future. If i win a car in a contest > i have to be able to afford paying taxes for it :) Where is the luck > in this ? > > -

On Jan 29, 2007, at 8:20 AM, M. Adam Davis wrote: > The trick is to have enough deductions and tax-free expenses > that you don't have to pay income tax. > No, the trick is to maximize your after-tax income, not minimize your taxes. All the largest checks I've ever written have been to the IRS or state tax board. The bigger house came close, I guess. I am NOT complaining at all, thank you very much. Everyone should be so lucky. > we have received a larger refund for federal income tax > over the last few years than we paid > Wow. No AMT? BillW

No Alternative Minimum Tax, IIRC. I must admit that my wife does the taxes each year (typically using TurboTax and Microsoft Money) so I am not completely cognizant of the particulars. Only that when I compare how much money we've paid in taxes (as reported by my employer's records) and the refund we get then the refund has been larger (not usually by much - they can only "steal" from social security tax so much. Wholesale raiding of SS must be done at the congressional level). I don't think I'm going to go through the AMT form to find out why we don't owe AMT - I know Turbo Tax calculates for it. It looks... congulpated (as one of my children might say) I make about $65k* per year - it may be that even under AMT our taxes aren't very high. We donate a little over 10% of our gross income to our church, and we deduct everything we can from medical expenses to car mileage where possible. I do consulting out of the home (outside my day job) which brings in very little profit (just enough that it's not considered a "hobby" by the IRS), but the expenses of the workspace (so many square feet are x% percentage of the home, and thus x% of the heating, cooling, lighting, etc) and such are somewhat deductable. And then once we find out how much taxes we owe, we just reduce that number by $4,000 due to the child credit. I finally got around to updating my W-4 to include more exemptions so we can use the money throughout the year instead of getting a large refund each February. -Adam * I hope no one feels offended or that I'm bragging. I know culturally it's a no-no, and I figure I'll find out why if I share it. It's beyond me why it would bother someone to know my salary. Besides, it means little unless one knows the cost of living, among a great many other variables. I do enjoy looking at salary surveys though... On 1/29/07, William Chops Westfield <.....westfwKILLspam@spam@mac.com> wrote: {Quote hidden}> > On Jan 29, 2007, at 8:20 AM, M. Adam Davis wrote: > > > The trick is to have enough deductions and tax-free expenses > > that you don't have to pay income tax. > > > No, the trick is to maximize your after-tax income, not minimize > your taxes. > > All the largest checks I've ever written have been to the IRS or > state tax board. The bigger house came close, I guess. I am NOT > complaining at all, thank you very much. Everyone should be so lucky. > > > we have received a larger refund for federal income tax > > over the last few years than we paid > > > Wow. No AMT? > > BillW > -

> > I do consulting out of the home (outside > my day job) which brings in very little profit (just enough that it's > not considered a "hobby" by the IRS), but the expenses of the > workspace (so many square feet are x% percentage of the home, and thus > x% of the heating, cooling, lighting, etc) and such are somewhat > deductable. And then once we find out how much taxes we owe, we just > reduce that number by $4,000 due to the child credit. Oh really? I've been doing it for 10 years, and they keep telling me that unless utilities are metered separately, they aren't deductable. Also no luck on deducting the (significant) square footage from rent. Maybe I need a new tax guy, but IIRC the utility question was last answered by the IRS office here.

I'll have to ask about that... -Adam On 1/29/07, David VanHorn <dvanhornKILLspammicrobrix.com> wrote: {Quote hidden}> > > > I do consulting out of the home (outside > > my day job) which brings in very little profit (just enough that it's > > not considered a "hobby" by the IRS), but the expenses of the > > workspace (so many square feet are x% percentage of the home, and thus > > x% of the heating, cooling, lighting, etc) and such are somewhat > > deductable. And then once we find out how much taxes we owe, we just > > reduce that number by $4,000 due to the child credit. > > > Oh really? I've been doing it for 10 years, and they keep telling me that > unless utilities are metered separately, they aren't deductable. Also no > luck on deducting the (significant) square footage from rent. > > Maybe I need a new tax guy, but IIRC the utility question was last answered > by the IRS office here. > -